Speakers

Athanasios Kyriazis
General Secretary for Research and Innovation 

Spiros Nikolaidis, Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Nikolaidis Spyridon received the Diploma and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Patras University, Greece, in 1988 and 1994 respectively. Since September 1996 he has been with the Department of Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece where he is currently a full professor. For the period 2003-2017 he also belonged to the contract teaching staff of the Hellenic Open University. He is employed in the area of digital circuit and system design. His current research interests include: design of high speed and low power digital circuits, modeling the operations of basic CMOS structures, development of analytical expressions for the propagation delay and the power consumption of logic gates, modeling the power consumption of embedded processors and implementation of applications in embedded systems, leak detection and localization in metallic pipelines. He is author and co-author in more than 200 scientific articles in international journals and conference proceedings. Two articles presented in international conferences were achieved honorary awards. He contributed in three scientific book chapters. He is the founder and organizes or co-organizes from 2012 the annual International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies (MOCAST) while he has organized the 27th International Symposium on Power and Timing Modeling, Optimization and Simulation (PATMOS-2017). He also contributes to a number of research projects funded by European Union and Greek Government where in many of that he has the scientific responsibility. He is a Senior member of IEEE.

Emmanuel Zervakis
President at Hellenic Emerging Technologies Industry Association

Emmanuel Zervakis was born in Athens, Greece in 1975. He received both the Bachelor degree in Physics and the Master degree in microelectronics from University of Patras in 1997 and 1999, respectively. He received the PhD in 2004 from National Technical University of Athens, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. During his PhD, he designed signal conditioning electronics for solid state detectors for High Energy Physics Experiments.
He worked from 2001 up to 2004 to THETA Microelectronics as a Junior integrated circuits designer. He participated in all projects of the company designing both baseband and radio frequency analog circuits introduced to the new transceiver architectures targeting modern wireless communications. He joined THEON Sensors early in 2005 as a Senior Electrical Engineer in the MEMS department and from 2008 he became Electronics Development Manager. His main activities included designing and development of analog and mixed analog/digital integrated circuits and PCB’s for the signal conditioning electronics of the MEMS transducers. He participated either as Project Manager or Technical Leader to various ESA, FP7 and National Funded projects that were successfully implemented. In 2010 became Director of the MEMS Business Unit of THEON Sensors S.A.
Dr. Em. Zervakis became the General Manager of European Sensor Systems S.A in 2013, a high tech company developing sensors systems based on MEMS technologies targeting medical, industrial and aerospace applications. At 2018 became Chief Operating Officer of ES Systems and since 2021 he is the Chief Business Officer. He is responsible for corporate strategy, new technologies and business development.
Since 2012, he is BoD member of the Hellenic Association of Space Industry (HASI) and since 2016 President of the Hellenic Emerging Technologies Industry Association (HETIA).

Prof. Dr. Dimitris Mourtzis
Director of Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation
University of Patras

Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics. He is Vice President of Research and Development Council of the University of Patras, Founding Member at the CLEAN AVIATION JU, Director of the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation. He is Fellow of the CIRP, of the IFAC 5.2, of the IFIP WG 5.7, of the SPEL, and IALF Scientific Committee Member. He is Member of the EFFRA, of the ASME, of the SME, of the IEEE, of the SAE, of the EMIRACLE, and Founding Member of the EASN. His scientific interests are focus on the Advanced Simulation, Design, Planning and Control of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, Robotic Systems, Automation, eXtended Reality, Maintenance, Blockchain and Metaverse. He authored one Elsevier Book in 2022 and is included in the 2% of global top scientists. He has won Best Paper Awards (APMS 2012, IFAC MIM 2022, MDPI Applied Sciences) and the Best presentation Award in 2nd Digital Twin Conference. He is the STC Dn Section Editor in the CIRP CNTPE board and Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several Scopus Indexed International Journals. He authored the Book “Design and Operation of Production Networks for Mass Personalization in the Era of Cloud Technology” published in 2022 by Elsevier and he is Authoring a second Elsevier Book entitled “Advances in Manufacturing from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0”to be published in June 2024.  He participates as Editorial Board Member at thirteen (13) International Scientific Journals, as Editor / Guest Editor in eight (8) International Scientific Journals with high impact factor and as co-Editor in the MDPI Topic: Smart Manufacturing and Industry 5.0. More specifically, he is Associate Section Editor-in-Chief of Robotics and Automation in Applied Sciences, Area Editor in Computers & Industrial Engineering and Specialty Chief Editor in Digital Manufacturing Section in Frontiers in Manufacturing Technology. Additionally, he is Editorial Board Member in International Journal of Production Research – IJPR, in Journal of Manufacturing Systems – JMS, in International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing – IJCIM, in Journal of Engineering Design (Advisory Board Member), in Machines, in Advances in Manufacturing, in Mathematical Problems in Engineering of Hindawi, in Journal of Green Manufacturing Open (Executive Editor), in Digital Twin, and in Digital Engineering and Digital Twin. He has chaired and organized four Webinars in cooperation with MDPI Applied Sciences and OAE  in the area of Human Centric Systems Towards Industry 5.0 and advances in Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) towards Industry 5.0. He has also been interviewed by MDPI Encyclopedia. He has authored monographs, book chapters, papers, white papers, and research project reports, has published numerous articles in International scientific journals (peer-reviewed).  He has published more than three hundred and twenty (327) scientific papers. The unique citations of his published work exceed 14,000 (h-index 61/i-10 index: 205) according to the databases: Google Scholar, Scopus, and Research Gate.

Tom Katsioulas
President and CEO Archon Design Solutions, Inc.

Tom Katsioulas has many years of experience in EDA, semiconductors, electronics, embedded systems, software and IoT applications. Tom is currently serving at Department of Commerce IoT Advisory Board in connection with the DIGIT Act. Tom is the CEO of Archon Design Solutions, focusing on facilitating Public-Private Partnerships and ecosystems for trusted supply chain traceability of electronics and IoT devices. Most recently, Tom was the Board Chair of the GSA Trusted IoT Ecosystem Security (TIES), a collaborative group of companies in the IoT value chain promoting end-to-end solutions and services for various vertical markets. Prior to GSA, Tom led the TrustChain business at Siemens focusing on chip and supply chain security as well as trusted IoT solutions for the industrial edge. Tom has held various executive, management and engineering positions at Digital Equipment, Cadence, Synopsys, AmmoCore Technology and Forte Design Automation. Tom holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a B.S. in Computer Engineering from University of Bridgeport, Connecticut and a Certificate on IoT Business Implications and Opportunities from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Kaushal Vora
Sr. Director of Business Acceleration & Ecosystem, Renesas 

With over 15 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Kaushal has worked in several technology areas including healthcare, telecom infrastructure, and solid-state lighting. At Renesas, he leads a global team responsible for defining and developing IoT solutions for the company’s microcontroller & microprocessor product lines with a focus on AI & ML, Cybersecurity, Functional Safety, and connectivity among other areas. Kaushal has a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Prof. Dimitrios Kyritsis
Emeritus Professor, ICT for Sustainable Manufacturing at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Senior Adviser, Department of Informatics of the University of Oslo, Norway

Prof. Dr. Dimitris Kyritsis (Kiritsis) is Emeritus Professor of ICT for Sustainable Manufacturing at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland and Senior Adviser at the Department of Informatics of the University of Oslo, Norway. His research interests are Closed Loop Lifecycle Management, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Semantic Technologies and Data Analytics for Engineering Applications, Industrial Ontologies, Knowledge Graphs and Cognitive Digital Twins for industrial applications. He served as Guest Professor at the IMS Center of the University of Cincinnati, and Invited Professor at the University of Technology of Compiègne, the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard and at ParisTech ENSAM Paris. Dimitris is actively involved in EU research programs in the area of Connected Factories of the Future, Zero Defect Manufacturing, Circular Manufacturing, Twin (Green and Digital) Transition etc. He has more than 250 publications. Dimitris served as Director of the Doctoral Program on Robotics, Control and Intelligent Systems of EPFL from 2019 t0 2021. From 2013 to 2019. Dimitris was the Chair of IFIP WG5.7-Advances in Production Management Systems. He is founding member of the International Society for Engineering Asset Management and co-founder of the Industrial Ontologies Foundry. Dimitris was Member of the WEF Global Future Council on Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains from 2019 to 2022, since 2022 he is Editor-in-Chief of the Open Access journal Frontiers in Manufacturing Technology and since 2023 Member of the WEF Impact Circle: Digital Transformation of Industries.

Prof. Kostas Doris
NXP Semiconductors, The Netherlands

Kostas Doris (Kostas.doris@nxp.com) is a Fellow at NXP Semiconductors and Professor at Technical University of Eindhoven, where he also received the PhD Degree in 2004. He worked at Philips Research Laboratories and NXP Research developing high performance data converters for wireless infrastructure and cable modem applications. Since 2012 he is focusing on automotive mm-wave radar leading R&D activities across mm-wave CMOS transceivers, process technology and advanced packaging for NXP’s next generation mm-wave radar products. Kostas is running academic research and scholarship programs with European universities.  He is the (co-) author of multiple papers, patents, and books on data converters and RFCMOS radar. He was Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions of Circuits and Systems, and Technical Program Committee member, EU Vice and EU Chair of the IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference. Currently he is serving as ISSCC Forum Champion and will be co-chair for the 2025 European Radar Conference in The Netherlands.

Dr. Vasileios Chatzikos
CEO Siemens A.E., Greece

Following a multi-year professional experience in management, sales and marketing positions in the technology sector of large companies in Greece, as well as having a record of significant academic achievements, such as his participation in European research programs, lectures and publications in international research journals, Dr. Vasileios Chatzikos joined Siemens SA in 2016, taking over the position of Business Unit Manager in the Electrical Products department at first and the Motion Control department later.
Since February 2021, Dr. Vasileios Chatzikos has been the Head of Digital Industries at Siemens Greece and is leading the effort to adopt technological solutions and innovations from Siemens’ global network in Greece, with the aim of accelerating the digital transformation of Greek enterprises and the transition of the Greek industry to Industry 4.0.
He took over the role of CEO of Siemens A.E. in February 1, 2022, and remains the Country Head of Digital Industries.
Dr. Vasileios Chatzikos holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Sheffield.

John Kikidis
Global Ecosystem Lead, Renesas

John Kikidis is a senior professional, experienced technology executive, co-founder and entrepreneur in technology innovative startups, with thirty years of business experience in software, electronics and semiconductor industries. He is currently Global Ecosystem Lead for Renesas Ready Partners Network at the Business Development department of the Embedded Microcontroller Division at Renesas, and co-founder and Chairman at Eyelead Software, a University of Patras spin-off, in 3D visualization software technology and applications. He is also member in the board of directors at the Hellenic Emerging Technologies Industry Association (HETIA) and at Orange Grove. He is an inventor in some patents and author to a number of referred and invited publications. Ηe received his Diploma in Electrical Engineering (Integrated Master) in 1990, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Patras, Greece.

Byron Chrysovergis
Technology Transfer and Innovation Manager at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Byron Chrysovergis holds a Master in Mechanical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, specializing in Industrial Management, and a Master of Science in Management of Technology from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He has worked as an Investment Associate at YES!Delft, the largest European tech startup accelerator, as an Operations Manager at OK!Thess, and as a Technology Transfer and Innovation Manager at the Technology Transfer Office of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is also currently the Project Manager at Walk AUTh Innovation Accelerator.

Spyros Kiartzis
Manager New Technologies and Alternative Energy Sources
HELLENiQ ENERGY Holdings S.A.

Dr. Spyros Kiartzis is the New Technologies and Alternative Energy Sources Manager, for the HELLENiQ ENERGY Group. He received his Diploma and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the School of Engineering; and his degree in Economics from the School of Law and Economics; all from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and finally his MBA from the Hellenic Open University. Following a period in the construction sector supervising restoration projects in Mount Athos, he served as a part-time instructor in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in the University of Western Macedonia and in the International Hellenic University. He joins the HELLENiQ ENERGY Group in 2001 where he held a range of posts in maintenance and project construction sections (including the Project Management Team for the construction of a 390 MW CCPP), before becoming Manager of New Technologies and Alternative Energy Sources. He is Managing Director of ElpeFuture an e-mobility service provider (Subsidiary of HELLENiQ ENERGY Group), and also Managing Director of Energiaki Pylou-Methonis SA and of ELPE Renewables Aiolika Parka Evias SA wind park owners. He is also member of the Board of Directors of “ELPEDISON S.A.” and “HELLENiQ Renewable Energy Sources S.A.” (Subsidiary of HELLENiQ ENERGY Group) and has served as member of the Board of Directors of “EKO Bulgaria S.A.” (Subsidiary of HELLENiQ ENERGY Group).

Tilemachos Matiakis
KENOTOM Technical director

Tilemachos graduated from the Electrical Engineering department of Aristotle university of Thessaloniki in 2004 and completed his dissertation in the area control and automation at the Technical University of Munich in 2009. During this time he has published several articles in world renowned scientific journals and conferences, which have received more than 250 citations until today. Subsequently, he worked as a control engineer for the aircraft and automotive industry and as software developer for retail applications until 2013. In 2014 he co-founded KENOTOM, where he has undertaken various leading roles, as the company has grown to more than 200 people in 2023.

Stelios Siskos
Professor Electronics Lab. Section of Electronics and Computers Physics Dept. Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki

Stylianos SISKOS was Professor at the Department of Physics, Electronics Laboratory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki till 31/08/2023 when he retired. He served as Director of the Electronics and Computers Section of the Physics Dept. He leaded the “Analog/mixed signal integrated circuits design” team for more than 30 years. His research focused to the design of analog integrated circuit design, mixed built-in signal structures, current mode integrated circuit design, sensor interfacing integrated circuits design (for radiation, pressure, temperature etc applications), low energy FPGA design for embedded systems, design of signal processing circuits, low voltage analog integrated circuits, RF circuits design, high speed A/D and D/A converters and energy harvesting circuits design. He served as leader or participant in 20 research projects, 6 bilateral collaborations with research institutes in France and 2 educational projects. He is the author and co-author of more than 200 papers in scientific journals and international conferences and co-owner of four patents. He has supervised PhDs and Master Theses in related subjects. He is an IEEE Senior Member
More in: http://electronics.physics.auth.gr/new

Katerina Papakota
Career Counselor, Career Office of AUTH

Marios Kiatos
Progressive Robotics CTO & CO-FOUNDER

Marios passion is to make the robots smarter. During his PhD years, he conducted research on robot manipulation and deep learning, enabling machines to intelligently interact with the physical world and improve themselves over time. Marios vision of founding Progressive Robotics is to apply cutting-edge AI technology to solve real problems and contribute to society’s development.

Georgios Flamis
Senior Staff System Design Engineer
Artificial Intelligence of Things
DLG/EPSG/EMD/IBD/IBD7

Georgios Flamis over multiple years performs with sustained and consistent technical excellence in system / product design. With experience in embedded hardware and software, he has been positioned in critical roles for design wins in key customers’ products, including development of product requirements together with product management/marketing and system architecting. He has strong background in digital signal processing and machine learning technologies. As a Member of Technical Staff, he has contributed to the engineering part of business acceleration with involvement in applied research, technology scooting, innovation, universities and standardization bodies engagement.

Prof. Alkis Hatzopoulos
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Prof. Alkis A. Hatzopoulos was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He received his Degree in Physics (with honors), his Master Degree in Electronics and his Ph.D. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the AUTH, Greece, in 1980, 1983 and 1989, respectively. He was granted scholarship from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY) during all four years of studies in the Physics Department (1976-1980) and for his PhD research in Greece (three years). He has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of AUTH since 1981, were now he is a full Professor. Since 2002 he has been elected as the Director of the Electronics Laboratory of the ECE Dept. He was also being elected as Associate Teaching Personnel of the Hellenic Open University, Department of Informatics, for twelve years (2004-2017). He is actively involved in educational and research projects, and he is the author or co-author of more than 170 scientific papers in international journals and conference proceedings and three book chapters in international textbooks. He is a Life Member of IEEE and he has served as the IEEE Greece CASS-SSCS joint Chapter Chair from 2010 to 2020.

George Savvidis
Project Manager @SpaceDot | Systems Engineer Team Lead @ KENOTOM

Giorgos completed his studies in Electrical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2022. During his academic journey, he supported in the lecturing of the Systems Reliability course (MSc) and contributed to organizing conferences and workshops. Giorgos was involved in the 1st and 2nd satellites of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and SpaceDot, initially as a control engineer, and today as a Project Manager. In 2021, he transitioned to KENOTOM as a Test Automation engineer, and has recently advanced to the position of Systems Engineer Team Lead on Transmission Systems for Automotive Applications.

Grigoris Doumenis
Assist. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. EE, PhD. Director of Autonomous Systems Laboratory | Department of Informatics and Telecommunications | University of Ioannina

Gregory Doumenis was born in Athens, Greece (1966). He received his Diploma in EE (1990) and his PhD in Broadband communication systems (1994) from the Electrical Engineering Department of NTUA, Greece. He participated as researcher and later as project manager in several EU funded R&D projects in the area of broadband networks and embedded systems. He collaborated with leading European companies (including ALCATEL, SIEMENS, INFINEON, ERICSSON).
Since 2011 Dr. Doumenis is assistant professor at the dept. of Informatics and Telecommunications of University of Ioannina (former dept. of Computer Engineering of the Technological Institute of Epirus); he teaches courses on “Digital signal processing”, “Embedded systems”, “Entrepreneurship and innovation” and “Autonomous sensor networks”. He is directing the “Autonomous Systems” laboratory (ASL), towards research in embedded systems, Internet of Things, energy efficiency and scavenging, autonomous navigation of smart objects.
Dr. Doumenis is co-author of more than 30 research papers published in widely accepted scientific magazines or international conferences and has applied for two national and two international patents. He has been invited to review papers for highly recognised journals such as IEEE’s Micro and Communications letters and Elsevier’s Integration VLSI journal. He is a regular reviewer and evaluator of EU backed RTD proposals and projects.