I'm Islam, a postdoctoral researcher working on AI-based Earth observation — combining machine learning with physical models to extract geophysical parameters from SAR and optical satellite data.
I completed my Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering at Istanbul Technical University in 2017, then worked as a System & Software Engineer at Bosch on automated driving functions and model-based testing.
In 2018, I moved to Munich to pursue a Master's in Earth Oriented Space Science and Technology (ESPACE) at the Technical University of Munich, working on multi-frequency polarimetric SAR over permafrost regions, with internships at Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH and Airbus Defence and Space.
From 2021 to 2025, I did my PhD at DLR's Microwaves and Radar Institute and ETH Zürich's Chair of Earth Observation and Remote Sensing, building hybrid AI-physical models that combine data-driven learning with electromagnetic scattering models — for forest height retrieval from TanDEM-X InSAR, penetration bias correction in X-band InSAR DEMs over Greenland, and TanDEM-X/GEDI synergy for forest structure mapping across the Brazilian Amazon. I also co-developed the DLR/ESA PolInSAR Training Course infrastructure on ESA's MAAP platform.
Since April 2025, I've been a postdoctoral researcher at the Universität der Bundeswehr München (UniBW), developing AI-based Earth observation methods that lean on foundation models for SAR and optical data: adapting large vision foundation models to remote sensing tasks, building a hybrid ship detection and segmentation system (YOLO11 + SAM2) for maritime surveillance, and generating OpenStreetMap-style vector maps from very-high-resolution optical imagery.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and InSAR, forest height and biomass retrieval, hybrid physics-informed machine learning, multi-mission data synergy (TanDEM-X, GEDI, Sentinel-1), and foundation models for Earth observation — and, where it all started, space technology and embedded systems.
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If you'd like to learn more about my work or discuss potential collaboration opportunities, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me an email. I am always interested in connecting with fellow researchers, engineers, and space enthusiasts!
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