Speakers

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  Ioannis Rekanos Vice Rector of Research and Innovation, Aristotle University
  

  Ioannis Rekanos

  Vice Rector of Research and Innovation, Aristotle University

  Prof. Ioannis T. Rekanos was born in 1970 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He received the Diploma degree (M.Sc.) in Electrical Engineering in 1993 and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1998, both from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Thessaloniki, Greece. His doctoral dissertation focused on inverse electromagnetic scattering problems.

  From 2000 to 2002, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Radio Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University), Finland, where he held a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship. Since 2006, he has been a member of the Faculty of Engineering at AUTH. He is currently Professor of Wave Propagation in the Department of Telecommunications, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, AUTH.

  His research interests include electromagnetic and acoustic wave propagation, inverse scattering, computational electromagnetics, fractional calculus, digital signal processing, and biomedical applications. Prof. Rekanos is a Senior Member of IEEE and a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece. From 2022 to 2025, he served as Head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He currently serves as Vice Rector for Research and Innovation at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

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  Nikos Efthymiadis Chairman and CEO of Thessaloniki Innovation & Technology Center, Thess INTEC
  

  Nikos Efthymiadis

  Chairman and CEO of Thessaloniki Innovation & Technology Center, Thess INTEC

  Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1944, Mr. Nikos Efthymiadis has a M.Sc. in Agriculture and extensive involvement in Agribusiness enterprises.

  Mr. Efthymiadis is Chairman of the REDESTOS Efthymiadis Agrotechnology Group, established in 1935, one of the leading business groups in Greece and Southeast Europe in the field of agricultural supplies, plant breeding – propagation, food trading, quality control of food, and agricultural technology in general.

  Alongside his main business interests, Mr. Efthymiadis’ career has been associated with an active involvement in various local and regional initiatives promoting economic development, innovation, entrepreneurship, institution building, democracy, public private partnerships and investment facilitation not only in Greece but also the broader Southeast European region.

  Mr. Efthymiadis is Chairman and CEO of Thessaloniki Innovation & Technology Center, Thess INTEC. Founding member of THEOPHANO prize, Covering Council. Chairman of the Business and Clearing Center (BICC). Chairman of the Association of Democracy in the Balkans. In the past he has been the Chairman of the Federation of Industries, Chairman of the STABILITY PACT/Business Advisor Council for the Southeast-Eastern Europe, Chairman of the Business Development Center KEPA, Chairman of the Northern Greece Business and Cultural Association, Member of Excellence of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

  He has contributed to several European think tanks on development and cooperation in Southeast Europe.

  He is married to Mary Christides and has three children and six grandchildren.