About us, Board of Directors

Dr. Symeon C. Kassianides (Hyperion Systems Engineering Ltd CEO & Chairman)

Chairman

Dr. Symeon Kassianides founded Hyperion Systems Engineering Ltd. in 1993. Since then, he has been the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company being responsible for the overall management, strategic direction, growth and financial control. Dr. Kassianides holds a B.Sc. from MIT, USA (1987) and a Ph.D. and D.I.C. from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, UK (1991), all in Chemical Engineering. He has extensive experience in project execution and management for the process and manufacturing industries. In June 1999 he was appointed as a Member to the Council of the Cyprus Stock Exchange. Since July 2000 he is also a Member of the Council of Management of the Employers and Industrialists Federation of Cyprus. Since December 2007 he has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Diogenes Business Incubator University of Cyprus Ltd.

Dr. Kassianides holds a B.Sc. from MIT, USA (1987) and a Ph.D. and D.I.C. from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, UK (1991), all in Chemical Engineering. He has extensive experience in project execution and management for the process and manufacturing industries. In June 1999 he was appointed as a Member to the Council of the Cyprus Stock Exchange. Since July 2000 he is also a Member of the Council of Management of the Employers and Industrialists Federation of Cyprus. Since December 2007 he has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Diogenes Business Incubator University of Cyprus Ltd.

Dr. George Kassinis (Associate Professor of Management, School of Economics and Management, University of Cyprus)

Vice - President

Dr. George Kassinis is an Associate Professor at the Department of Public and Business Administration of the School of Economics and Management of the University of Cyprus and Vice chairman of the department. He holds a Ph.D. (1997) and an M.A. (1995) from Princeton University, USA in Public Policy, an M.C.P. (1992) in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), and an A.B. (1990) in Economics and a B.Sc. (1990) in Urban Planning from Cornell University (USA).

He holds a Ph.D. (1997) and an M.A. (1995) from Princeton University, USA in Public Policy, an M.C.P. (1992) in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), and an A.B. (1990) in Economics and a B.Sc. (1990) in Urban Planning from Cornell University (USA).

Dr. Charalambos D. Charalambous (Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, University of Cyprus)

Member

Charalambos D. Charalambous received the B.S. degree in 1987, the M.S. degree in 1988, and the Ph.D. in 1992, all in Electrical Engineering from Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA. In 2003 he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus, where he is an Associate Professor. In 2005 he was elected Associate Dean of the School of Engineering. He was an Associate Professor at University of Ottawa, School of Information Technology and Engineering from 1999 to 2003, and an adjunct Professor with McGill University from 1999 to 2002. He has served on the faculty of McGill University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as a visiting faculty, from 1995 to 1999. From 1993 to 1995 he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Idaho State University, Engineering Department. He is currently an associate editor of the IEEE Communications Letters, and Technical Committee Chair for the IFAC (International Federation on Automatic Control) on Stochastic Systems, while from 2002 to 2004 he served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. He was a member of the Canadian Centers of Excellence through MITACS (the mathematics of information technology and complex systems), from 1998 to 2001. In 2001 he received the Premier's Research Excellence Award of the Ontario Province of Canada. Charalambou's research group ICCCSystemS, Information, Communication and Control of Complex Systems is interested in theoretical and technological developments concerning large scale distributed communication and control systems and networks in science and engineering. These include theory and of stochastic processes and systems subject to uncertainty, communication and control systems and networks, large deviations, information theory, robustness and their connections to statistical mechanics, and large scale distributed systems. His research received funding from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Department of Defence, the European Commission, the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, and the University of Cyprus via Competitive Fund programs.

He was an Associate Professor at University of Ottawa, School of Information Technology and Engineering from 1999 to 2003, and an adjunct Professor with McGill University from 1999 to 2002. He has served on the faculty of McGill University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as a visiting faculty, from 1995 to 1999. From 1993 to 1995 he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Idaho State University, Engineering Department. He is currently an associate editor of the IEEE Communications Letters, and Technical Committee Chair for the IFAC (International Federation on Automatic Control) on Stochastic Systems, while from 2002 to 2004 he served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. He was a member of the Canadian Centers of Excellence through MITACS (the mathematics of information technology and complex systems), from 1998 to 2001. In 2001 he received the Premier's Research Excellence Award of the Ontario Province of Canada. Charalambou's research group ICCCSystemS, Information, Communication and Control of Complex Systems is interested in theoretical and technological developments concerning large scale distributed communication and control systems and networks in science and engineering. These include theory and of stochastic processes and systems subject to uncertainty, communication and control systems and networks, large deviations, information theory, robustness and their connections to statistical mechanics, and large scale distributed systems. His research received funding from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Department of Defence, the European Commission, the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, and the University of Cyprus via Competitive Fund programs.

Dr. Paraskevas (Skevos) Evripidou (Professor, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Cyprus)

Member

Skevos Evripidous completed his undergraduate studies at the Higher Technical Institute, Cyprus (H.N.D.) in Electrical Engineering, 1981. He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, USA (1985), and an M.Sc. (1986) and Ph.D. (1990) in Computer Engineering from the same University. He has taught at the University of Southern California, USA (part-time faculty, 1989-1990) and at the Southern Methodist University, USA (Assistant Professor, 1990-1994). He has been the Program Co-Chair of the 8th Panhellenic Conference on Informatics (2001) and the Program Chair for the 3rd South Eastern European Conference on E-Commerce (2002). He is also the Co-Chair of the Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition. His research interests include Parallel Processing and Computer Architecture, Data Flow Systems, Functional Programming and Parallelizing Compilers, and Electronic Commerce.

He has taught at the University of Southern California, USA (part-time faculty, 1989-1990) and at the Southern Methodist University, USA (Assistant Professor, 1990-1994). He has been the Program Co-Chair of the 8th Panhellenic Conference on Informatics (2001) and the Program Chair for the 3rd South Eastern European Conference on E-Commerce (2002). He is also the Co-Chair of the Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition. His research interests include Parallel Processing and Computer Architecture, Data Flow Systems, Functional Programming and Parallelizing Compilers, and Electronic Commerce.

Ms. Stavriana A. Kofteros (CEO, Diogenes Business Incubator University of Cyprus)

Ms. Kofteros is the CEO of the Diogenes Business Incubator of the University of Cyprus with over eight years experience in incubation and commercialization. She holds degrees in Business Administration and Political Science from the University of La Verne, California, USA and in Entrepreneurship Development from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, (USA). Additionally she has completed a Certificate in Business Incubation Management with the National Business Incubator Association (NBIA), USA and has attended training with the European Venture Capital Association Institute.  Ms. Kofteros is involved in technology screening and transfer with a practical view to commercialization and strategic value adding to the startups. Since 2008 Ms. Kofteros is a member of the Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition Organizing Committee that aims to nurture entrepreneurial culture among young scientists in Cyprus and challenge them to transform their ideas into real business opportunities and to leading companies of tomorrow. She is also a mentor to teams in the Competition since 2007. Ms. Kofteros has compiled numerous business and strategic plans as part of an application to the Cyprus government for funding under the Program for creation of high technology enterprises through business incubators (Ministry of Commerce Industry and Tourism program). She leads incubation, financial and contract management. Ms. Kofteros acts as a strategic consultant to the Board of Diogenes portfolio companies and mentor to the founders. She is the Vice President of the Business Professional Women’s (BPW) Nicosia Club with a demonstrated keen interest in enhancing entrepreneurship in the country, a member of the Project Management Institute (USA) and of the PMI Greek Charter and a member of the Friends of Nicosia Association. She is a Board member of the Cyprus Business Incubators Association.

Mr. George Seraphim (Legal Advisor, Diogenes Business Incubator University of Cyprus)

Secretary

George Seraphim graduated the Faculty of Law of the Humboldt University, Berlin after passing successfully the 1st State Examination Berlin on 17/09/97.  He did his pupilage at the Attorney General’s office in Cyprus between 1997 -1998 and was called to the Cyprus Bar in 1999. On the same year he accepted a job offer by the law firm of Tassos Papadopoulos & Co working in the Public and Administrative Law Department of the firm, which includes Constitutional, Civil Servants, Tender, Competition, Public Finance, Tax, Human Rights, and Environmental Law. In April 2002 he established together with Christophoros Christophi the law firm Christophi & Seraphim and in April 2005 he established his own law firm (Legal Office George Seraphim). In April 2002 he accepted the (sole) position of the Internal Legal Advisor of the University of Cyprus (resigned 31/12/2006). In 2003 he was elected Board-Member of the Nicosia Bar Association, a position he holds until 2009, after his re-election in year 2006. George Seraphim specializes on Public and Administrative Law, Corporate and Takeover Law and also possess a solid experience in Intellectual Property and Trademark Law and Patent Law.  His clientele at this time includes large local and international public and private corporations, such as the Technical University of Cyprus, the Cyprus Organization for Storage and Management of Oil Stocks, T.V. and Radio Stations, marketing companies, local municipal authorities, and large industrial group of companies such as Laiko Group etc. He is appointed as a judge in sport-tribunals and has a very extensive court experience especially at the Supreme Court (first and second instance).

On the same year he accepted a job offer by the law firm of Tassos Papadopoulos & Co working in the Public and Administrative Law Department of the firm, which includes Constitutional, Civil Servants, Tender, Competition, Public Finance, Tax, Human Rights, and Environmental Law. In April 2002 he established together with Christophoros Christophi the law firm Christophi & Seraphim and in April 2005 he established his own law firm (Legal Office George Seraphim). In April 2002 he accepted the (sole) position of the Internal Legal Advisor of the University of Cyprus (resigned 31/12/2006). In 2003 he was elected Board-Member of the Nicosia Bar Association, a position he holds until 2009, after his re-election in year 2006. George Seraphim specializes on Public and Administrative Law, Corporate and Takeover Law and also possess a solid experience in Intellectual Property and Trademark Law and Patent Law.  His clientele at this time includes large local and international public and private corporations, such as the Technical University of Cyprus, the Cyprus Organization for Storage and Management of Oil Stocks, T.V. and Radio Stations, marketing companies, local municipal authorities, and large industrial group of companies such as Laiko Group etc. He is appointed as a judge in sport-tribunals and has a very extensive court experience especially at the Supreme Court (first and second instance).