Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Siddika Demir worked in the USA, Switzerland and now in Germany. She is the founder of Orangenkern GmbH, where she partners and invests in technology solutions for medicine and consumer applications using AI.  She is a founding partner in med.essence GmbH.  Previously, she held executive and senior leadership positions at Roche in Basel, Switzerland and San Francisco as well as at Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco and Houston.  Her career in diverse industries, in both large private and public companies, and experience across different functions (engineering, procurement, supply chain, operational excellence, project and portfolio management) allow her to connect people and ideas and bring different perspectives.

Siddika served as the president of the Society of Women Engineers, a global not-for-profit organization of 20,000 members during her presidency term in 2010-2011.  Known as a champion of STEM, diversity, equity and inclusion, she has served on the boards of engineering, cultural and ethnic non-profits. She has been recognized with numerous awards for her leadership and professional achievements.  Siddika holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in civil engineering from University of Houston and Purdue University, respectively, and an executive education certificate from Smith College.  Siddika is married to Dr. Emre Velipasaoglu and they have twins and reside in Germany.