Draft:Erol Sancaktar

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Erol Sancaktar
Born	Ankara, Türkiye
Education	Boğaziçi University (BS), Virginia Tech (MS, PhD7)
Known for	Research in adhesion4/adhesives/adhesive joints, electrically conductive adhesives, composite materials, polymer engineering, failure prevention
Awards	ASME Fellow (1997)5 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (2023)6 ASME Technical Committee Chair Award (2023)7 IAAM Scientist Award (2021)7
Scientific career
Fields	Polymer engineering, mechanical engineering, adhesion science, rheology
Workplaces	Clarkson University1 University of Akron2
Doctoral students	20 (Listed3)

Dr. Erol Sancaktar is an American engineer and academic who is a professor emeritus of polymer engineering at the University of Akron². He is widely recognized for his extensive academic and industrial research in polymer materials², adhesion⁴, and structural failure prevention⁷.

Early life and Education

Erol Sancaktar was born in Ankara, Türkiye. His father, Mehmet Ali Sancaktar, was a leading advocate for the protection of children, especially orphans, during the early years of the Turkish Republic which had just emerged from extended period of wars following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Mehmet Ali completed his education at Sorbonne University (Paris, France) with a scholarship from the Ottoman government, studying children pedagogy and education psychology. Upon his return, he published his class notes from Sorbonne in multiple textbooks including a 555-page volume^8,9. He later joined the Turkish Society for the Protection of Children (Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumu) which was established by the Turkish Republic Parliament and took on leading positions including editorships for children’s magazines published by the Society¹⁰.

Erol Sancaktar moved to Istanbul with his family after the death of his father, eventually receiving a scholarship for his high school education at Robert Academy in Istanbul where he learned English during his preparatory year. He subsequently obtained another scholarship to attend Robert College (now Boğaziçi University) where he earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering with honors (1974). He worked as a teaching assistant for laboratory classes at Robert College while working towards his degree. A research assistantship offered in mechanical engineering brought him to Virginia Tech in 1974 to pursue his M.S. degree, which he completed successfully in 1976. He then moved to the prestigious Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) Department of the same University to pursue his Ph.D. degree in Engineering Mechanics which he completed in 1979³. At the ESM Department, he was a research assistant and later a research associate working on an adhesives project funded by the NASA Langley Research Center. He also taught classes at the ESM department as an instructor during the last year of his Ph.D. work (1978).

Academic Career

Sancaktar began his full-time teaching career at Clarkson University¹, Potsdam, New York, serving in the Mechanical Engineering Department¹ from 1978 to 1996. In 1996, he joined the faculty at the University of Akron as a Professor of Polymer Engineering. He expanded his academic footprint at the institution in 2009 by securing a joint appointment as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Sancaktar retired from full-time teaching in August 2020, at which point he was granted the status of Professor Emeritus^2,6.

Research and Professional Service

Erol Sancaktar's research spans polymer materials, adhesion science, composite materials, structural failure analysis, and sustainable engineering. His notable works include excimer laser applications in polymers, developing electrically conductive adhesives, strength and durability optimization of adhesive joint geometries and their bonded surfaces, composite materials design and analyses and utilizing biomass fillers for eco-friendly polymer processing. His work with excimer laser-assisted processing of polymers related to applications in the medical fields, including immobilization of glucose oxidase on pH-responsive polyimide-polyacrylic acid smart membranes fabricated using selective precision ablation and pulse laser polymerization by 248 nm KrF excimer laser for drug delivery^11,12,13. Sancaktar’s work on electrically conductive adhesives contributed to understanding and improving conduction efficiency and strength of electronically conductive adhesive joints through many cited journal and handbook articles¹³. His work on adhesive joint geometries and surface optimization led to several patents¹⁴, handbook chapters¹³ and cited papers¹³. His work on composite materials included design and analysis of composite springs for lightweight structural design applications, as well as nanocomposites^13,14. Sancaktar’s work on carbon black replacement in styrene butadiene compounds using eco-friendly fillers earned him the IAAM Scientist Award in 2021⁷.

Over his career, Sancaktar and co-workers authored over 125 peer-reviewed journal articles and 85 chapters in books edited by others; he authored 5 handbook chapters and edited 25 academic books and special journal issues^{6,13,15,16,17}. Erol Sancaktar and co-workers obtained research and grant support for 56 projects during 1980-2022. These include 8 National Science Foundation grants¹⁸ spanning over 25 years, 3 teaching grants and 20 projects sponsored by Industry⁶. Prof. Sancaktar mentored 20 Ph.D.³, 51 M.S. students and 20 Visiting Scholars/Postdocs during his academic career at Clarkson and University of Akron.

An elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)⁵, Sancaktar served as the Chair of the ASME Design Engineering Division Technical Committee on Reliability Stress Analysis and Failure Prevention (RSAFP) for many years^7,19 and organized 30 professional conferences⁶ many of which were held under the purview of the RSAFP Technical Committee^6,13,16,. Sancaktar also served as associate editor of ASME Transactions Journals: J. Mechanical Design^19,20, and J. Medical Devices, for several terms¹⁹.

Sancaktar serves on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Adhesion²¹, Reviews of Adhesion and Adhesives²², ChemEngineering²³, and he is Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Modern Polymer Chemistry and Materials²⁴.

Outside of academia, he has provided technical consultancy to corporate firms and United States federal agencies, including NASA and the U.S. Army^6,13,25, as well as serving as an expert witness at U.S. International Trade Commission⁶.

Core Research Focus Areas

Electrically Conductive Adhesives (ECAs)

Dr. Sancaktar investigated alternative material matrices for microelectronic packaging and structural circuits. His research extensively profiled the conduction behavior of epoxy matrices filled with diverse silver (Ag), nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu) particle shapes (powders, flakes, and filaments). These studies established critical dimensional thresholds where thin adhesive films transition from 3-dimensional to 2-dimentional conductivity, offering architectural baselines for structural flexibility without relying strictly on pure noble metals^13,16,17,26.

Advanced Adhesion Mechanics, Joint Design & Processing

Sancaktar established mathematical models and structural criteria for structural adhesives, sealants, and polymer welding boundaries based on mechanical, rheological, thermodynamic and chemical principles. His work systematically details viscoelasticity frameworks, linear/nonlinear deformation theories, and damage mechanics governing the 'interphase' layer between substrates and polymer resins. This research breaks down how specific processing conditions and curing cycles alter the stress localization and failure progression of polymer composites^13,16,17,26.

Eco-Friendly Polymers & Tire Sustainability

Dr. Sancaktar’s work aims to replace traditional fossil-fuel derivatives and carbon black with renewable biomass alternatives to optimize polymer engineering lifecycle footprint. His lab pioneered methods to functionalize biological waste—such as pyrolyzed soybean hulls, as well as industrial waste, such as fly ash, as practical conductive fillers or compounding reinforcement materials within rubber components and high-density polyethylenes^{13,16,17,18,26}.

Patent Methodologies

• Edge Tapering of Adhesively Bonded Tapes and Membranes: Adhesively connected overlapping joints of (for example) roofing membranes which are typically ethylene propylene diene monomer elastomers are characterized in that the overlapping edges of the membranes which are joined by double sided rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesive tape are tapered. The taper angle is preferably less than 30 degrees to the horizontal. This method can provide reductions in separation or puckering of the lap joint e.g. due to wind shear forces and thus increases the life of the joint¹⁴. Tapering also prevents spirally wrapped adhesive tapes from incorporating a spiral void and linearly overlapped tapes with linear voids underneath them which can eventually give rise to corrosion and other types of failure. The method can even be used with conductive tapes which are used in radar evading aircraft.

• Surface Enhancement by Incorporation of Magnetic Particles by Electromagnetic Molds, Rollers, Coating Blades, and Brushes: A method for applying a magnetic element to a, preferably polymeric, surface, to improve its engineering properties, includes the steps of providing a magnetized surface capable of holding a magnetic element, providing a substrate having a surface to be modified by the addition of the magnetic element, bringing the magnetic element into contact with the surface of the substrate, eliminating the magnetism of the magnetized surface to create an un-magnetized surface, and withdrawing the un-magnetized surface from contact with the surface of the substrate, thereby leaving behind the magnetic element on the surface of the substrate. This method may be particularly effective in tire building¹⁴.

Awards

• ASME Fellow (1997)⁵
• Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (2023)⁶
• ASME Technical Committee Chair Award (2023)⁷
• IAAM Scientist Award (2021)⁷
• IAAM Fellow (2023)¹⁹

Community Service

In March of 2025, Erol Sancaktar started to serve on the Board of Directors of Towpath Credit Union (Fairlawn, Ohio) as elected member²⁷.

References

1. https://resources.clarkson.edu/mosaic/files/assets/basic-html/page401.html Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
2. https://www.uakron.edu/polymer/about-us/our-people/emeritus Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
3. https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=138909 Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
4. https://scholargps.com/scholars/58613206236623/erol-sancaktar Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
5. https://www.asme.org/getmedia/74157266-4e5e-4f49-a84d-852345a20693/fellows-all-updated-december-2025_1.pdf Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
6. https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/503977/erol-sancaktar-phd-presente Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
7. https://x.com/sancaktar_erol?lang=en Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
8. https://oygm.meb.gov.tr/kitap/kitap/5/files/basic-html/page131.html Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
9. https://oygm.meb.gov.tr/kitap/kitap/5/files/basic-html/page15.html Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
10. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/tezDetay.jsp?id=D0jLqgBCb0E6Rps90NyzEg&no=5VyTa95SDDz9nGFiavLWdQ Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=erol+sancaktar Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
12. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Erol+Sancaktar Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
13. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Erol-Sancaktar Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
14. https://patents.google.com/?inventor=erol+sancaktar&oq=erol+sancaktar Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
15. https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Erol+Sancaktar&author=Sancaktar+Erol Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
16. https://uzb.swisscovery.slsp.ch/discovery/search?vid=41SLSP_UZB:UZB Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
17. https://sciprofiles.com/profile/3035?source=5 Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
18. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/search-results?ExpiredAwards=true&queryText=Erol%20Sancaktar Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
19. https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=Erol%20Sancaktar&origin=GLOBAL_SEARCH_HEADER Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
20. Transaction of the ASME, Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 120, p. 160, (June) 1998.
21. https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/gadh20/about-this-journal#editorial-board Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
22. https://raajournal.com/editorial-board/ Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
23. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ChemEngineering/editors?page_no=3 Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
24. https://www.innovationforever.com/Journals/JMPCM/EditorialBoard Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
25. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search?q=Erol%20Sancaktar&page=%7B%22from%22:0,%22size%22:25%7D Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
26. https://uakron.academia.edu/ErolSancaktar Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.
27. https://www.towpathcu.com/annualreports Accessed, Aug.16, 2026.

External links

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C36&q=Erol+Sancaktar&btnG= Google Scholar - Erol Sancaktar Publication Index

https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/search-results?page=1&q=erol%20sancaktar ASME Digital Collection - Erol Sancaktar Publication Index