About me

My career starts by receiving a B.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering (top of my class and in the top 3% of total graduates) from the Technological Educational Institute of Crete (now Hellenic Mediterranean University), Greece, in 2006. In 2007, I obtained a M.Sc. degree in Mechatronics (with distinction) from King’s College London, London, U.K. A few years later, in 2011, and as a scholar of both the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Onassis Foundation, I obtained a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Robotics), again from King’s College London under the supervision of Prof. Kaspar Althoefer. 

In 2012, I joined as a postdoctoral fellow the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Harvard University, MA, USA. I was soon after elected as a Wyss Postdoctoral Fellow in Technology Development of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and worked on several novel robotics research projects under the supervison of Prof. Conor Walsh. In 2015, I was appointed a tenure-track assistant professor at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, AZ, USA, where I founded and directed the Bio-inspired Mechatronics laboratory and mentored several PhD, MSc, and BSc students. As an academic, I successfully established an independent research portfolio and attracted federal/state research grants and support from companies totaling over $2.0M within the first few years.

My interests focus on the realization and management of research activities essential to the design, implementation, and integration of novel robotic/ mechatronic devices and systems that have the potential to enhance human processes and functions. My expertise focuses in leading innovative research and development projects and have demonstrated a track-record with over 50 published scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences related to robotics, as well as, several awarded and pending patent applications. Thus far, my research endeavors have been received enthusiastically by the academic community attracting best paper awards at international conferences (IEEE ICCOR 2015), front cover illustrations at major journals, and an h-index of 28 with over 8000 citations. Additionally, I am a senior member of the IEEE and member of the ASME, acting as an associate editor of a major robotics journal, and have created an international research network.

After 10+ years of conducting research in the UK and USA, in 2019 I returned to my home country (Greece) and joined Ernst & Young’s (EY) Strategy group as a senior consultant to aid the digital/technological transformation of Greek industries. A year later, in 2020, I joined BiC and the first Data Driven Innovation Lab to help develop inventive new products using ML and NLP research methods. Today, I am a tenured associate professor of soft robotics and mechatronics at the Hellenic Mediterranean University in Crete where a conduct research in soft robotics and perform teaching activities.