Dilek Barlas, longtime Bedford resident, died of a heart attack at his new home in Billerica, MA on December 24, at the age of 65. Dr. Barlas was a well-known physicist, engineer, and semiconductor entrepreneur, as well as an avid amateur woodworker and a past coach of youth soccer in Bedford.
He is survived by his son Nuri, who teaches and coaches in Bedford; his mother, Melahat, and sister, Mine, and her family in Istanbul, Turkey.
Visiting hours are 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday, January 5 at the Bedford Funeral Home, 167 Great Road, Bedford; services will be held on Tuesday morning, January 6 at 10 a.m. at the First Parish Church UU, 75 Great Road, Bedford. Burial is private.
Dr. Barlas was a naturalized U.S. citizen. A native of Istanbul, Turkey, he graduated from Istanbul’s St. George School, then came to the U.S. to attend Bates College in Lewiston, ME. At Bates, he was the first in his class to be elected to Phi Beta Kappa, in his sophomore year. While at Bates, he was invited to join a research project at Brookhaven National Laboratories on Long Island, NY. After graduating from Bates in 1973 he entered Brandeis University, where he received a Ph.D. in Physics in 1977. Following a post-doctoral assignment in France, he was employed as a research physicist at Raytheon Research Division and MIT Lincoln Laboratory and held a number of top engineering positions with Adams-Russell, M/A-Com, ST Microsonics, and TriQuint Semiconductor, where he organized and headed the Boston Design Center. He also served as an international consultant and held positions as vice-president or chief technology officer with a variety of start-up companies. Most recently he was VP of Engineering at Eta Devices, Cambridge.
Although Dilek spent his workdays in high tech, his deep passion was woodworking. In the 1980s, he completed a series of night programs at North Bennett St. School in Boston’s North End and was particularly interested in carving. More recently, as a member of the Period Furniture Group of the New Hampshire Woodworkers Guild, he took multiple courses with Phil Lowe, Al Breed, and Mary May.
His home was full of beautiful hand-made items, including a Queen Anne dining set with chairs, period sideboards, a reproduction Townsend Document Chest made in conjunction with the Period Furniture Group’s program at Al Breed’s shop, and additional items adapted from museum-quality period furniture.
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