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Dr. Panagiotis Zoumpoulakis

Ass. Professor, Head of Food Science and Technology department, University of West Attica

Panagiotis Zoumpoulakis is an Associate Professor and Head of the department of Food Science and Technology of the University of West Attica. He holds a degree and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Patras (GR) and an MBA from the Athens University of Economics and Business (GR). 

From 2008 to 2020, he held a position as a Researcher and Principle Investigator at the Institute of Chemical Biology of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) and from 2015 is a visiting professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. His scientific fields of interest are focusing on the design and analysis of bioactive compounds. He has a scientific track record of 130 peer review scientific publications and 26 national and European grants, 10 of which as a coordinator and/or Principal Investigator. He has working experience in marketing innovation, technology transfer and entrepreneurship, focusing on the start-up ecosystem.

Dr. Angeliki Kavga

Angeliki Kavga is Associate Professor in the Dept. of Agricultural Science, of University of Patras (UPat), on «Greenhouse Construction and Operation» field. She has ΜSc in Environmental Studies from University of Patras (Dept. of Biology) and PhD in Agricultural Engineering from University of Patras (Dept. of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics) on “Energy Optimization of Greenhouse Using a Heating System with Infrared Radiation (IR). Her research interests focus on Greenhouse Constructions, Renewable energy sources in agricultural sector, Precision Agriculture, Smart Farming and Environmental Physics. 

She has presented remarkable research work in her scientific field with 32 published scientific papers in international journals, one book chapter and more than 35 entries in International and Greek Scientific Conferences. She is Project Manager (PM) in one research program (Erasmus +k2), Scientific Manager in 3 competitive research programs on Smart and Sustainable Greenhouse Modules and member of the research team in 2 research programs (Interreg, RIS3).

Dr. Thomas Bartzanas

Thomas Bartzanas is Associate Professor at the Agricultural University of Athens and Director of the Lab of Farm Structures. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Thessaly, with a PhD in agricultural constructions at the University of Thessaly and the Bioclimatology station of INRA in France and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Aarhus in Denmark (Department of Engineering). His research interests focus on the development, evaluation and application of new techniques and technologies in controlled environment production systems (greenhouses, vertical farming systems, hydroponic systems, livestock buildings), the rational management of natural resources in the agrofood sector and the assessment of the environmental impact (environmental footprint) throughout the agricultural production chain using the life cycle analysis. 

 

He has participated as a Coordinator and / or Researcher in 50 national and European research programs and has more than 350 publications in international journals and conference proceedings (h-index 27 / 3830 citations). He is a reviewer of international journals, European programs and a member of related scientific associations. For five years (2015-2020) he was the coordinator of the Agri-food innovation platform of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and is vice-president and representative of the academic / research bodies of the Food for Life platform of the Federation of Greek Food Industries (SEVT). He is the Chair in the European networking action COST LivAge for greenhouse gas emissions in the livestock sector, vice-chair in the Structures & Environment Committee of CIGR, member of the Scientific Council of the European Union, in the Directorate for Research and Innovation for open access to research results in the field of “Agricultural Sciences” and was a member as an expert of the European Innovation Focus Groups (EIP Focus Group) a) for circural bioeconomy in the agricultural sector and b) for greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector. He is the President of the Hellenic Union of Agricultural Engineers of Greece (EGME) and since December 2021 CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Competence Center in the application of smart technologies in the agri-food sector Smart Agro Hub A.E.

Mr. Nektarios Farmakis

Nektarios Farmakis was born in 1980 and grew up in Agrinio. He holds a law degree, as well as a Law Master degree majoring in Civil Procedural Law from the Democritus University of Thrace. He has been practicing law since 2006, as a member of the Agrinio Bar Association and a lawyer at the Supreme Court. Since 2013, Nektarios Farmakis is an accredited Ombudsman from the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights.

In 2010 local elections he was first elected Regional Councilor in Etoloakarnania at the age of 30. In June 2019, Nektarios Farmakis was elected Regional Governor of Western Greece, with the party “Everything from the beginning” and took office on September 1st of the same year.

He speaks two foreign languages, English and German and is married to the Lawyer Evi Chr. Pappa. Τhey have a daughter and a son.

Mr. Geert Wilms

Geert Wilms studied Horticulture at Wageningen University and Business Administration at Open University. For more than 20 years Geert has been director of Agricultural Innovation Brabant (LIB), and he is consultant at Royal Haskoning DHV.

LIB is a partnership of Province North-Brabant and farmers organization ZLTO. Each year more than 30 innovative projects are initiated and supported, with the participation of hundreds of (agricultural) businesses. Several workshops are organized and guided. Geert is directly accountable to the President of ZLTO and regional Minister of agriculture in North-Brabant. One project he started and is very proud of: “Smart irrigation in agriculture; 3.000 farmers participating with 60.000 hectares, and 25% gain of efficiency in water use”.

 Geert Wilms also is a speaker, discussion leader and initiator of cooperation in different regions in Europe. He is/was involved in more than 15 European funded projects, for example Water management, Water conservation, Agrispin, Eurodairy, EU-PIG and STRING.

Mr. Pavlos Satolias

Paul Satolias was born in April 1971 in Skotani, Kalavrita, Achaia.

Since 19 he has worked professionally with livestock farming, maintaining a modern and well-equipped livestock unit. He is married to Theodoropoulou Paraskevi and is the father of three children of Fotis, Anastasia and Nikolas.

In 2003 he is elected for the first time in the Board of Directors of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Kalavrita and since 2007 until today he is Chairman of the Board of Directors in the current Dairy Cooperative of Kalavrita. The Cooperative of Kalavryta has created modern infrastructure for the production of traditional PDO Feta dough with a turnover of over 25 million euros per year.

Since the founding of NEW PASEGES in September 2016 he has been a member of the Board of Directors and since May 2017 he has been elected Chairman of the Board with a strong sense of responsibility for defending the values ​​of farmers who serve daily and selflessly the primary agricultural sector .

He has taken an initiative to establish the National Interprofessional Organization of the Greek PDO Feta, and his personal bet is to continue the positive course of the Agricultural Dairy Cooperative of Kalavryta and to achieve a new model of operation of the cooperative movement in our country.

 

Dr. Dimitris Skuras

Dimitris Skuras is the Vice Rector of Economics and Planning at the University of Patras and Professor at the Department of Economics. He studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Universities of Aberdeen and Essex in the United Kingdom.

His research is in natural resources and environmental economics, particularly analysing the impact of agricultural and rural development policies on GHG emissions, on the use and quality of water and soil resources, and on biodiversity and ecosystem services. His work has appeared in over 100 articles, studies and books. In 2008 his work was awarded the Academy of Athens award in the “Class of Ethical and Political Sciences”. He has developed programs and studies for the European Union, the OECD, the United Nations (FAO) and many government agencies in Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Dr. Spyros Fountas

Dr. Spyros Fountas is Associate Professor at Agricultural University of Athens and Editor-in-Chief in the ELSEVIER journal “Computers and Electronics in Agriculture” (IF: 3.84) since 2014. He holds an MSc from Cranfield University UK in Information Technology, and PhD from Copenhagen University, Denmark in Systems Analysis on Precision Agriculture.

He was Visiting Scholar at Purdue University, USA. He has been keynote speaker in several conferences among others in the International Horticultural Congress (IHC 18) in Istanbul, Turkey in August 2018 on “Applications of new technologies in horticultural crops”, in the 17th European Weed Research Society (EWRS), in France in June 2015 on “Big data analytics for crop protection”; in European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA) in Spain in July 2013 on “Application of Precision Agriculture technology in high value crops”.

He has coordinated 3 H2020 projects, Smart-AKIS, GATES and currently OPTIMA on optimized Integrated Pest Management for precise detection and control of plant diseases. He is also participating in 22 other H2020 funded projects. He has 130 papers, including book chapters, journal papers and conference papers and 4000 citations (Google scholar, April 2021).

Mr. Giannis Balakakis

He is a forward thinking and results oriented strategist specialized in event management, marketing, BtL communication and hospitality industry. In his career, Giannis has been appointed as Planning | Product | General Manager & Chief Executive Officer in various Greek and International firms.

He currently serves as President of the Board at Geo Routes Institute, Chair of the Organizing Committees at the Balkans & Black Sea Forum and AgriBusiness Forum and Chair of the leading event & destination management company Gnomon Performance.

Giannis has repeatedly leaded large scale projects and events around the globe, has been founder and initiator leading socioeconomic platforms, and has been regular speaker to international fora related with business strategies, innovation, culture-tourism-development and policy strategies.

He has served as member of the BoD of the Association of Chief Executive Officers Greece, former VP of the Society of Incentive Travel Executives, member of Meeting Professionals International, member of UN Global Compact and other relevant organizations.

Giannis has financial background (banking marketing & management), he speaks Greek (mother tongue), English and French, and has excellent skills in planning, negotiations and cross-cultural communication as a result of his extensive experience in more than 80 countries around the world.