Keynote Speakers

Prof. Ioannis Tomkos is Professor of Communications Networks at the ECE Department of University of Patras. His research group activity is focusing on optical communications systems and 6G mobile networks. He has participated in and led numerous R&D projects on the relevant fields, while the outcomes of his work resulted in over 650 co-authored scientific archival articles, with over 425 entries at IEEEXplore, that have received over 14.500 citations (h-factor=56) at Google Scholar & over 225.000 reads at ResearchGate. For his scientific achievements, he has been elected as Fellow of all 3 major ECE societies (IET-2010, OSA - 2012 and IEEE - 2018).

Energy Efficient Interconnects for Inter/Intra Datacenter Connectivity in the era of Artificial Intelligence relying on Analogue Optical Signal Processing

In the era of Artificial Intelligence, there is a need for a significant increase in the transmission rates (bit/sec) of optical transceivers (TRx) and the capacity of optical switches used for interconnections within data centers and across them, while simultaneously reducing the power consumption per transmitted/switched bit by a substantial degree. This need can be met by gradually replacing the electronic circuits that currently implement switching as well as digital signal processing (DSP) and digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital signal conversion (DACs/ADCs) with corresponding photonic devices that enable all-optical switching and "Analogue Optical Signal Processing" (AOSP).

In the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Patras, we are developing innovative all-optical switching systems as well as AOSP techniques for Optical Transceivers, such as optical-DACs ("oDACs"), optical chromatic and polarization mode dispersion equalizers (Chromatic & Polarization Mode Dispersion Equalizers), optical polarization demultiplexers, etc., within the framework of European-funded research projects (FLEX-SCALE & PROTEUS-6G). The talk will present the ideas we have proposed and are developing for intra- and inter-data center interconnections as well as 6G networks x-haul infrastructure, based on principles of “Programmable Integrated Photonics” (PIPs). The advantages of these optical transceivers and switches compared to commercially available TRx/switches, as well as other emerging TRx/switch proposals recently proposed in the scientific literature by leading academic groups and large/ startup companies, will be also presented.

Prof. Julius Georgiou (IEEE M’98-SM’08) is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Cyprus. He received his M.Eng degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Ph.D. degree from Imperial College London in 1998 and 2003 respectively. For two years he worked as Head of Micropower Design in a technology start-up company, Toumaz Technology. In 2004 he joined the Johns Hopkins University as a Postdoctoral Fellow, before becoming a faculty member at the University of Cyprus from 2005 onwards. In parallel, he has been involved in the founding of multiple medical device startup companies, based on patents stemming from his research.

Prof. Georgiou is a member of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, was the Chair of the IEEE Biomedical and Life Science Circuits and Systems (BioCAS) Technical Committee, as well as a member of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Analog Signal Processing Technical Committee. He served as the General Chair of the 2010 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference and was the Action Chair of the EU COST Action ICT-1401 on “Memristors-Devices, Models, Circuits, Systems and Applications - MemoCIS”. Prof. Georgiou was an IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Distinguished Lecturer for 2016-2017. He is also was an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems and Associate Editor of the Frontiers in Neuromorphic Engineering Journal. He is a recipient of a best paper award at the IEEE ISCAS 2011 International Symposium and at the IEEE BioDevices 2008 Conference. In 2016 he received the 2015 ONE Award from the President of the Republic of Cyprus for his research accomplishments.

His research interests include Low-power analog and digital ASICs, implantable biomedical devices, bioinspired electronic systems, ElectroUteroGraph hardware, ElectroUteroGram signal processing, electronics for space, brain-computer-interfaces (BCIs), memristive devices, inertial and optical sensors and related systems.

Pushing the Boundaries of Modern Key-Enabling Technologies from Research to Innovation

Silicon-based KETs have revolutionized the way that we live in that small devices can sense, process and provide information about the status of our bodies, but also that of our environment. Miniaturized silicon-based sensors can detect inertia, rotation, electromagnetic waves etc, whilst silicon based transistors can amplify these signals and process them in a meaningful manner in order to produce an output, once again based on silicon technology. This talk explores various cases on how these silicon-based KETs start in a research laboratory and lead to innovations that improve our quality of life. Examples are taken from the area of medical devices but also from generic technologies such as reconfigurable metasurfaces. The talk will also touch upon translational issues between research and commercialization.

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