Scientific team

Άρης Μαυρομάτης

Aris Mavrommatis has studied Mathematics. He is a scientific consultant at the Heraklion Museum, a lecturer at the University of Western Macedonia in the lifelong department of Visual and Applied Arts and a pedagogical project consultant in Kindergartens and Primary schools.<br /> Its main subject is research, which focuses on the approach of Mathematical concepts through interactive objects and mainly works of Art. He has published in Greek and foreign scientific journals and participated in juried conferences with more than 30 papers. He has given many lectures both in Greece and abroad with the main subjects being Mathematics, Philosophy and Art. He writes articles in newspapers on educational topics and on the complementary role of the expressiveness of Art and the logic of Mathematics. He is the author of mathematical books and briefs on the teaching of Mathematics through the environment of Art.

Tasos Ladias

Tasos Ladias has a degree in Physics, a PhD (Designing interfaces for hypermedia and multimedia educational applications) and more than 3000 hours of training. Since 1986 he has been an IT teacher in all types of Secondary Education schools and from 2007 to 2018 he was a School IT Consultant. He has taught programming, multimedia and graphic design at IEK, TEI, post-graduate universities and PAKE. He has organized 120 seminars for teachers. He has a Teacher's Guiding Competency Certificate (INEP/EKDDA), certification as an Adult Educator in Continuing Professional Training (EKEPIS) and certification (Level 2) in the use and utilization of ICT in the educational process (Ministry of Education). He participated in scientific committees organizing 50 conferences. He has participated in the writing teams of ten Study Programs at the Pedagogical Institute / Institute of Educational Policy and at OEEK. He has published ten articles in scientific journals and 60 articles in peer-reviewed conferences.He has written alone or with others books such as ``Pascal, a methodical approach`` `{`1991, Kleidaritmos`}`, ``H logo in the educational process`` `{`1997, Univ. of Ioannina`}`, ``Multimedia - Networks`` `{`1999, OEDB`}`, ``Methodology and programming of multimedia with the Director`` `{`2003, Kleidaritmos`}`.He has produced educational materials related to Scratch such as ``25 Teaching Scenarios in Visual Programming Environments with Tiles`` `{`2014, Open Discovery Space / Hellenic German Education`}`, ``Special Topics in Scratch Programming`` `{`2015, Inspiring Science Education Academy / Hellenic German Education, the MOOC ``Teaching Approaches to Programming with Scratch`` {`2018, KE.DI.VI.M. Pan. of Ioannina'}' and the ``Principles of Programming with Scratch. Curriculum and educational scenarios`` `{`2018, STEM Education`}`. Since 2015, he is President of the Scientific Committee of the Panhellenic Educational Robotics Competition for elementary school children of WRO-Hellas. He is a key contributor to the “CodeAthon: Improve the game… and play!” event. He has devised ``Codic Orama`` as a tool for visual programming code representation with tiles and is working in teams to develop an evaluation tool for Scratch programs.

Giorgos Souvatzoglou

Panagiotis Verras

Panagiotis Verras is a graduate in Computer Engineering with pedagogical competence and a master's degree in Multimedia (MA). He specializes in human-machine interaction, focusing on younger ages and in particular on children's interaction with programming environments. He has many years of experience in system programming while participating in the development of European research programs. For a number of years he has been teaching young students Educational Robotics through the STEM methodology, while in recent years he has been training elementary and high school students for their participation in Educational Robotics competitions. He has a number of important distinctions, while in 2017 he took third place with his team in the Open category, in the World Educational Robotics Olympiad (WRO) held in Costa Rica, making them Olympians. He is the scientific manager of STEM Education Patras while at the same time conducting webinars and workshops for the training of coaches and teachers, transferring know-how and general best practices for implementing projects, in accordance with the regulations and specifications of the Educational Robotics competitions.

Michalis Bakaloglou

Michalis Bakaloglou studied Physics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He was a member of the student volunteer group ``Physics Partizani'' for 9 years, one of the first communication groups of the Physical Sciences of AUTH, which aims to familiarize the people of Thessaloniki with scientific issues. With him as coordinator, a group of volunteers built a system for the AUTH Nuclear Physics Laboratory, which is used in the construction of the new detectors for CERN's ATLAS experiment.His love for applied sciences and education led him to work with several Educational Robotics platforms and application development (LEGO Education, VeX, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, App Inventor, Scratch etc). Since 2017, he has been an external partner of the STEM education center of Anatolia College where he participated in the planning and execution of STEM activities, as well as a coach of the College's Primary School teams that participated in the open category of the Panhellenic Educational Robotics Competition of WRO Hellas. Since 2018, he is a member of the organizing committee that organizes the regional competitions of Central Macedonia for the WRO Hellas competitions. Since 2019 he is the scientific manager of STEM Education in Thessaloniki.

Anna Koumara

Anna Koumara has a degree in Physics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and a master’s degree in Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies from the Department of Physics in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She earned her doctorate degree in Science Education, from the Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina. Since 2021, she is a postdoctoral researcher in the Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, studying how it is possible to teach physics concepts through STEM Education.She has taught Physics and Chemistry for more than 15 years in tutor schools. She is in STEM Education since 2019, working as an educator, a teacher trained, in the administrative team of the Thessaloniki branch, and in the R&D department to design new activities. She is a member of international associations regarding Science Education, like ESERA, she participates in national and international peer-reviewed conferences and her work is published in famous scientific journals in the field, like Science & Education (Springer), Physics Education (IOP) and The Science Teacher (NSTA). Together with Michalis Bakaloglou, she is co-responsible for the Open Category of the Lower Elementary School in the National Competition of STEM & Educational Robotics of WRO Hellas.

Ilias Kalambokis

He has a degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Chemistry from AUTH. His research interests are in Photochemistry, Green Chemistry and in recent years in the design and implementation of innovative educational practices in the fields of STEM. He has published papers in international scientific journals, participated in many conferences in all areas of his activity. Since 1993, he has worked as a chemistry professor at Anatolia College and since 2012 has directed the College's STEM Education Center, which runs through all of its educational levels, from pre-kindergarten to post-secondary ACT (American College of Thessaloniki). He is responsible for all extracurricular programs in the STEM fields. He has organized the College's Center for Green Education, the first of its kind in a school worldwide, which with a pioneering program introduces students to the Green approach. The STEM Education Center of Anatolia College has organized in recent years many weekend and long-term programs in areas such as Engineering, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Renewable Energy, Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, which are attended by many Middle-High School students of both Anatolia College and and external. Many of these programs won awards in the US for their originality and teaching approach. He has taught in all of the aforementioned programs. He has also organized Robotics and STEM programs for Primary school children, while preparing several teams that participated in the world's largest Technology competition, F1 in Schools. He also guided the participation of many students in international competitions and events. These participations are accompanied by many distinctions and awards.

Αποστόλης Παπανικολάου

Ο Αποστόλης Παπανικολάου είναι ερευνητής της διδακτικής των Μαθηματικών με μεταπτυχιακό δίπλωμα του τμήματος Μαθηματικών του Πανεπιστημίου Αθήνας, στη Διδακτική Μαθηματικών. Καθηγητής Μαθηματικών από το 1985 με πολλές διδακτικές προτάσεις, δημοσιεύσεις και συγγραφή βιβλίων για την ολιστική διδασκαλία των Μαθηματικών και τη διασύνδεσή τους με την Φυσική και την Τεχνολογία, τη Φιλοσοφία και την Τέχνη. Έχει διδάξει Απειροστικό Λογισμό στο Μαθηματικό Αθήνας και Γεωμετρία στην Τέχνη στο Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Μακεδονίας στο δια βίου τμήμα Εικαστικών και Εφαρμοσμένων Τεχνών. Μέλος της επιστημονικής ομάδας ανάπτυξης πιλοτικών εκπαιδευτικών δραστηριοτήτων στην Εθνική Εστία Επιστημών, στην Εστία Γνώσης Χαλκίδας και στην Εστία Γνώσης Πάτρας από το 2000 έως το 2013. Επιστημονικός σύμβουλος και σχεδιαστής εκπαιδευτικών προγραμμάτων του Μουσείου Ηρακλειδών. To κύριο ερευνητικό του ενδιαφέρον εστιάζεται στην διασύνδεση των Μαθηματικών με τη Φιλοσοφία και την Τέχνη και την εφαρμογή στη διδασκαλία των Μαθηματικών. Έχει συμμετάσχει ως εισηγητής σε σειρά σχετικών επιμορφωτικών σεμιναρίων για εκπαιδευτικούς στην αλληλεπιδραστική διδασκαλία των Μαθηματικών, είναι επιμορφωτής Α επιπέδου ΤΠΕ, ενώ έχει δώσει σειρά διαλέξεων με κύριο θέμα τη βιωματική, διαθεματική και αλληλεπιδραστική διδασκαλία.

Φώτιος Φωτεινάκης

Ο Φώτιος Φωτεινάκης είναι εκπαιδευτικός κλάδου ΠΕ20 (Πληροφορικής), με σπουδές στη Μικροηλεκτρονική και την Επεξεργασία Πληροφοριών από το Πανεπιστήμιο του Brighton Αγγλίας, (Batchelor Honours of Sciences). Η πτυχιακή του εργασία είχε τίτλο “Building a Natural Language Programming environment, using “C” language”, δηλαδή περιελάμβανε τον έλεγχο εξωτερικών συσκευών μέτρησης μέσω γραφικού περιβάλλοντος τύπου ‘Windows’.
Το 2005 διορίστηκε στο Δημόσιο, στην Δευτεροβάθμια Εκπαίδευση (με τελευταία οργανική θέση στο Λύκειο Φιλοθέης) και εργάστηκε σε Γυμνάσια & Λύκεια ως Καθηγητής Πληροφορικής ΠΕ20, στη διδασκαλία σε τμήματα τάξεων στο περιβάλλον των εργαστηρίων πληροφορικής.
Το Σχ. Έτος 2013-14 πήρε μετάταξη στην Πρωτοβάθμια Εκπαίδευση και διορίστηκε στο Δημοτικό Σχολείο Φιλοθέης όπου και διδάσκει μέχρι σήμερα το μάθημα των Τ.Π.Ε. και στις έξι τάξεις του Δημοτικού.
Τα τελευταία οκτώ (8) χρόνια ασχολείται με την Εκπαιδευτική Ρομποτική διατελώντας προπονητής σε ομάδες μαθητών λυκείου και δημοτικού. Οι ομάδες του έχουν λάβει μέρος και συνεχίζουν να συμμετέχουν στους ετήσιους Πανελλήνιους αγώνες της WRO Hellas.

Υπεύθυνοι Κέντρων STEM Education

Dimitrios Kravvaris

Scientific Manager of STEM Education in Ioannina

Dr. Dimitrios Kravvaris is an IT Engineer with Pedagogical Training, Master's Degree in Computer Science and Humanities and PhD in the field of Machine Learning. He has been certified as an educator at Level B of the Utilization and Application of Digital Technologies in Teaching Practice by the Ministry of Education and belongs as an educator to the register of Level B educators of the National Organization for the Certification of Qualifications & Professional Guidance, as well as to the corresponding register of the National Center for Administration & Self-Government. He has more than 15 years of educational experience in Primary and Secondary Education, participating and co-organizing actions that promote IT and technology in the educational system (CodeWeekEU, Hour Of Code, Scratch Day, European Robotics Week). He has held training Workshops on Educational Robotics in collaboration with school counselors of Epirus, while he continues to educate himself by attending relevant summer schools and conferences. Since 2014 he co-organizes the WRO Hellas competitions in the Region of Epirus, while at the same time actively participating as a coach having 15 teams to his credit and winning one first place and two second places in the Regional Competitions for Elementary School and the third place in the Educational Robotics Olympiad - Food Matters 2018 in the OPEN High School category held in Athens. Since March 2018, he is Scientific Manager of Stem Education in Ioannina.

Panagiotis Verras

Scientific Manager of STEM Education in Patra

Athanasios Balafoutis

Scientific Manager of STEM Education in Xanthi

He studied Electrical Engineering and Eng. Computer at the Democritus University of Thrace. He holds a Masters and PhD in Artificial Intelligence. He is also a member of the research group of the Space Laboratory at the University of Athens, the robotics group of the University of the Aegean, the Hellenic Society for Artificial Intelligence and the Technical Chamber of Greece. He has more than 20 research publications in international scientific journals and conferences, while he was a member of the organizing committee and a judge in several of them. He started working with educational robotics in 2012, participating every year since then in the Panhellenic competitions of WRO Hellas. He was the coach of the educational robotics student team of the 1st GEL Xanthi when they won the silver medal in the Robotics Olympiad in Qatar in 2015 and the 4th place in the Robotics Olympiad in India in 2016. He is in charge of WRO Hellas in the Robotic Football category and a member of the scientific team that plans the challenges of the Panhellenic Educational Robotics Competition. He works as a secondary education teacher and since 2019 he is the scientific manager of STEM Education in Xanthi.

Michalis Bakaloglou

Scientific Manager of STEM Education in Thessaloniki

Markos Chattari

Scientific Manager of STEM Education in Arta

Markos Hattari is a graduate of the Department of Teaching Technology and Digital Systems of the University of Piraeus and studies European and International Policies in Education, Training and Research. He has been involved in the design and implementation of learning management systems and massive open online courses (MOOCS). Since 2015, he has been professionally involved with the educational solutions of LEGO Education and their integration into the Greek data of education. Since 2018 he is the scientific manager of STEM Education in Arta.