Theme: Avenues

Everyday we travel along roads that take us to our destination, such as our home or our workplace. And then there are some other roads with very different destinations, such as knowledge that leads to the truth, success that leads to acknowledgment, and love that brings us close to one another. These roads often become avenues that lead to innovation, growth and progress despite the obstacles or changes that we may encounter on the way. And if roads sometimes look like treacherous paths, the avenues are open and help us keep an optimistic vision (since they lead) leading us ahead with safety, to our destination, to our future.
This year the team of TEDx Thessaloniki brings to you people who with their ideas open avenues in the field of technology, in the arts, in science, and in various other areas of our everyday life.
For a ninth consecutive year we are waiting for you to meet, love, and get impressed by ideas worth spreading!

Thessaloniki Concert Hall
Odos 25 Martiou & Paralia
Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54646
Greece

Andreas Petroulakis

Cartoonist

Andreas Petroulakis was born in Florina, in Northern Greece, but his origin is from Chania, Crete. He is a self taught cartoonist. He first published in the newspaper “To Vima”, in 1985. For 15 years, until 2000, he worked for the newspaper “Avgi”. He has been working for the newspaper “Kathimerini” since 2000. He also worked at the newspapers “Proti”, “Ethnos”, “Mesimvrini”, “Ependitis” and the magazines “Anti”, “Metro”, “Klik”, “Galera”. For the past few years he has been collaborating with the online newspaper protagon.gr

Antonis Darzentas

Paediatrician - Neonatologist

Paediatrician-Neonatologist Antonis Darzentas writes articles for print and digital media, and also uses social media, to debunk persistent myths and misconceptions surrounding the practice of medicine, and in particular vaccinations. His interventions aim, among other things, to respond to the anti-vaccination movement in a clear and scientifically accurate way and to educate the public, especially after the recent measles outbreak in Greece and other European countries. Antonis Darzentas studied Medicine at the University of Patras between 1989-1995. He specialised in Paediatric Medicine at the University Hospital of Patras between 1999 and 2003 and then completed his sub-specialty at the Children’s Intensive Care Unit at Aglaia Kyriakou Hospital in Athens. In 2004 he joined the University Hospital of Patras as a consultant, initially at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and then at the Children’s Intensive Care Unit of the same hospital until 2008, when he opened his own practice.

Brian Klaas

Political Scientist - Author

Dr. Brian Klaas has received his DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford and is now a Fellow in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. He is an expert on democracy, authoritarianism, American politics, US foreign policy, political violence, and elections and he has extensive experience working in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Brian Klaas has advised governments, US political campaigns, NATO, the European Union and international NGOs. He is an opinion columnist at The Washington Post and his writing has recently been featured in many other major publications. He is also a regular commentator on a wide array of international media outlets. Dr.Klaas is the author of “The Despot’s Apprentice: Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy”; “The Despot’s Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy,” and the soon to be published “How to Rig an Election” co-authored with Professor Nic Cheeseman).

Dimitris Doukoglou

Comedian - Cartoonist

Dimitris Doukoglou is a comedian & a sketch artist. He was born in Thessaloniki, grew up in Montreal, returned to Thessaloniki, studied in Athens, worked in Montreal, returned to Athens. He has been a professional stand-up comedian since 2007. In July 2011 he won the “Best of Open Mic Award” in the Montreal Comedy Works. From 2015 to 2017 he was the host of the Stand-Up Science show, where scientific issues were communicated in an educational and funny way. He has created the “Sex with Doukoglou” show on YouTube, where, in the form of interviews with various guests, she discusses sex and sexuality topics in an open and pleasant way, without ever being vulgar. Apart from comedy, he is also professionally involved in writing and illustrating comic books. In 2016 he illustrated the folk poem “Tou nekrou aderfou (The dead brother)”. According to his pinned tweet, he didn’t choose the comedian life, the comedian life chose him.

Earl Maize

NASA Scientist

Dr. Earl H. Maize is the manager of the Cassini Program, a mission that began exploring the Saturn system in 2004 and recently concluded operations with a spectacular plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere in September 2017. Dr. Maize has worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California for the past 34 years. He began at JPL on the navigation & engineering teams of the Galileo mission to Jupiter. After Galileo’s final Earth flyby, he transferred to the Cassini Mission as the Flight System Operations manager and then Deputy Program Manager. He left the Cassini Project in 2005 to pursue technical management positions in Guidance, Navigation, Control & Avionics. He returned to Cassini as the Program Manager in January 2013. Dr. Maize received his bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and his doctorate in mathematics from the Claremont Graduate University in 1981. When he’s not exploring the outer planets, Dr. Maize enjoys playing classical guitar and cycling and hiking.

George Balafoutis

Cyber-security Advisor

An expert in cybersecurity, George Balafoutis works for Microsoft’s Global Cybersecurity Practice as a Cybersecurity Architect. He leads the company’s Worldwide Cybersecurity Champion program, which numbers approximately 150 cybersecurity champions throughout the world. Prior to Microsoft, George worked for several years at Trustwave, the leading credit card security company, where his responsibilities continuously expanded, always focusing on Fortune 500 companies. George holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, MSc in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University, and BSc in Mathematics from the National University of Athens.

George Chadjigeorgiou

Software Engineer

George Chatzigeorgiou studied Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens. He always had a soft spot for hardware, but became professionally involved with software. In 2005 he founded skroutz.gr. He started off as an engineer responsible for the development of the platform and at the moment he serves as the CEO. Along with his co-founders, he managed to grow the company to reach 170 employees with a work environment equivalent to companies abroad. He is a proud dad of two sons, who don’t want to emulate him.

Kanta Dihal

Science communicator

Dr Kanta Dihal is an academic who looks at the communication of complex scientific ideas. She focuses on artificial intelligence, as a postdoctoral researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge. In her research project, ‘AI Narratives’, she explores the public understanding of AI as constructed by fictional and nonfictional stories: science fiction, children’s books, and popular science. She is currently working on a book based on her PhD thesis, ‘The Stories of Quantum Physics,’ in which she investigated the ways in which we talk about quantum physics to adults, children, and even babies. She has written about her work for the Huffington Post, The Conversation and New Scientist.

Konstantinos Komaitis

Internet policy geek

Konstantinos Komaitis is the Director of Policy Development at the Internet Society, a not-for-profit organisation in Geneva. Konstantinos provides analysis & strategic advice in support of the Internet Society’s policy, advocacy and mission, including the promotion of the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world. Konstantinos leads on policy development and strategy in issues relating to the digital economy, including access and competition, intellectual property, technology trade, and Internet governance. He held important roles i.e. as Chair of the Non-Commercial Users Constituency at ICANN. He has a BA in law (Aristotle’s University,Thessaloniki & 2 MA degrees, in International & European law (Sheffield) and in Information Technology & Telecommunications law (Strathclyde). Also holds Doctorate and is the author of “The Current State of Domain Name Regulation”. He is an arbitrator for the Czech Arbitration Court.

Konstantinos Konstantinidis

Dancer, Juggler, Acrobat

Originally trained as a preserver of antiquities and paintings, Konstantinos Konstantinidis is a dancer, juggler and acrobat. Since he began working in this field in 2000, he has become familiar with a variety of circus techniques such as Cyr wheel, balancing objects, stilt walking, unicycle and fire tricks. He has taught a number of seminar courses about movement and usage of objects aimed both at children and adults. In 2014 he graduated as a dance teacher from the Professional School of Dance of Municipality of Thessaloniki. Ever since then, he has been focusing on Cyr wheel with which he has been giving daily performances in various public spaces.

Konstantinos Rigos

Choreographer, Director

He studied Finance at the University of Athens and dance at the National School of Dance. In 1990 he founded the OKTANA Dance Theatre, which was pivotal in developing modern dance in Greece. Konstantinos served as an artistic director for the dance department of the National Theatre of Northern Greece from 2001-2005. In 2007 he was invited to choreograph for the Greek National Opera. His choreographies have won multiple awards and are still taught at the National School of Dance. As a director, Konstantinos has worked in various types of productions. His work has been presented in some of the most important theatres in Greece as well as in over 40 international Festivals. In addition he has collaborated with directors as a choreographer, with magazines as a photographer, and has presented his artistic work in group exhibitions. In February 2018 he became the artistic director of the National Opera.

Lefteris Lazarou

Chef

Lefteris Lazarou was born in 1952, the son of a boat-cook. When he was 15, he started travelling alongside his father, discovering various ethnic cuisines. In October 1987 he opened his restaurant, “Varoulko Seaside”. Lefteris Lazarou has won a number of awards. In 2002 he was awarded a Michelin star, the first one to ever be awarded to a greek cuisine chef, which he still holds until today. "Varoulko” has also been awarded every year since 1993 with the “Toque d’or” award from “Athinorama” magazine. In the previous years, Lefteris Lazarou travelled all around the world as an ambassador of greek cuisine, having an active role in promoting it abroad. In the U.S.A. he gave greek cuisine classes at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Lefteris Lazarou was a judge in the greek cooking TV shows “Master Chef” (2010 and 2012 - 2013) and “Junior Master Chef” (2011-2012). The book “Varoulko: Colors, flavors and tastes” by Lefteris Lazarou and Diana Kochyla was published in 2006.

Marianna Rentzou

Architect

Marianna Rentzou and Konstantinos Pantazis co-founded the architectural firm Point Supreme in 2008, when – after having already gained valuable experience working with architectural firms in London, Rotterdam, Brussels and Tokyo– they decided to join forces and relocate to Athens. Since then, they have participated and distinguished themselves in various competitions and exhibitions around the world. In 2012, they participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale and won the acclaimed international competition for the Faliro Pier in Athens. A few years later, in 2015, Wallpaper* magazine included them in their list of 20 up-and-coming architects of the world. In the same year the Graham Foundation of Chicago published Athens Projects, the first book dedicated to the duo’s work. Last year they participated in the Ljubljana Biennale of Design with the exhibition After Utopia. Point Supreme is currently running projects in Netherlands, Belgium, France and Greece.

Michalis Vitos

Developper

Michalis is a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, working with the ExCiteS research group at UCL (University College London). For the past 5 years he has been developing innovative mobile tools that can be used by semi-nomadic and non-literate indigenous communities in the Congolese rainforest to monitor environmental changes and resource extraction in scientifically validated ways. His research interests include the areas of Human-Computer Interaction and Software Engineering in combination with the emerging area of Participatory GIS and Citizen Science.

Nafsika Antoniadou

Dr in Educational psychology

Dr. Nafsika Antoniadou is a Special Εducation Kindergarten Teacher. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Psychology. She studied at the Department of Preschool Education at Democritus University of Thrace. She received a Master’s Degree in School Pedagogy & Diversity in Education from the Department of Primary Education & in 2016 a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the same Department. She has been working as a Special Education Kindergarten teacher since 2010. She is also a Contract Tutor at the Hellenic Open University & works as a Lecturer in the Department of Early Childhood Education (Democritus University of Thrace).She researches the social behaviour of children & adolescents, with or without Special Educational Needs, with emphasis on bullying & cyber-bullying.She has been a speaker in national & international conferences in the field of Education and Psychology. She has co-authored publications in international scientific journals & has participated in EU research programs.

National Opera Dancers

National Opera Dancers

Dancers Danilo Zeka joined the Ballet of the Greek National Opera in 2001 and in 2008 he became a Principal Dancer. He has worked with various choreographers and has appeared in numerous international gala performances. Maria Koussouni in 2008 became a principal dancer at the GNO. She has interpreted a variety of leading roles and currently teaches at the Higher Professional School of Dance of the National Opera. Vangelis Bikos joined the GNO Corps de Ballet in 2008, he became a soloist in 2012 and principal dancer in 2014. He has performed many soloist and leading roles. Director and Choreographer Konstantinos Rigos, is a choreographer and director born in Athens. In 1990 he founded the OKTANA Dance Theatre, which was pivotal in developing modern dance in Greece. His choreographies have won multiple awards and were very well received by numerous international dance festivals worldwide. In February 2018 he became the artistic director of the National Opera.

Panos Georgiadis

Travel Editor

Born in the city of Kilkis, in Northern Greece, Panos Georgiadis always dreamt of becoming a sailor, even though he had only seen the sea in photographs. He travelled and lived in numerous greek cities, such as Sparta, Xanthi, Thessaloniki, Didymoteicho and Larissa, until the birth of his second son, Dimitris, which threw him in deep waters. Dimitris was born with lissencephaly, a form of brain paralysis, and his condition taught Panos and the rest of their family a very different way of life. Today, Panos Georgiadis feels especially lucky to have fulfilled his childhood dream of seeing the world, as a travel editor for the online travel magazine “Omorfa Taxidia” (“Beautiful Journeys”). But he feels even luckier for continuously taking life lessons from the now 20 year-old Dimitris and his two other children, Nikos and Stavroula.

Rena Morfi

Singer

Rena Morfi, also known as Souli Anatoli, which has been her stage name for a while, is a singer. Since 2010 she is the front-woman of the Greek band Imam Baildi. At the same time, she has attended a number of international festivals such as Hungary’s Sziget Festival, Lowlands Festival of the Netherlands, Canada’s International Jazz Festival and USA’s South by Southwest. In 2016 she released her first personal album titled “Souli Anatoli”. Even though she graduated from the Department of History and Archeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, her love for music was present since her school years. She has been an apprentice of skilled and talented artists such as Vaso Zagori, Claudia Delmer, Elli Paspala and Natasa Flouri. She made her singing debut with Foivos Delivorias and has collaborated in concerts and recordings with Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos. She has interpreted the Greek versions of various songs in Disney and Mattel movies.

Rosalind Eggo

Mathematical modeller

Rosalind Eggo is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in the UK. She received her PhD in the dynamics of the 1918 influenza pandemic from Imperial College London, and then worked at The University of Texas at Austin, USA. Rosalind works in mathematical modelling of infectious diseases. This means she uses computational and mathematical methods to understand the transmission of pathogens through populations. The aim of infectious disease modelling is to understand the routes and mechanisms that drive the spread of infections, so that we can ultimately design interventions to prevent them. Rosalind has worked on analysis of pandemic influenza, Ebola, Zika, cholera, and other pathogens.