Dr. Demet Sürücü graduated from Istanbul University Department of Forest Industry Engineering in 2001 and completed her master’s degree in 2005. Continuing her academic studies, she completed her doctorate at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa in 2026.
While working on timber construction, Sürücü was appointed in 2008 to establish a wood training workshop within the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. She founded the IMM KUDEB Wood Training Workshop and served as its coordinator from 2008 to 2020. During this period, she contributed to the development and implementation of exemplary projects aimed at preserving and revitalizing timber structures.
Sürücü carried out maintenance, repair and restoration work on numerous timber buildings, particularly in Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula and placed great emphasis on combining theoretical knowledge with practical application. She provided practice-oriented training to thousands of participants through programs of varying scope and duration in timber construction, repair and restoration.
In 2021, Sürücü joined the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Bahçeşehir University as a specialist. In September 2024, she founded the BAU Wood Construction Application and Research Center. Today, she continues her work as the founder and director of the center.
Focusing on developing holistic approaches at the intersection of forestry, the wood industry, architecture and academia, Sürücü carries out education, research, project development, implementation and consultancy activities at both national and international levels. In addition to training architecture students and sector professionals, she develops timber structure design and implementation projects, contributing to the wider adoption of sustainable and high-quality timber construction.
