Theme: Destinations

We have all tasted the joy of accomplishment. Sometimes, however, the aftertaste does not linger,
despite the time and effort invested.

Is this due to the allure of destinations, always just within reach, before eluding our grasp with the
promise of more? Destinations, after all, are the reason for our journey – within and without. Constantly
traveling through time and space, exploring, conquering, growing, the thing we seek most is
ourself.

Who we are is probably who we chose to be. And that is a choice our present appears to demand. The
human condition, manifesting through science, art and entrepreneurship, creates a global community
of progress and turmoil.

Biomedical and technological innovations are not yet enough to dispel the harsh reality haunting
many of our fellow human beings. Is this reality something we can reshape? Is ourself something we
can reshape?

The time has come for us to decide the kind of travelers we want to be in this journey.

Cultural & Conference Center of Heraklion
Plastira Av. 10
Heraklion, Kriti, 71201
Greece

A. Mantalaris

Co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Biological Systems Engineering Laboratory at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London

Ada Stamatatou

Mother of an autistic son

Ada Stamatatou is a mother of two children. She has studied classical ballet and rhythmic gymnastics for children. The journey she will describe to us began when she started operating the page ‘My life with Giannis’, where she publishes stories from her everyday life with her autistic son. She takes part in marathon races with the goal of educating people concerning autism and helping erase the stigma of the image of an autistic adult.

Anna Mihopoulou

Teacher

Anna Michopoulou is a graduate of the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens and has a master’s degree on the subject of Women’s Studies from the University of York. She has been the co-founder of the Women’s Bookshop and the Women’s Archive ‘Delphis’. As a researcher she has focused on women’s history, in addition to local history, with a considerate amount of published research, but also exhibits and events open to the public. She has taught related subjects at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and elsewhere, and for the past 20 years has taught Greek as a second/foreign language, mostly as part of the volunteer programs for women expatriates and foreigners organized by the History Archive of the Lyceum Club of Greek Women of Athens.

Diana Voutyrakou

Unique Minds - Founder & General Manager

Undergraduate Electrical Engineering& Computer Science student at National and Technical University of Athens, focusing on the field of Biomedical Engineering. Since 2016 she is founder and general manager of Unique Minds, which is an NPO, that provide academic orientation to high school students. She has several awards on Panhellenic and European Robotic Competitions and in 2017 she earned her first Olympic distinction on the World Robot Olympiad in Costa Rica. In addition, she is working as an educational robotics instructor, preparing students for several robotic competitions. She also won the Greek International Women Award in Young Star(18-23) category, an award that aims to recognize Greek professional female talent worldwide.

Elias Kiritsis

Physics Professor

He received his Physics degree from University of Athens and his doctorate from California Institute of Technology. He has been a member of CERN's theoretical group, and since 2002 is a research director at CNRS in France. His research work has over 11,000 reports from other scientists, making him known for his scientific work in High Energy Physics and Cosmology. In the past, he has been invited as an evaluator on issues such as research and research policy, and has also been a visiting professor at European and American Universities. Today, he is a professor at the Department of Physics of the University of Crete.

George Katsouranis

Managing Director of the Center of Sustainable Entrepreneurship Excelixi

holds a BA in International and European Studies and a MBA from the ALBA Graduate Business School. He has been involved with the development of Human Resources, the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and business excellence. He has taken part in critical projects, in all the great mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector over the past years.Since 2013 he has been assigned the management of the Center of Sustainable Entrepreneurship Excelixi, which supports Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Greece with training and consultation, emphasizing on the critical areas of the Greek economy.

Helene Glykatzi-Ahrweiler

Historian

She finished her studies in the department of History and Archaeology of the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens. She continued her studies at the École des Hautes Études in France, where she obtained her doctorates in History and Classsics. She has been a Dean and Director at the University of Europe, and she became the first woman Rector of the Academy and Chancellor of the Universities of Paris. She is an honorary doctor of a multitude university institutes, such as the ones of New York, of Harvard, of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, of the University of Crete and others. Throughout her academic career she has been awarded with the highest of honors. Today, she is considered one of the most eminent academic personalities, with many lectures and speeches throughout the world.

Ioannis Tsamardinos

Computer Science Professor

Ioannis Tsamardinos received his PhD in 2001 from University of Pittsburgh, specialized in Artificial Intelligence. His dissertation, was focused on automatic time-limited actions design and part of it, was applied to the NASA Dean Space I software. Since 2002 he has been working in the field of Machine Learning, with applications, mainly in biology and biomedicine and more specific in discovery of causal relationships from data and the automation of the construction of predictive models. His published work, receives about 600 references per year and he has been awarded with the ERC Consolidator Grant.

Michalis Probonas

Responsible of the Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Management, Natural History Museum of Crete,

He has published several scientific and pop-science articles in newspapers, magazines, conference proceedings and books, and has taken part in many environmental projects. His research interests include protected areas of the natural environment, renewable energy sources, climate change, water resources, waste management, alternative ways of tourism

Miltos Logiadis

Professor of Conducting - Ionian University & Artistic Director of The Athens Concert Hall

He studied theoretical and piano at the National Conservatory of Athens and Halandri. He continued his studies at the Munich Academy of Music with a scholarship, where he graduated with choir and orchestra leader diploma and a Meisterklasse diploma, achieving the highest degree ever awarded. In 1992 he returned to Greece, after an invitation of Manos Hadjidakis, to collaborate with the Orchestra of Colors. In addition to that, he has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the National Opera Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra and others. He is also the artistic director of Megaron - Athens Concert Hall and professor at the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian University.

N. Panoskaltsis

Co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Biological Systems Engineering Laboratory at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London

Paul Vittoroulis

War Correspondent

Paul Vittoroulis as a war correspondent, was present in events that changed the course of modern history. Through his travels, he recorded the Lebanese Civil War, while for covering the bombing of Beirut, he was honored with the Emmy Press Award. Among other things, he transferred news in the American hostage issue on the US embassy in Tehran which was under seizure, he videographed US planes to bomb Libya's Tripoli in 1986, and he also contributed to the rescue of Pivot tank crew.

Theodore Koutsogiannopoulos

Film Critic

He studied Sociology at the Panteion University, and later, after finding his destination, he continued his postgraduate studies at Cinema, in Sorbonne. He started as a film critic in the "Cinema" magazine and then, worked in several newspapers and magazines. He has said, that without cinema he could live, but without music, never. For over a decade, he has been making critics of films, interviews and responses from the biggest film festivals for LIFO and Alpha TV.

Yiannis Bromirakis

Canyoning trainer

He studied industrial engineering and design at the University of Birmingham, England. Later, he worked professionally as a photojournalist in newspapers and magazines in Greece and abroad. Since 2003, he has been discovering the secret world of the uninhabited Canyons. Exploring, photographing, mapping and recording the unknown gorges of Crete. He trains and initiates youngsters, in the unknown world of canyons, and in 2007 he wrote the Canyoning Guide to the Canyons of Crete in 5 languages. Today he has trained more than 800 young people in Canyoning's activity and has over 1300 downhill runs in the most important and difficult canyons of 19 countries in the world.