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Celonis Academy Learner Spotlight: Sevde Aydin’s “aha moment” with process mining
How do you combine data science and industrial engineering? For Sevde Aydin, process mining has been the answer and it’s taken her on an enlightening and rewarding personal and professional journey.
Aydin, a senior at Gebze Technical University in Türkiye, was looking for an educational and career path where she could apply her interest in data-driven decision making with her engineering studies.
“At my university, the lecturers always described industrial engineers as system doctors,” Aydin told me. “I realized that process mining, a technology that bridges data and process sciences, can scan business processes like an X-ray machine (or an MRI with object-centric process mining), identifying hidden opportunities for value creation and ways to capture them. In that brief moment of enlightenment, I knew I had found exactly what I was looking for in terms of my career.”
Celonis Academy: Motivating, user-friendly and flexible
Aydin’s introduction to process mining came when she was looking at graduate programs. She was particularly interested in Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and one of their online course caught her attention, “Process Mining: Data Science in Action” taught by Prof. Wil van der Aalst (the Godfather of process mining and Chief Scientist at Celonis). Aydin took the course and never looked back. She soon began taking courses through Celonis Academy, our free online training platform. She would eventually earn multiple learner badges, including Process Mining - From Theory to Execution, Deliver Business Value with Celonis and Implement Object-Centric Process Mining.
“I would describe Celonis Academy as motivating, because every new detail I learn about process mining brings me joy,” Aydin said. “It’s also user-friendly because Celonis' overall ease of use is appealing. And finally, the Academy is flexible because it allows me to learn at my own pace and explore topics that interest me.”
I asked Aydin if she would recommend Celonis Academy to other learners.
“Yes, I would definitely recommend it because I believe that Celonis Academy is one of the best starting points for learning process mining,” she told me. “Process mining can be challenging for beginners to understand, so it’s important to see how the theory and technology are put into practice with data. Celonis Academy provides this.”
Her interest in process mining has also spread to those around her.
“My classmates are now asking me what process mining is and what it's used for,” Aydin said. “They also ask me where they can learn more, and I immediately suggest the Celonis Academy. The contents and videos are generally short, straightforward, easy-to-understand and it has a user-friendly interface.”
A research project, two internships and a world of opportunities
Aydin’s process mining journey began with an online course, but she soon realized that to “truly grasp the value” it could deliver, she needed real-world experience. She needed to apply the knowledge and techniques she was learning to actual business process data. And she wasn’t going to start small.
In 2022, she applied for a research grant from the prestigious TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye) 2209-B program, which funds undergraduate student projects. Her proposal, “Providing Sustainability and Efficiency by Applying Process Mining in the Industry,” was awarded funding in March 2023. And soon, she would be working alongside some of the world’s best process mining researchers and professionals, including Prof. van der Aalst, to help a multi-billion-dollar company streamline operations, reduce carbon emissions and deliver significant value.
Borusan Cat, a Türkiye-based heavy equipment dealer and part of the Borusan Group, started using Celonis in 2022 and was the industry partner for Aydin’s project. In July 2023, Aydin traveled to the city of Aachen in Germany for an Erasmus+ internship with the Process and Data Science (PADS) group at RWTH Aachen University.
Sevde Aydin at RWTH Aachen University in 2023.
Over the next three months, she worked on her research project to analyze the company’s after-sales technical services process using process mining techniques. She worked with Gyunam Park, a PhD candidate in the PADS group, to implement object-centric process mining (OCPM) and completed the project with the support of Borusan Cat’s Digital & Technology and Process Excellence team. By looking at the daily activities and schedules of service technicians, Aydin was able to identify ways to improve their productivity and efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of the process.
“We turned the case-centric event log into an object-centric event log using the one-to-many relationship between the ‘technician’ and the ‘schedule’ in the process by defining them as object types,” said Aydin. “After implementing object-centric process mining, we were able to do advanced analysis and identify bottlenecks in the process, such as conflicting schedules.” This analysis wasn’t possible with traditional, case-centric process mining techniques.
The findings from Aydin’s work were outlined in the workshop paper, Analyzing After-Sales Service Process Using Object-Centric Process Mining: A Case Study, presented at the process mining conference, ICPM 2023, in the workshop track Process Querying, Manipulation, and Intelligence (PQMI 2023) in Rome.
Read:How Borusan Cat streamlines accounts receivable and accelerates transformation with Celonis
On the horizon: Master’s degree and more
After finishing her internship at PADS, Aydin returned to her studies at GTU in Türkiye, but her process mining journey continued. In Oct 2023, she started an internship with Borusan CAT, where she supports the company’s process mining initiatives, including a project to optimize their Accounts Payable operations. Aydin also told me she’s completing courses for the Celonis Pathway to Rising Business Star, part of the Rising Stars Program from the Celonis Academic Alliance. When she’s not working or studying, Aydin said she spends her time reading, trying out different recipes (especially desserts) and exploring new places.
After graduating from GTU this year, Aydin plans to pursue a master’s degree in Germany, studying technical infrastructure and business process management. She plans to continue her work in process mining and eventually get a job leading digital transformation projects.
Prof. Wil van der Aalst (left) and Sevde Aydin (right) at PADS in 2023.
Regardless of what the future holds, Aydin’s work with PADS, Borusan CAT, and Celonis has left an indelible and positive mark on her professional and personal path.
“This past year has undoubtedly been one of the best times in my life,” she told me. “Being surrounded by individuals who share a commitment to excellence and strong drive for success was incredibly rewarding,” she continued. “It was also an incredible feeling to meet face-to-face with people you had followed for so long. From the first day, they treated me warmly, cheerfully and attentively, as if I were family, and supported me in every way. I made valuable friendships, and we still keep in touch.”
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