Dr. Neset Akӧzbek was appointed as a Senior Scientific Professional in August 2021 and serves as Senior Research Scientist for Directed Energy Applications, Technical Center, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. He is the technical adviser and coordinator for the development, implementation, and oversight of the command's high energy laser programs and other directed energy initiatives.

Dr. Akӧzbek is responsible for the overview, execution, and coordination of programs in basic and applied research, exploratory development, advanced development, and system integration in the technological and functional areas of directed energy weapons necessary to advance the pioneering development of revolutionary military systems and equipment.

Dr. Akӧzbek has joined USASMDC from industry, where he led advanced research projects in areas of optics, nano-photonics, nonlinear optics and lasers. He worked with AEgis Technologies Group in Huntsville, Alabama, from May 2009 to August 2021 as a senior research scientist where he led a small innovative R&D group of interdisciplinary research scientists. He held a National Research Council, Senior Research Fellowship at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal, 2008-2011, for basic research in optics at the nano scale. Prior to that, Dr. Akӧzbek worked as a research scientist at Time Domain Corporation in Huntsville for seven years. He started his professional career at AMRDEC as a research scientist with a post-doctoral fellowship from the National Research Council in 1998.

Dr. Akӧzbek received the Paul A. Siple Medallion for best research paper at the 22nd Army Science Conference. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Dr. Akӧzbek earned a bachelor's degree in engineering physics from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1987 and a Master in Science in physics from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, in 1990. He earned his doctorate in physics from the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, in 1998.

Dr. Akӧzbek is a member of the Directed Energy Professional Society and Senior Member of the Optical Society of America.