Kafesaki Maria

Maria Kafesaki is a Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the University of Crete and an Adjunct Researcher at the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), specifically at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL).

• Education: BSc, MSc, and PhD in Physics (1990, 1992, 1997) from the University of Crete, advised by E. N. Economou.
• Postdoctoral work at CSIC, Madrid, and IESL-FORTH (1997–2002).

Her research focuses on electromagnetic wave propagation in periodic and random media, with expertise in photonic crystals, metamaterials, and THz technology. She has over 140 publications with 9300+ citations (h-index=48) and 80+ invited talks at international conferences.

Recent work includes reconfigurable metasurfaces for wavefront control, 3D-printed photonic devices, and graphene-based THz modulators. She has organized major events like the European School on Experimental Characterization of Electromagnetic Metamaterials (2010) and co-organized the Women in Photonics School (2008).

Scientific recognition includes Fellow of Optica. She has served as Associate Editor for EPJ: Applied Metamaterials and Section Editor for JEOS:RP, and participated in EU projects like Visorsurf and Metamorphose.