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New Wave of Energy Autonomous Networks

ACG hosted the 4th Summer School of the EU Project PAINLESS, which aims to establish a training and research platform to pioneer green, energy-autonomous portable network nodes

The Summer School, which took place between May 9-11 at the Agia Paraskevi campus, comprised a 2-day public event (see program here) and a 1-day internal project meeting. ACG participates in PAINLESS via Alba and Dr. Constantinos Papadias, Executive Director of ACG’s Research, Technology and Innovation Network (RTIN), Professor of Information Technology at Deree and Alba, and PAINLESS project Research Coordinator hosted the event.

PAINLESS is a multi-partner Marie Skłodowska-Curie “European Training Network” Project funded by the European Commission’s H2020 program. It was launched in 2018 with the visionary aim to establish a training and research platform to pioneer green, energy-autonomous portable network nodes which are self-subsistent and limitlessly scalable to satisfy future demands with minimal infrastructure. The project partners span from academicians to industry experts.

The 1st day featured presentations by local and international academic experts in the area of next-generation/6G networks. Attendees were captivated by a live demo of a prototype flying access point (drone) put together by ACG’s Smart Wireless Future Technologies (SWIFT) Lab and Spirit Aeronautical Systems (S.A.S). The 2nd day was devoted to entrepreneurship and included talks by representatives of the startup, venture capital and academic communities. Both days wrapped up with a panel of experts who discussed trends and challenges in technology and innovation. Ninety-two on-site and remote attendees from 12 different countries registered for the event.

From left to right: Prof. George Alexandropoulos (University of Athens); Prof. Ioannis Krikidis (University of Cyprus); Prof. Christos Masouros (University College London); Prof. Anna Tzanakaki (University of Athens); Prof. Petar Popovski (Aalborg University); Dr. Fotis Lazarakis (NCSR Demokritos); Prof. Constantinos Papadias (Alba – ACG, Exec. Director, ACG Research, Technology & Innovation Network (RTIN))

Dr. Constantinos Papadias highlighted the event’s importance for ACG and researchers alike:

The PAINLESS Project 4th Summer School, which we hosted at ACG, was a great opportunity to welcome distinguished guests from local and international academia, as well as from the technology & business innovation communities. It was also a long-overdue chance to meet again in person with the project’s PhD students, see how much progress has been made over the last three years and hear about their career plans and prospects. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to many more collaborative research projects of this kind, which help greatly shape the careers of early-stage researchers!