M. Şeref Sönmez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). He received his BSc in Metallurgical Engineering from ITU in 1996, joined the department as a research assistant in 1998, and completed his MSc there in 1999. He earned his PhD from ITU in 2006, during which he was a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. His research focuses on extractive metallurgy, hydrometallurgy, solvometallurgy, solution combustion synthesis, and recycling.