Dr. Michael Valahas is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Science and Mathematics and the International Honors Program at Deree - The American College of Greece (ACG). His research spans evolutionary biology, phylogenetics, and ecology, focusing on speciation and adaptation across diverse domains of life. B.Sc. in Biochemistry Ph.D. in Molecular Virology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland His work investigates evolutionary history using model organisms and explores the ecology of introduced species. Recent publications highlight advancements in DNA sampling techniques, biochemical education methods, and plant taxonomy. Key subfields of his research include genetics , phylogenetics , species adaptation , and biodiversity .
Maria Virvou serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Informatics at the University of Piraeus, where she also directs the Graduate Program in Informatics and leads the Research Laboratory 'Software Technology'. She holds significant institutional leadership roles including membership in the University Senate and has chaired the Department of Informatics for multiple terms. As Editor-in-Chief of Springer book series 'Learning and Analytics in Intelligent Systems' and 'Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Software and Systems Engineering', she maintains substantial academic influence across international scholarly platforms. Dr. Virvou earned her PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from the University of Sussex with a scholarship from the State Scholarships Foundation, a Master of Science in Computer Science from University College London, and her undergraduate degree from the Department of Mathematics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her educational background in both mathematics and computer science has provided a strong foundation for her interdisciplinary research approach. Professor Virvou's research spans Software Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Educational Software and Games, User Modeling, and Human-Computer Interaction. She has pioneered work in personalized interactive software systems, applying fuzzy logic and machine learning techniques to create adaptive educational environments. Her recent work demonstrates a strategic expansion into AI applications for healthcare, with significant contributions to medical diagnostics using large language models and multimodal AI systems. She has also made notable advances in smart tourism applications through personalization techniques. With over 400 publications to her name, Professor Virvou's scholarly output shows a clear progression from foundational work in user modeling toward increasingly sophisticated AI applications across multiple domains. Her publication trends reveal a strategic focus on explainable AI, multimodal systems, and practical implementations that bridge theoretical advances with real-world applications, particularly in healthcare and education sectors. Ranked #1 worldwide in 'User Modelling' publications (147,450 total publications) according to Scopus Ranked #1 worldwide in 'Educational Software' publications according to both Scopus and Microsoft Academic Search Recognized among the top 2% of most influential Artificial Intelligence scientists worldwide by Stanford University General Co-Chair at the 14th IISA Conference 2023 Invited Keynote Speaker at the 35th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE&T 2023) As Director of the Research Laboratory 'Software Technology', Professor Virvou has built a robust research team focused on AI applications across multiple domains. She co-founded and co-chairs the IEEE Intelligent Information Systems and Applications international conference series, creating a significant platform for scholarly exchange. Her leadership extends to editorial roles with major academic publishers and active participation in international research collaborations that have secured substantial funding for innovative projects in AI and software engineering.
Fei He is an Associate Professor at Tsinghua University's School of Software, where he leads the THUFV research lab focused on formal verification and program analysis. His research spans formal methods, automated reasoning, and program verification, with applications in concurrent systems, networking (P4 programs), and probabilistic systems. Education & Employment: PhD from Tsinghua University (2008) Visiting Scholar at Carnegie Mellon University (2010-2011) and Politecnico di Milano (2006-2007) Faculty positions at Tsinghua since 2008 (Assistant Professor 2008-2011, Associate Professor 2011-present) Research: He's developed innovative techniques in SMT solving for concurrency verification, termination analysis, and regression verification. His tools like Deagle have won gold medals at SV-COMP. Current work focuses on probabilistic program verification and network program analysis. Publications: His 80+ publications demonstrate consistent contributions across formal methods (PLDI, OOPSLA, ICSE), networking (NSDI, INFOCOM), and software engineering (TSE, TOSEM), with recent emphasis on data-driven verification and automated invariant inference. Awards: Gold Medals in SV-COMP ConcurrencySafety (2022, 2023, 2025) Best Paper Awards at PPoPP 2022 and SETTA 2022 Advising: Mentors 13 PhD/Master's students in THUFV lab, with graduates joining Huawei, MPI-SP, and research institutions. Secured multiple NSF China grants for trustworthy software research. Service: Associate Editor for Theory of Computing Systems, program committees for PLDI/ICSE/OOPSLA, and former Local Chair for ISSTA 2019.
Zormpas Dimitrios is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Macedonia. He holds academic staff positions in both the Master in Economics and Master in Applied Economics and Finance programs. He earned his PhD in Real Estate Appraisal and Land Economics from the University of Padova (2018), an MSc in Agricultural Food and Environmental Policy Analysis from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (2014), and prior degrees from the University of Macedonia (MSc Economic Theory and Policy, 2011; BSc Economics, 2008). His research focuses on Investment Theory , Energy Economics , and Environmental Economics , with emphasis on real options analysis, common ownership dynamics, and vertical relationships in strategic markets. His work explores topics like preemptive investment strategies, public-private partnerships, and the impact of regulatory frameworks on energy systems. Key publication trends include analyzing investment timing under uncertainty, evaluating ownership structures in oligopolistic markets, and assessing policy impacts on agricultural and energy sectors. His research frequently intersects with real options methodology to model strategic decisions in dynamic environments. Dr. Zormpas has no listed awards or grants in the provided materials. His academic profile emphasizes theoretical contributions to industrial organization and applied economic policy analysis.
Sotirios Karatzimas is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the Department of Accounting and Finance, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). He holds a PhD and MSc from AUEB, with postdoctoral research on Greek public sector accounting during austerity. He has also taught at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Neapolis University Cyprus. His research focuses on public sector accounting, management accounting, and financial sustainability in public institutions. Education: PhD in Accounting (AUEB) MSc in Human Resources Management (AUEB) Bachelor's in Accounting and Finance (AUEB) Research emphasizes public sector accountability mechanisms, fiscal transparency, and citizen engagement through innovative reporting methods. He has contributed to EU-funded projects and collaborates with AUEB’s distance learning programs on public sector accounting. His work bridges accounting practices with socio-political contexts, particularly in crisis-affected economies like Greece. Notable contributions include studies on debt management in local governments, smart cities’ climate change reporting, and participatory budgeting frameworks. He is actively involved in European Study Groups on public sector accounting education and advocates for integrating technology (e.g., eLearning platforms) into teaching. His research often examines the intersection of accounting standards, policy reforms, and citizen literacy for fostering participatory governance.
Chr. Kavousianos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of Ioannina, Greece. He is actively engaged in research and teaching in the fields of VLSI design, testability, and low-power testing. He has been involved in major national and international research programs such as Heracleitus II, Pythagoras, and NSF-SRC (USA). Research Interests: His research focuses on advanced techniques in built-in self-test (BIST), test data compression, scan-based testing, fault tolerance, and embedded control architectures. He explores methods to reduce test data volume, power consumption during testing, and improve defect coverage in integrated circuits. Publication Trends: His recent publications (2004–2011) show a strong trend toward defect-aware testing, power-efficient test compression, and multicore SoC testing. He frequently collaborates with leading researchers, including Prof. Krishnendu Chakrabarty (Duke University). His work on multilevel Huffman coding and reseeding techniques has been highly influential, with one paper among the most accessed in 2004. Special Distinction for Excellent Academic Performance from TEE, 1996 Doctoral Scholarship 'In Memory of Professor Maritsa', 1999 Postdoctoral Scholarship from IKY, 2002 Advising and Grants: He has supervised multiple postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates (e.g., Vasilis Tenentes, Emmanouil Kalligeros), and master’s students. He has led research projects such as 'Embedded Control Architectures' (Heracleitus II) and 'Design Techniques for Embedded Self-Control Circuits' (Pythagoras II). His international collaboration with Duke University included a postdoctoral research role in 2009. Labs and Teams: He leads a research group at the University of Ioannina with postdocs, PhD students, and visiting professors, including Prof. Krishnendu Chakrabarty. His team works on cutting-edge VLSI testing and design methodologies.
Ioannis Iglezakis is an Associate Professor at the School of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), specializing in the intersection of law and technology. His academic career spans over three decades with continuous contributions to informatics law, cyber law, data protection, and privacy law. At AUTH, he teaches courses including Law of Informatics, Computers and Law I (Cyberlaw I), Computers and Law II (Privacy and Security in the Information Society), Legal Aspects of Cybercrime, Internet-Law, and Law and Information Technology. Dr. Iglezakis earned his undergraduate degree in Law from AUTH in 1987, followed by a Magister Legum Europae from Hannover University in 1993. He completed his postgraduate studies in History, Philosophy and Sociology of Law at AUTH in 1990 and earned his PhD in Law from AUTH in 1999. His educational background combines Greek legal training with European legal perspectives. His research interests focus on the legal challenges posed by digital technologies, with particular emphasis on data protection, privacy law, cybercrime regulation, digital rights, and the application of GDPR in various contexts. He has published extensively on topics including the right to be forgotten, digital identity management, workplace surveillance in the digital age, hate speech online, and the legal implications of emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence. His work bridges theoretical legal analysis with practical applications in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. The trends in his publications reveal a consistent focus on the evolving relationship between law and technology, with increasing attention to GDPR implementation, health data protection, and the challenges of algorithmic decision-making. His work spans multiple disciplines including legal theory, privacy studies, cyber security, and digital governance, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of modern informatics law. Dr. Iglezakis has supervised over 50 master's theses at AUTH, mentoring the next generation of legal scholars in areas including cloud computing contracts, personal data protection, social media law, intellectual property in digital environments, and cybercrime. His administrative roles have included membership on the European Educational Programs Committee (2011-2012) and the Legal Committee of AUTH (2013-2014). His research projects include the 2018-2019 study on 'Legal Issues of Mobile Applications Development, Distribution and Use,' the 2014 '6th International Conference on Informatics Law,' and the 2013-2015 Center of Excellence for Cybercrime for Education, Research and Training in Greece. These projects highlight his commitment to addressing practical legal challenges in the digital domain while contributing to academic discourse.
Efthymios N. Karatzas serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Sciences, within the Computer Science and Numerical Analysis Section. He maintains an active research profile in computational mathematics with strong institutional affiliations including collaborations with SISSA mathLab and FORTH Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics. His academic credentials include: PhD in Mathematics, National Technical University of Athens (2015) Master's in Applied Mathematical Sciences – Computational Mathematics, NTUA (2009) Master's in Applied Mathematics, University of Patras (2001) Bachelor's in Mathematics (Computational Mathematics), University of Patras (1999) Dr. Karatzas' research program centers on advanced numerical techniques for partial differential equations , with pioneering work in reduced order modeling , embedded boundary methods , and optimal control systems . His expertise spans computational fluid dynamics, uncertainty quantification, and biomechanical applications, characterized by methodological innovation in handling geometrically complex domains through cut finite element approaches and shifted boundary formulations. Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals a cohesive research trajectory focused on developing efficient numerical frameworks for parametrized PDE systems. His work consistently bridges theoretical rigor with practical implementation, particularly in advancing reduced basis methods for fluid-structure interaction and biological modeling, demonstrating significant contributions to computational mathematics through high-impact journal publications. No major scientific awards are documented in the available sources. Dr. Karatzas demonstrates research leadership through project management roles including Scientific Manager for the ELIDEK project at NTUA (2019-2021) and Project Manager for the European Social Fund HEaD initiative at SISSA (2017-2019). His grant administration experience encompasses coordinating interdisciplinary teams and securing external funding for computational mathematics research. He maintains active collaborations with the SISSA mathLab in Trieste (particularly with Prof. Gianluigi Rozza's group) and the FORTH Institute in Crete, participating in international workshops including the Reduced Order Methods in CFD Summer School (2019) and SIAM UQ conferences. His research network spans computational mathematics groups across Europe with emphasis on advancing numerical methodologies for real-world engineering and biological applications.
Prof. Filippou Filippos is a faculty member at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH). He holds a Professorship specializing in Physical Education with emphasis on Greek Traditional Dance, and is affiliated with the School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences. His academic career includes doctoral studies (2002) on traditional dance contributions in contemporary Greece and advanced studies in Social Anthropology (1993). Education: National Academy of Physical Education (1981), DEA in Social Anthropology (1993), DUTH Doctorate (2002) Teaching: Courses include traditional dance pedagogy, dance as physical activity, and performance studies Research focuses on the sociocultural dimensions of Greek traditional dance, including its role in education, health, and cultural identity. Notable studies address dance's impact on social skills development in children, wellness for breast cancer survivors, and ethnological analysis of dance customs. He has supervised numerous master's theses exploring dance's interdisciplinary applications. Publications span 40+ articles in journals like Journal of Physical Education and Sport , Arts & Humanities in Higher Education , and Ethnologia . Key themes include dance participation motives, cultural tourism, and dance pedagogy innovations. Advising: Supervised 8 master's students since 2008 Grants: Active in curriculum development and cultural preservation projects Labs/Teams: Engaged with DUTH's cultural heritage research initiatives and traditional dance education programs.
George Vouros is a Professor in the Department of Digital Systems at the University of Piraeus, Greece. He is the head of the AI Lab (http://ai-group.ds.unipi.gr/ai-group/) and director of the MSc in Artificial Intelligence program in collaboration with the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications at NCSR Demokritos. He completed his BSc in Mathematics (1986) and PhD in Artificial Intelligence (1992) at the University of Athens. His research focuses on Expert Systems, Knowledge Management, Multi-Agent Systems, Reinforcement Learning, and Mobility Analytics. He has served as program chair and committee member for major conferences (AAMAS, AAAI, IJCAI) and editorial roles in journals like Discover Artificial Intelligence (Springer Nature) and Information (MDPI). He has supervised 13 PhD students and currently oversees 4. His work spans EU-funded projects and national initiatives, emphasizing scalable mobility analytics, air traffic management automation, and ontology engineering. He is also President of the Hellenic A.I. Society and actively promotes interdisciplinary applications of AI in healthcare, transportation, and environmental monitoring. Recent research highlights include deep reinforcement learning for tactical air traffic conflict resolution, LLM-integrated ontology engineering, and multimodal generative adversarial imitation learning for flight trajectory modeling. His work bridges theoretical advancements with real-world applications in critical infrastructure systems.
Stavros Demetriadis is a Full Professor at the School of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His research focuses on Learning Technologies, including Conversational Agents in Education, Learning Analytics, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), Computational Thinking, and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). He has led EU-funded projects like colMOOC and developed educational tools such as 'pytolearn' for Python instruction and 'Cubes Coding' (winner of Open Education Challenge 2014 and NUMA Competition 2014). He has supervised 5 completed PhD theses, 4 ongoing PhDs, and over 60 Master’s theses. Academic Appointments: Full Professor (2020–present), Associate Professor (2015–2020), Assistant Professor (2012–2015), Lecturer (2002–2008), Informatics Teacher (1989–2002) Education: PhD in Multimedia Technology in Education (2000), MSc in Electronic Physics (1986), BSc in Physics (1983) His work bridges AI and education, with over 161 publications and an h-index of 27. Recent research explores ChatGPT integration, ethics in Learning Analytics, and AI-driven assessment tools. He has delivered invited talks at institutions like the University of Valladolid (2024) and coordinates the 'Teachers' Fast-paced Distance Training on Tele-education' project. Awards include three international best paper awards and recognition for his 'Cubes Coding' project. Key Research Contributions: Developed frameworks for Conversational Agents in CSCL Innovated Computational Thinking pedagogy through robotics Explored ethics and culture in Learning Analytics adoption Created Python-based MOOCs for non-programmers He has taught courses like Human-Computer Interaction and Learning Analytics, and led short programs on Conversational AI. His collaborations span institutions in Spain, Denmark, and Greece. ORCID: 0000-0002-1561-6372; Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, and Scopus profiles list his extensive output.
Dr. Sotirios Varelas serves as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Tourism Studies within the School of Economics, Business and International Studies at the University of Piraeus. His academic specialization focuses on Hospitality Business and Tourism Organization Strategy, where he contributes significantly to both undergraduate and postgraduate education through courses spanning tourism geography, international tourism markets, tourism development strategies, and strategic management of tourism businesses. Department of Tourism Studies, University of Piraeus School of Economics, Business and International Studies Teaches in Tourism Management programs at University of Piraeus and Hellenic Open University Student internship coordinator and academic advisors coordinator President of the Board of Directors of the Greek Branch of IFITT (World Organization for Technology in Tourism and Travel) Dr. Varelas's research interests center around strategic management in tourism, digital transformation in the hospitality industry, sustainable tourism practices, and innovative approaches to destination marketing. His scholarly work explores how emerging technologies like blockchain, big data analytics, and virtual reality platforms can revolutionize tourism enterprises and destinations. He has extensively studied the impact of economic crises on Greek hospitality businesses and developed strategic frameworks for tourism organizations to navigate challenging market conditions. His research portfolio demonstrates a consistent focus on strategic approaches to tourism development, with particular attention to sustainable indicators, performance measurement, and the integration of technology in tourism enterprises. Dr. Varelas's publications reveal an evolving research trajectory that increasingly incorporates digital innovation and sustainability metrics into traditional tourism management frameworks. Creator and coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Tourism Business Administration Founder of the International Tourism Research Center of Neapolis University Former scientific consultant at the Ministry of Tourism, Hellenic Tourism Organization, and Peloponnese Region Collaborator with multiple research centers including the Institute of Regional Development and ELKE of the University of Peloponnese With over 12 years of professional experience as a scientific consultant in tourism organizations and as the creator of a virtual tourism startup company, Dr. Varelas brings practical industry insights to his academic work. His engagement with professional organizations and his role in connecting academic knowledge with industry practice demonstrate his commitment to advancing tourism education and practice in Greece and internationally.
John Regehr is a Professor at the School of Computing, University of Utah, specializing in compilers, software testing, and formal verification. His research develops tools to improve software correctness and efficiency, including Csmith (random C program generator) and C-Reduce (test-case reducer). His group focuses on compiler validation, fuzzing techniques, and superoptimization, primarily targeting the LLVM infrastructure. Research interests span compilers, testing methodologies, formal verification, embedded systems, and program analysis. Recent work emphasizes practical tools backed by formal methods to detect and prevent software errors. Publications demonstrate strong trends in compiler verification and testing, with consistent focus on LLVM optimization correctness, translation validation, and automated bug detection through fuzzing and synthesis techniques. Scientific awards include: PLDI 2015 Distinguished Paper Award ICST 2014 Best Paper Award ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award Leads a research group developing tools like Souper (superoptimizer) and Alive2 (translation validator). Maintains active academic service through program committees (PLDI, CGO, OOPSLA) and contributes to open-source compiler infrastructure.
Brandon Lucia is a Full Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering. He leads the abstract research group focusing on the intersection of computer architecture, systems, and programming languages. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical implementations in energy-constrained environments. Lucia's research centers on intermittent computing systems and edge computing in extreme environments. His work on energy-harvesting systems has established fundamental principles for batteryless computing, while his orbital edge computing research pioneers computational intelligence for nanosatellite constellations. These research thrusts address critical challenges in reliability, efficiency, and programmability for systems operating under severe power constraints. His publication record shows a clear evolution from foundational work on intermittent computing models to sophisticated applications in space computing and edge intelligence. Recent publications demonstrate increasing integration of dataflow architectures with energy-harvesting constraints, particularly in satellite constellations where computational resources must be managed across distributed, power-constrained platforms operating in extreme environments. NSF CAREER Award (2017) IEEE TCCA Young Computer Architect Award (2019) Sloan Foundation Fellowship (2021) ASPLOS Best Paper Awards (2018, 2020) OOPSLA Distinguished Paper and Artifact Awards (2015) Lucia actively mentors numerous PhD students including Brad Denby, Zhuo Cheng, and Emily Ruppel, many of whom contribute significantly to his research program. His abstract research group maintains strong industry connections while pursuing fundamental advances in computing systems. The group has developed multiple open-source tools including Legerdemain for program analysis and MultiCacheSim for cache coherence simulation. His laboratory work spans from theoretical foundations of intermittent computing to practical implementations in space systems. Current projects include computational nanosatellite constellations, energy-minimal dataflow architectures, and secure edge computing systems that operate reliably despite frequent power failures.
Heather Miller is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Software and Societal Systems Department within Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. Her academic journey includes prior roles as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Northeastern University's College of Computer and Information Science and as Executive Director of the Scala Center at EPFL. Miller's research centers on distributed and concurrent computation through the lens of programming languages, with particular emphasis on data-centric systems, big data processing, and edge computing. A defining theme throughout her work is composability - enabling construction of complex distributed systems through composition of components that are correct by construction. Her projects span distributable closures, flexible serialization techniques, futures and promises for asynchronous programming, and deterministic concurrent dataflow models. Her recent publications demonstrate strong trends in applying programming language theory to practical distributed systems challenges, with increasing focus on WebAssembly instrumentation, microservice resilience, and language model pipelines. This evolution reflects her commitment to bridging theoretical foundations with real-world system requirements. Dahl-Nygaard Junior Prize (2023) Mentorship forms a significant component of Miller's academic work. She actively supervises multiple PhD, MS, and undergraduate researchers at CMU, including Christopher Meiklejohn, Matthew Weidner, Huairui Qui, Ria Pradeep, and Luke Dramko. Her service contributions span numerous top-tier conferences including PLDI, SPLASH, ECOOP, and ICSE where she has served as committee member, chair, and keynote speaker. Miller co-founded the Curry On conference to foster industry-academia dialogue, hosting successful editions in Prague, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and London. She leads research groups focused on distributed programming models and maintains strong industry connections through Two Sigma, where she holds an affiliation. Her work consistently emphasizes practical open-source implementations, primarily within the Scala ecosystem where she's been a core contributor since 2011.
