About Us

Dr. George K. Karagiannidis was born in Pithagorion, Samos Island, Greece. He received the University Diploma (5 years) and PhD degree, both in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Patras, in 1987 and 1999, respectively. From 2000 to 2004, he was a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Greece. In June 2004, he joined the faculty of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece where he is currently Professor in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Dept. and Head of Wireless Communications & Information Processing (WCIP) Group. He is also Honorary Professor at South West Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China. His research interests are in the broad area of Digital Communications Systems and Signal processing, with emphasis on Wireless Communications, Optical Wireless Communications, Wireless Power Transfer and Applications, Digital Twins, Smart Cities, etc. Dr. Karagiannidis is one of the highly-cited authors across all areas of Electrical Engineering, recognized from Clarivate Analytics as Web-of-Science Highly-Cited Researcher in the eight consecutive years 2015-2022.

Professor Theodoros Karapantsios started his academic and research career at the School of Chemistry of AUTH, since 2001. He has published more than 160 research papers in international scientific journals, he participated in more than 250 scientific conferences and he is the owner of 6 patents. Moreover, he has participated in more than 85 European, national, industrial and service providing research projects, coordinating more than 60 of them. Since 2020, Prof. Karapantsios is the Director of Chemical and Environmental Technology Lab in our department and an administration board member of the Research Committee and Management of ELKE AUTH, while in 2021 he was elected as the Vise President of this Committee. He is the Greek delegate of European Space Agency Program Board, on Human Spaceflight and Exploration, since 2010. Since 2021 he is the Greek delegate of Horizon Europe project’s, “Space” administration board. In the period 2014-2019, he was the head of ESA emblematic projects, regarding drinking water and wastewater on ISS. He participated in more than 20 technology development projects and 11 parabolic flight campaigns, together with the Multiphase Dynamics research Group, that he directs. 

Marie-Françoise Noirot-Gros is Director of research at INRAE (National Institute for Agronomical and Environmental Research, Jouy en Josas, France). During the last 10 years have she focused her interest on understanding the regulatory mechanisms underlying the formation of biofilm in bacteria. She has a long-term expertise in molecular genetics and physiology of Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens, two environmental bacterial species able to form strong biofilms on a variety of surfaces whether biotic or abiotic. Dr. M-F Noirot-Gros has recently spent six years at ANL-UChicago  (USA) were she has combined CRISPR-mediated gene silencing, microfluidics and confocal microscopy approaches to decipher the function of genes involved in biofilm signaling pathways in P. fluorescens. Today at INRAE, she has focused her research on identifying the molecular basis underlying the development of B. subtilis biofilms and the effect of exposure to various environmental stresses on their formation and structure, with the aim of developing solutions to mitigate their formation. 

Romain Briandet is a French researcher, leader of the team “Biofilms & Spatially organized communities” (B3D) at the Micalis institute (a mixed research unit between INRAE, AgroParisTech and Université Paris-Saclay). By combining microbiology, molecular biology and advanced fluorescence microscopy, the B3D team is deciphering biofilm architecture and associated emerging properties with special reference to antimicrobial tolerance. Innovative strategies  to control their functional properties, whether beneficial or deleterious, is explored in various area of applications including food, medical, biotechnology and more recently space industries. Romain Briandet is also animator of the French biofilm network and coauthor of more than 145 scientific publications. 

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8123-3492

Zoran Hadzi-Velkov received Dipl. Ing. degree (Hons.), Magister Ing. degree (Hons.), and Ph.D. degree from the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, the Republic of North Macedonia. During 2001 and 2002, he was a visiting scientist at the IBM Watson Research Center, USA. Between 2012 and 2014, he was a visiting professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. He is currently a professor of communications engineering at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. In 2012, he received the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for experienced researchers. He has been a member of the editorial boards of the journals IEEE Communications Letters and ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies. Prof. Hadzi-Velkov is a corresponding member of MANU. His research interests are in the field of wireless communications. 

Prof. Dr. Valentin Rakovic (Senior Member, IEEE) currently holds the position of associate professor and the head of the Laboratory for Wireless and Mobile Networks, at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (FEEIT), Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. During 2019 he was a visiting scientist at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. He received his Dipl.-Ing., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree in Telecommunications at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies, Ss Cyril and Methodius University (UKIM) in Skopje, in 2008, 2010 and 2016 respectively. His research work focuses on the areas of wireless networks, signal processing, machine learning as well as prototyping of wireless networking solutions. He has (co-)authored more than 70 publications in international conferences and journals. He is the recipient of two IEEE best demo awards.

Born in 1977, Naples Italy, married, father of 2. Since 2016 is Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Napoli Federico II, Italy. RESEARCH INTERSTS: Thermodynamics and Transport Phenomena in microstructured systems. Rheology of Non-Newtonian fluids and flow induced morphology in multiphase systems. Live cell imaging and motion tracking through automated time lapse microscopy and image analysis. Numerical simulations and mathematical modelling of cancer growth and fluid dynamic of biological systems. Diffusion of complex fluids in microstructured matrices. Role of flow and gravity on biofilm growth and morphology and bacterial activity, wetting of biofilm coated surfaces. Editor of Panta Rei, bulletin of Italian Society of Rheology, member of the editorial board of Polymers, and active as reviewer of several international journals and research projects in the areas of Chemical Engineering, Industrial Bioengineering and Biotechnology. Author of more than 55 articles on international Journals with peer review (h index 21), and about 150 among edited books, participation to international and national conferences and scientific communications, 22 invited seminars and lectures, 4 patents.

Stefano Guido received a Laurea cum laude in Chemical Engineering in 1989 at the University of Napoli “Federico II”, a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1992 at the University of Minnesota, and a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Napoli “Federico II” on biased cell migration in oriented collagen gels. He is currently Professor at the Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering and PI at the CEINGE Advanced Biotechnologies Center. He has been visiting professor at several universities, including the University of California at Irvine, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. He is currently involved in two Topical Teams of the European Space Agency on biomimetic and cellular systems and on biofilms. His main research interests are in cell motility, hemorheology, ektacytometry, time-lapse microscopy and microfluidics techniques applied to biological systems.