About
Hey, I'm Yahya.
I'm 24.123 years old materials engineer currently working in tech. I was born in Iraq to a family of Turkish origin, and about 10 years ago, we moved to Turkey. This is where I truly grew up, completing both my high school and university education here. I currently live in the beautiful coastal city of Trabzon, Turkey.
Growing up in a multicultural household, I speak both Arabic and Turkish as my mother tongues. Over the years, I picked up English through school and by connecting with friends from all over the world. Today, English has actually become the main language of communication between me and my wife, as she grew up in the U.S. As for German, I started learning ein bisschen Deutsch just for fun.
Right now, my life is in a bit of a transition phase. I am happily married to my lovely wife, Aya, who is a nursing student currently studying in Florida. Our big plan is to eventually bridge the distance and relocate together to Europe.
What I Do
For the past year and a half, I've been working remotely as a Tech Specialist for Media Shield, a software company based in the U.S. Because it's a smaller, fast-paced environment, I wear a lot of different hats. On any given day, you can find me:
- Designing and building custom websites for our clients.
- Setting up backend workflows and automations.
- Deploying and configuring AI agents.
- Diving deep into complex technical issues to help clients unblock their workflows.
I love the adaptability that tech demands, but my roots are in physical things. I graduated from Karadeniz Technical University with a degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering.
Lately, I've realized how much I miss the discipline I spent four years studying. During university, my absolute favorite subjects were 3D design, CAD modeling, and technical drawing (I was consistently at the top of my class there). I used to spend hours drawing complex machine parts and tools just as a hobby. Because of that, I'm currently looking to transition back into the engineering world, specifically aiming for a career focused on CAD design, additive manufacturing, or materials development. You can see some of the CAD works I did in school on my GrabCAD profile.
Fun fact: I did briefly enroll in an associate degree program for computer programming while working in tech, but quickly dropped out when I realized I prefer learning things on my own terms rather than sitting through rigid, outdated curriculums.
Beyond Work
When I step away from the glowing screens and CAD software, I usually spend my time on a few core passions:
- Martial Arts: I started kickboxing when I was 19. I fell completely in love with the discipline, focus, and artistry of it, and it has been a consistent part of my life ever since.
- Books: I'm a big reader, with a particular weakness for psychological depth and Russian literature, especially Dostoevsky.
- Chess: I love the strategy of the game. If you play, feel free to add me on chess.com so we can match up.
About This Site
I'm planning to keep this website active for the long haul. This is its first year out in the wild, and my goal is to build it into a personal digital playground and blog.
I don't want to limit myself to just one niche. Moving forward, I'll be using this space to write about a bit of everything: engineering design insights, tech experiments and workflows, lessons learned from starting out in my career, books I'm reading, and whatever else captures my attention along the way. Consider it a living archive of my journey and the things I'm figuring out in real time.
Elsewhere
I use ujeshli as my handle across almost every platform. It's simply my full surname, and since it's quite unique, I've stuck with it as my digital identity for years.