The “Photonics and Optical Wireless Communication Laboratory – POWCOL” is directed by assistant Professor Dr. Heba Yuksel. Dr. Yuksel received a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) in 1996, M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1998 and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from UMCP in 2005. In 2005, she was a post-doctorate research associate at UMCP. She is currently an assistant Professor of Electrical and Electronics engineering at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Yuksel is also the Erasmus/Exchange coordinator within the department. Dr. Yuksel has published numerous conference and Journal papers and has been in the organizing committee since 2012 of the SPIE Optics & Photonics conference held annually in San Diego. The main research conducted at POWCOL is: Atmospheric turbulence, transmitter/receiver design, aperture averaging, and image sensing for Free-Space Optical Communication links, optical fiber communication systems, 3D surface topography using optical systems, optical temperature sensors, antennas and Visible Light Communication (VLC).