Danny Han visits Özyeğin University in Istanbul

Last week, Danny represented HMSM, and the Research Centre Future of Food as a visiting scholar at Özyegin University in Istanbul, an institution recognised for its strong positioning as an entrepreneurial research university. Notably, its Gastronomy programme operates in close partnership with Le Cordon Bleu, reflecting a shared commitment to excellence in culinary education and innovation.

Lectures, knowledge exchange & collaboration

During the visit, Danny delivered a series of lectures to interdisciplinary student groups from Gastronomy and Interior Design, who collaborated on the development of new restaurant concepts. These sessions emphasised the integration of food and beverage concepting in line with contextual design and multisensory experience creation that closely align with HMSM’s minor Gastronomic Experiences.

As part of the inaugural Gastronomy and Hotel Innovation Conference, Danny presented the opening keynote titled “Circular Gastronomy Reimagined: From Systems to Experiences”, in which he outlined how circularity principles can be translated into meaningful, experience-driven gastronomy concepts. The keynote highlighted the importance of moving beyond systemic thinking towards the design of tangible guest experiences.

On the second day of the conference, Danny joined a panel discussion on the role of artificial intelligence in hospitality, alongside Prof. Cindy Heo (EHL Hospitality Business School) and Dr. Alvaro Arrieta (CETT Barcelona). During this session, he introduced HMSM’s ongoing work on the Meta Stage, positioning embodied AI and virtual human interaction as a key frontier for future hospitality experiences, education, and research.

Beyond teaching and conference participation, the visit facilitated valuable exchanges with faculty members and culinary instructors, identifying multiple opportunities for collaboration in both research and education. The discussions laid the groundwork for future joint initiatives and knowledge exchange between the institutions.

As a next step in this collaboration, Dr. Hanım Kader Şanlıöz-Özgen from Özyegin University will visit HMSM in June to explore our educational approach and research infrastructure in Maastricht and deliver several lectures to our HMSM students during her visit.

Highlights