Athanasios Kanatas

Athanasios Kanatas is a Professor in the Department of Digital Systems at the University of Piraeus and Director of the Telecommunications Systems Laboratory. He holds a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (1991), an M.Sc. in Satellite Communication Engineering from the University of Surrey (1992), and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from NTUA (1997). His career includes roles as a researcher at the National Technical University of Athens (1993–1994), technical project manager at SPACETEC Ltd (1995), and researcher at the Mobile Radio Communications Laboratory at NTUA (1996–1999). He became Associate Professor in 2002, Full Professor in 2012, and served as Dean of the School of Information & Communication Technologies (2013–2017).

His research focuses on wireless communications, UAV networks, antenna design, and stochastic geometry modeling. He has authored over 200 journal/conference papers, six books, and four best paper awards. He is a Senior IEEE Member, Editor of multiple IEEE journals, and a representative for the European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EurAAP).

• Educations:
  • Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, NTUA, 1997
  • M.Sc. in Satellite Communication, University of Surrey, 1992
  • Diploma in Electrical Engineering, NTUA, 1991

His research interests span UAV-assisted communications, millimeter-wave systems, MIMO networks, and antenna array design. He leads projects on aerial integrated sensing and communication systems, IoT connectivity via aerospace infrastructure, and secure vehicular networks. His work bridges theoretical analysis (e.g., stochastic geometry) with practical implementations like 3D-printed antennas and radar-based fall detection systems.

Notable Contributions:

• Developed channel models for UAV-ground and stratospheric communications
• Designed reconfigurable antennas for V2X and truck-to-truck systems
• Proposed hybrid beamforming techniques and optimal relay placement algorithms

He advises on EU projects (e.g., cybersecurity for connected vehicles) and chairs IEEE committees. His lab focuses on aerospace communication systems and 5G/6G technologies.