2019 OSA Ambassador Isinsu Baylam received her BS degree in physics from Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, in 2010 and her MS and PhD degrees in physics from Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2012 and 2017. She worked as a doctoral researcher at Koc University Surface Science and Technology Center, Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory, in Istanbul, Turkey. Her research interests include femtosecond lasers, near- and mid-infrared solid-state lasers, graphene and graphene-based saturable absorber devices, ultrafast spectroscopy, and nonlinear optics. Dr. Isinsu Baylam (Toker) currently works as an assistant professor at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), Physics Department, San Luis Obispo CA, US.

Dr. Baylam believes that encouraging a person to achieve their goals is one of the most exciting activities. She is eager to reach students, colleagues, and future scientists to share her technical/non-technical experiences with the help of the OSA Ambassador Program.  She is also passionate about diversity and gender equality in the STEM fields. Hence, Dr. Baylam is willing to discuss the diversity and gender related problems in the field for future improvements.