Mert Aktar is Director of Engineering Technical Services (ETS) at Shire Human Genetic Therapies (HGT), Lexington, MA. He leads and drives the engineering function supporting the manufacturing of commercial and clinical products. His group provides technical operations support at multiple Shire HGT sites covering Upstream, Downstream, Plant Engineering and Automation functions. Mert joined Shire HGT in April 2011. Prior to Shire HGT, Mert has been with Biogen Idec working in Manufacturing Engineering and Global Project Engineering functions in Cambridge, MA and Hillerod, Denmark. He received an MS in Engineering Management from Tufts University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Mert currently serves on the ISPE Boston Area Chapter Board of Directors.