Can Ayter — Computational Linguist

Summary

Computational linguist and data scientist focused on language data, NLP, and machine learning. My graduate background in linguistics spans phonetics, typology, and second language acquisition. I pair that training with hands on ML engineering to build practical language tools. I work comfortably across multilingual datasets, model evaluation, and teams from many disciplines.

Experience

Linguistics & Language

Self Employed

2015 to Present

Translator & Interpreter

Freelance·Chicago, IL·🔄 Hybrid

Provide professional Turkish and English translation and live interpretation across legal, medical, and business settings.

KACE Company

2019 to 2023

Linguist (Cleared)

Full time·🧳 Travel

Provided cleared Turkish linguistic support, translation, transcription, and simultaneous interpretation, for U.S. federal law enforcement operations.

Indiana University

2013 to 2015

Graduate Assistant

Part time·Bloomington, IN·🏢 On-site

Conducted phonetics research and large scale speech data collection while teaching graduate level linguistics coursework.

Internships TÜRKSOYResearch Intern TÜRKSAMResearch Intern

TÜRKSOY

2012

Research Intern

Internship·Ankara, Turkey·🏢 On-site

Researched and edited reports on Turkic cultural and foreign policy topics for the International Organization of Turkic Culture.

TÜRKSAM

2011 to 2012

Research Intern

Internship·Ankara, Turkey·🏢 On-site

Tracked and researched news coverage of Turkish foreign policy for the International Relations and Strategic Studies Center, a Turkish foreign-policy think tank.

Finance Husch BlackwellBilling Analyst Molitor Financial GroupMortgage Loan Processor

Husch Blackwell

2016 to 2017

Billing Analyst

Full time·Chicago, IL·🏢 On-site

Reviewed attorney time entries against client billing guidelines and prepared client invoices for a national law firm.

Molitor Financial Group

2022 to 2023

Mortgage Loan Processor

Full time·Chicago, IL·🏢 On-site

Collected and verified borrower documentation, ordered appraisals and title work, and prepared mortgage loan files for underwriting review.

Fitness Fitness Formula ClubsFitness Specialist Renewa ClubFitness Trainer

Fitness Formula Clubs

2015 to 2016

Fitness Specialist

Full time·Chicago, IL·🏢 On-site

Designed and coached personalized strength and conditioning programs for members of a Chicago health club.

Renewa Club

2012 to 2013

Fitness Trainer

Part time·Ankara, Turkey·🏢 On-site

Delivered one on one personal training and fitness consulting at an Ankara health and wellness club.

Projects

Thesis

Towards Accounting for L2 Accent: The Case of Turkish Vowel Space

2015

M.A. Thesis · Indiana University

Acoustic Phonetics

An acoustic study of F1/F2 formant transfer in L1 English learners of L2 Turkish, built with Praat and Audacity, advised by Dr. Öner Özçelik. Continued today in Timbre.

Capstone

MADAIN

2024

Mole Analysis with Deep Adam Optimized Inception Network

Machine Learning · CNN·Team of 4

Convolutional neural network (InceptionV3 with Adam, built in TensorFlow and Keras) that sorts dermatoscopic skin lesion images into 7 diagnostic classes, 3 malignant and 4 benign, across the 10,015 image HAM10000 dataset. We benchmarked 9 architecture and optimizer combinations and tuned class weighting to prioritize melanoma recall, since false negatives are the most costly error. Deployed as a Streamlit web app.

The Network — live, shipped side projects

Language & Communication LangramTurkish learning app RosettaLanguage atlas SemaphoreSign-language AI TimbreAcoustic phonetics lab CipherTranslation & NLP FormantLinguistics toolkit OrkhonTurkic linguistics

Langram

Turkish for English speakers - a morphophonological engine that generates every exercise from the grammar, with research-grounded sequencing and diagnostics by linguistic cause.

TurkishSLAMorphology

Rosetta

Interactive map of 500+ languages - explore by family, grammar type, tone system, and endangerment status.

LanguagesCartography

Semaphore

Real-time AI sign language interpreter - MediaPipe hand tracking, ONNX model, LLM translation, ASL & ISL.

Sign LanguageComputer VisionAI

Timbre

Acoustic phonetics research on Turkish vowel acquisition - a cardinal vowel chart and F1/F2/F3 reference data across 41 languages, a direct extension of the thesis above.

PhoneticsAudioVisualization

Cipher

EN/TR/DE/FR/ES translation with real part-of-speech tagging and a purpose-built Turkish morphological analyzer.

TranslationNLPTurkish

Formant

Nine browser-only linguistics tools - IPA/English pronunciation conversion, vowel space plots, corpus analysis, phonological rules, and more.

LinguisticsPhoneticsIPA

Orkhon

Turkic-language companion - Turkish vowel/consonant harmony, orthography to IPA, and Old Turkic script transliteration.

TurkishLinguisticsPhonology

Body & Mind IronTraining platform ReverieMeditation suite NousCognitive training ForageAI pantry companion

Iron

Full-stack training platform - anatomy browser, workout builder, nutrition planner, and evidence-based programs.

FitnessNutritionAnatomy

Reverie

Science-backed meditation suite - binaural beats, breathing protocols, guided sessions, six mindfulness traditions.

MeditationWellness

Nous

Cognitive training battery - fluid intelligence, working memory, processing speed, and executive function games.

CognitionBrain Training

Forage

AI pantry companion - invent recipes from exactly what you have, fit to your macros, diet, and allergies, with nutrition data shared from Iron.

AIRecipes

Money & Decisions PrudenceBudgeting guide

Prudence

Conversational, research-backed budgeting guide - pay off debt the smart way, build a balanced budget, and weigh money decisions, with cited reasoning and full privacy.

FinanceBudgeting

Entertainment & Music VaultRetro arcade CadenceScrobble storyteller

Vault

Neo-retro arcade - eight neon-glow games: Snake, Tetris, Breakout, Solitaire, Mahjong, Pinball, Minesweeper, and a joke original (Florida Man).

ArcadeGames

Cadence

Last.fm scrobble storyteller - auto-posts weekly and monthly music digests to Bluesky with full stats.

MusicBluesky

Education

🎓 Master's Degree

Indiana University

2013 to 2015

M.A. Linguistics (CEUS)

Hamilton Lugar School·Central Eurasian Studies

Bloomington, IN·GPA 3.6

Thesis · Towards Accounting for L2 Accent: The Case of Turkish Vowel Space. An acoustic study of F1/F2 formant transfer in L1 English learners of L2 Turkish, built with Praat and Audacity, advised by Dr. Öner Özçelik.

✈️ Erasmus Exchange

Uppsala University

2010 to 2011

Linguistics & Philology

Faculty of Languages·Turkic Linguistics

Uppsala, Sweden

Exchange year studying Turkic linguistics, historical philology, and Swedish.

🎓 Bachelor's Degree

Hacettepe University

2009 to 2013

B.A. Linguistics

Faculty of Letters·English Linguistics

Ankara, Turkey·GPA 3.3

Undergraduate degree in linguistics spanning phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and sociolinguistics.

Certifications

Northwestern University

2023 to 2024

Data Science & Visualization

School of Professional Studies·Data Science & Visualization Boot Camp

Chicago, IL

Intensive program in data science and visualization covering Python, SQL, machine learning, and interactive dashboards.

IFAA GmbH

2012

Personal Fitness Trainer (C License)

Internationally recognized personal training certification covering exercise science, program design, and client coaching.

Languages

Turkish Native

English Full professional

Swedish Conversational

Tatar Conversational

Uzbek Conversational

Karaim Elementary

Skills

Linguistics & Phonetics

Phonetics Phonology Acoustic Analysis Praat Forensic Linguistics Discourse Analysis Sociolinguistics Morphology Syntax Semantics Typology Historical Linguistics

NLP & AI

Natural Language Processing Large Language Models Machine Learning Neural Machine Translation Prompt Engineering Computational Linguistics Speech Analytics Text Analytics Data Annotation Convolutional Neural Networks

Programming

Python JavaScript HTML CSS VBA Scripting APIs JSON

Data & Analysis

NumPy Pandas Matplotlib Statistics Modeling Microsoft Excel Data Ethics

Databases

SQL PostgreSQL / pgAdmin MongoDB NoSQL Hadoop

Visualization & Tools

Tableau Leaflet.js

Additional

Interests

Bodybuilding & strength training (IFAA licensed PT) · biking · hiking · world languages · international relations · Pink Floyd.

Can “Jon” Ayter