Nicosia: KIOS Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus has proudly announced the graduation of six new PhD students from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The students conducted their pioneering research at the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence and successfully completed their doctoral studies in transport optimization, medical imaging, cybersecurity, optical networks, unmanned aerial systems, and smart grid management.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Dr. Antonis Georgantas, supervised by Professors Christos Panayiotou and Stelios Timotheou, developed a framework to alleviate morning traffic congestion by adjusting school start times. His research, based on real-time traffic data from Nicosia, demonstrated a potential reduction in citywide road congestion by 7% through coordinated school schedule changes.
Dr. Nicolas Hadjittoouli, under the supervision of Professor Costas Pitris, devised mathematical tools to transform the curved surface of the skull into a flat map for easier fracture detection on CT scans. His methods were also applied to cardiac imaging, facilitating the study of complex 3D electrical activity in the heart through a simplified 2D view.
Dr. Solon Falas, guided by Professor Maria Michael and Dr. Markos Asprou, introduced new security methods for cyber-physical systems, including secure firmware updates and physics-informed neural networks. His work aims to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks by enhancing system resilience against various forms of adversarial manipulation.
Dr. Hafsa Maryam, supervised by Professor Georgios Ellinas and Dr. Tania Panayiotou, focused her research on traffic prediction and quality-of-transmission estimation in optical networks using machine learning. Her thesis proposed methods for more reliable and efficient QoS-aware network optimization by incorporating uncertainties into provisioning decisions.
Dr. Panayiota Valianti, under the supervision of Professors George Ellinas and Panayiotis Kolios, proposed a multi-agent framework using UAVs to monitor and disrupt malicious UAVs. Her research developed strategies for effective tracking and interception, integrating search, tracking, and jamming into a unified multi-agent reinforcement learning system.
Dr. Andreas Kotsonias, guided by Professor Christos Panayiotou, Dr. Markos Asprou, and Dr. Lenos Hadjidemetriou, created an advanced management system for Low Voltage Distribution Grids. His work addresses challenges posed by high solar and electric vehicle penetration, ensuring enhanced grid situational awareness and fair use of user assets.
Prof. Christos Panayiotou, Director of KIOS, praised the graduates, stating, "These six theses reflect the caliber of research being carried out at KIOS, spanning transport, health, cybersecurity, telecommunications, unmanned aerial systems, and energy. Each of these students has tackled a real-world challenge with scientific rigor and originality, from easing traffic congestion in our cities to securing critical infrastructure and improving how we diagnose disease. We congratulate our graduates and wish them every success in the next stage of their careers".