Press Release

Presentation of the 2nd Competition
for Applied Research & Innovation
in Thessaloniki


The 20 participants shortlisted in the 2nd Greece Innovates! Applied Research & Innovation Competition, jointly sponsored by SEV and Eurobank, were officially announced for the first time on 15 April 2013, in a special event held in Thessaloniki. This is the first in a series of exhibitions and events aimed at showcasing the innovative work of Greek researchers to the wider public, while at the same time bringing the research community into contact with the business community in Greece and bridging the world of laboratories with that of production.

The 20 proposals pertain to applied research and innovation products and services which are ready for the production line, contribute to improving everyday life and, from a business standpoint, promote and strengthen the extroversion of the Greek economy. They cover fields such as IT, mobile telephony, energy, medical know-how, environment, biology, food, microelectronics and others.

During the event entitled “Research Innovation Entrepreneurship – Conditions for Growth”, the Minister of Agricultural Development, Mr Athanasios Tsaftaris, stressed, “Returning to positive growth rates is the greatest challenge the Greek economy has faced in the last decades. It is a goal which can only be achieved through bringing into play new and innovative business actions. In this context, this initiative is very important as it focuses on all those elements required for the Greek economy to turn a new page: global competitiveness, technological advancement, cooperation between industry, universities and research centres, innovation and extroversion. Lately, the Ministry of Agricultural Development has been trying to turn the country into an innovation and entrepreneurship hub in the broader European region, the Mediterranean and the global market. The future cannot be predicted, but it can be shaped! And the future is shaped by those who expand knowledge and dare to act. We have focused our efforts and actions on connecting, or otherwise forming synergies, between different sectors, from research and innovation to seeds and agriculture, and then on to manufacturing and distribution all the way to the consumer. In other words, we are bringing together the primary sector, namely production, with the secondary sector, which is manufacturing, and the tertiary or services sector.”

Upon concluding, Mr Tsaftaris underlined, “Undertaking such innovative actions which will contribute to opening up new markets and increasing exports and sales is realistic for Greece, principally an agricultural country, with suitable climate conditions and an array of university departments and research centres. Moreover, the current trend of highly educated young people returning to the agricultural sector particularly favours such a development. The main message is that extroversion should be incorporated in our way of thinking; it should be established as a main and constant feature of the Greek economy. Extroversion is the future of our economy if we ever want it to have one.”

Eurobank’s General Manager of Corporate Banking, Mr Giorgos Marinos, noted that since 2009 Eurobank Group has taken a public stance, adopting a series of initiatives aimed at supporting a new economic model focused on extroversion, the quality upgrade of the production base and innovation, as the main driving forces for growth.

In the context of these initiatives, the Greece Innovates competition aims at showcasing applied research and innovation and connecting them with entrepreneurship, which plays a decisive role in improving the competitiveness and productivity of the Greek economy. Mr Marinos further added, “This is an innovative action which brought into the limelight the alienation of the academic community from the business world and the subsequent huge loss of national wealth. SEV and Eurobank set out to perform a series of actions to bridge the gap between the research community and the business community, as well as provide financing, training, mentoring and networking to young and innovative entrepreneurs. It is worth noting that the crisis cost the EU 6 million jobs and €1,000 billion on an annual GDP basis. It is estimated that the goal of 3% of GDP for research and technology by 2020 can create 3.7 million new jobs and increase the annual GDP of the EU by €800 billion by 2025.” Addressing the major issue of limited liquidity, Mr Marinos underlined, “Restoring healthy liquidity conditions in the banking sector is essential for starting to finance businesses again and assisting the Greek economy in recovering. Following this line of reasoning, our Bank decided to become an Anchor Partner in the new Odyssey Fund. Odyssey was set up in the context of the European initiative Jeremie, with the participation of Eurobank and private investors, and invests in shares of newly founded innovative IT and communications companies in Greece.”

Representing SEV, the treasurer of its board of directors, Ms Sofia Efremoglou, noted “The huge success of the innovation competitions organised by Eurobank, in cooperation with SEV, proves that there are young people, entrepreneurs and professionals in Greece who are resisting the sirens of easy choices and are excelling through hard work, imagination and consistency. This is because they understand how vital it is for us to become a society of action and dynamic adjustment again, capable of facing up to the future. SEV and Eurobank’s initiative aims at overcoming the institutional and practical obstacles in innovation and at demonstrating that innovation can indeed flourish within an institutional framework that favours entrepreneurship and boldness. Our goal has always been to highlight the wealth of ideas and people that can be found in the substrates of the Greek economy and society, and to offer prospects to those who wish and are able to contribute to Greece coming out of, not just the economic, but even more so the intellectual mire it has found itself in.”

The Governor of Central Macedonia, Mr Apostolos Tzitzikostas, pointed out, “Even to this day, private sector initiatives are facing huge obstacles, mainly bureaucratic, while they lack the financing tools required to turn ideas or research into business activity. This means great losses for our country; loss in human resources, as the young and brightest are leaving the country looking for a break; loss in creativity, innovation, extroversion and competitiveness, as most ideas never reach the implementation stage; loss in added value, which would have been derived by Greece penetrating external markets; and loss in growth, as new investments that bring income and create jobs are being discouraged.” Mr Tzitzikostas concluded by noting, “All of us, each in their respective field of responsibility and competence, should pursue institutional changes in order to shape a new environment of extroversion, competitiveness and innovation in Greece. In this context, the Region of Central Macedonia was the first throughout Greece to set up the Vice-Region for Extroversion, Innovation and New Technologies. We are firmly dedicated to these three elements; they are the pillars supporting our efforts for growth and our goal to turn Central Macedonia into the most friendly region for investors and entrepreneurs, on both a domestic and an international level. We invest in extroversion to open up our region to the world and to the opportunities created through international cooperation. We invest in innovation, bringing applied research close to the primary sector and businesses. We invest in new technologies to ensure speed and transparency in the services we provide to the people.”

A panel discussion was also organised as part of the event. The panel consisted of Mr Petros Soukoulias, Chairman of the Scientific Board, Prisma Electronics SA; Mr Dimitris Stratakis, Managing Director of U&S Unismac SA; Ms Markela Psimarnou, General Director of Vidavo SA; and Dr Christos Vasilakos, Programme Officer – EU Policies / ESFRI Secretariat. The discussion was coordinated by Eurobank’s Management Consultant, Mr Rallis Spandonidis.

The exhibition at the NOESIS Science Center and Technology Museum in Thessaloniki will be open until Sunday 21 April 2013.

For more information visit the competition webpage at www.kainotomeis.gr 

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Basic information about the competition


Participation
The competition is open to individual researchers, research groups, companies engaged in production and/or research activities in Greece, as well as domestic institutions involved in research, irrespective of whether they had taken part in the first competition or not.
The deadline for submitting candidate files has been set on September 30, 2012.

Awards
The competition comprises two types of awards: one for Applied Research and one for Innovation.
Two awards, the First (A) and Second (B) from each category will be given, i.e. a total of four awards. The awards for each field are financial, amounting to 15,000 euros for each First Prize and 8,000 euros for each Second Prize, and are accompanied by honorary plaques.

Scientific Board
The evaluation process will be coordinated and supervised by a Science Board, comprising 16 distinguished Greek scientists; these are: Fokion Deligiannis, Coordinator of the Industrial Infrastructure and Development Unit of SEV and Coordinator of the Scientific Board, Despina Alexandraki, President of the Biology Department at the University of Crete, Constantinos Vayenas, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Patras, Georgios Vassilikogiannakis, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry at the University of Crete, Evangelos Dialinas, Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Georgios Doukidis, Professor of e-Business, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Doros Theodorou, Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, NTUA, Member of the National Council of Research and Technology of Greece (ESET), Emmanuel Kakaras, Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, NTUA., Yiannis  Calogirou, Professor, Process and Systems Analysis, Design and Development, NTUA, Pantelis Kapros, Professor, Energy Economics, NTUA, Athanasios Konstantopoulos, Professor, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Centre for Research & Technology (CERTH), Spyros Lioukas, Professor, Department of Management Science & Technology, AUEB, Vassilis Maglaris, Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NTUA, Nikolaos Melanitis, Professor at the Hellenic Naval Academy and Associate of the Foundation for Research & Technology (FORTH) / PRAXI Network, Babis Savvakis, Professor of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, and President and Scientific Director of the Biomedical Sciences Research Centre “Alexander Fleming”, Nickolaos Travlos, Dean, The Kitty Kyriacopoulos Chair in Finance, ALBA Graduate Business School at the American College of Greece.
Review of the 1st “Greece Innovates!” competition


21 finalist

Participation in the first competition exceeded all expectations. A total of 295 projects were submitted in due time, and 197 qualified to the written assessment stage. The written assessment procedure, which was coordinated and supervised by a Scientific Board comprising 11 distinguished Greek scientists, produced the 21 projects that received the highest grades (two of them tied): 10 in the Applied Research and 11 in the Innovation category. These 21 projects qualified to the final stage of the Competition, which was completed with their oral presentation by the contestants. The awards, which were presented during a special ceremony at the Foundation of the Hellenic World (FWH), were the following:

Applied Research
1st prize: the research team of Raycap, based in Maroussi, Athens, for the “High quality system for the protection of modern electronic devices or arrays from overvoltage/power surge events”. The team comprised Dr. Zafiris Politis (representative), Dr. Fotis Xepapas, Dr. Grigoris Kostakis, Mr. Spiros Pappas, Mrs. Eleni Dimou, Mr. Dimitris Ioannidis and Mrs. Eva Giannelaki.

2nd Prize: the research team of Danaos Management Consultants SA, based in Piraeus, for the “Advanced business resource planning software designed for supporting shipping enterprises”. The team comprised Mr. Takis Varelas (representative), Mrs. Sofia Archontaki, Mr. Ioannis Dimotikalis and Mrs. Dimitra Moutsikopoulou.

Innovation
1st prize: the research team of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for “AquAsZero: A highly efficient and low-cost granular solid adsorbent for the removal of both trivalent (As3) and pentavalent arsenic (As5) from potable water”. The team comprised Mr. Manassis Mitrakas (representative), Mrs. Sofia Tresintsi, Mr. Konstantinos Symeonidis, Mr. Joseph Georgiou, Mr. Georgios Stavropoulos, Mr. Anastasios Zoumboulis, Mr. Ioannis Tsiaousis and Mrs. Maria Katsikini.  

2nd prize: the research team of the National Centre for Research & Technology (CERTH), based in Thessaloniki, for the “second-generation biodiesel fuel production through the catalytic conversion of waste cooking oil”. The team comprised Mrs. Stella Bezergianni (representative), Mrs. Angelique Kalogianni and Mr. Athanasios Dimitriadis.
Press Release - First Round of the 2nd Greece Innovates!

  • - In total, 242 proposals were submitted
  • - Top research foundations, universities and technological educational institutes, as well as individual researchers and companies are among the participants
  • - A wide range of applied research and innovation fields is covered
  • The evaluation process has already started
The 2nd Greece Innovates! Competition confirms its role as a window for showcasing the dynamic and vibrant research and business community that is creatively active throughout Greece. The first round of this second competition, which is again jointly sponsored by SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and Eurobank, was completed by September 30 2012 with the submission of 242 proposals.

The proposals reflect the unwavering interest of the research and business community in the competition,. The strong regional aspect in the geographical distribution of participants is also quite interesting, confirming that regional Greece actively conducts research and produces innovation!

The main objective of the Competition is to creatively bring together the research and the business world, with the aim of turning applied research and innovation proposals into products and services that will improve everyday life and strengthen the extroversion of the economy.

The proposals demonstrate that the institutions conducting, producing and promoting research and innovation are highly extrovert, while they also establish communication channels with the private sector. This trend initially appeared in the first competition and is clearly present in the second competition as well.

The competition also confirms that Greek research is highly mature, on par with international research and often focusing on the same critical fields. The high quality in terms of the content and originality of both the applied research and innovation projects and proposals participating in the competition is also quite noteworthy.
Proposals were submitted by both public and private research institutions, as well as businesses. covering a wide range of applications in an array of challenging fields.

The topics included, among others, systems using IT applications, proposals related to biotechnology, medicine and food, as well as projects on energy saving, renewable energy sources, waste management and water. Other proposals concerned materials science and a range of mechanical applications in relevant fields.
In the context of promoting the competition to the Greek research community, SEV and Eurobank officials carried out more than 130 presentations to representatives of universities, technological educational institutes, science parks, research centres and business innovation venues. These included the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) in Thessaloniki, Demokritos National Centre for Scientific Research, the Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C), the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park, the Patras Science Park, the Biomedical Research Institute in Ioannina, the Centre for Research and Technology in Thessaly (CE.RE.TE.TH), the Industrial Systems Institute (ISI) in Patras, the Computer Technology Institute & Press in Patras, the Epirus Science and Technology Park, the Association of Information Technology Companies of Northern Greece (SEPVE), the Corallia Clusters Initiative, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the National Technical University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Polytechnic School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Macedonia, the University of Crete, the Technical University of Crete, the University of Patras, the University of Ioannina, the Technological Educational Institute of Athens, the Technological Educational Institute of Larissa and the Technological Educational Institute of Crete.
The aforementioned presentations were given throughout Greece and were held in close cooperation with the administration of each institution. We would like to extend our thanks for their valuable support.

The written assessment procedure is already underway, carried out by a group of distinguished scientists that is selected and coordinated by the scientific council of the competition. Members of the scientific council are  Fokion Deligiannis, Despina Alexandraki, Konstantinos Vagenas, Georgios Vassilikogiannakis, Evaggelos Dialynas, Georgios Doukidis, Doros Theodorou, Manolis Kakaras, Giannis Kalogirou, Pantelis Kapros, Athanassios Konstantopoulos, Spyros Lioukas, Nikolaos Melanitis, Babis Savakis and Nikolaos Travlos. This written assessment is expected to be completed by February 2013, when the top 20 proposals will be shortlisted (ten for applied research and ten for innovation). SEV and Eurobank will host a series of exhibitions to promote the shortlisted proposals to the business community and the public, including regional events in large Greek cities (Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Ioannina and Athens). In addition to other promotional activities on television, radio, national and local press, a special album will be printed and distributed to a wide circle of stakeholders, mainly members of the business community.
Following the written, and according to the specifications of the competition, an oral assessment will follow. It will take place ahead of the awards ceremony that will take place in June 2013 in Athens.

This year, the competition is also quite active on the internet. It has so far received 63,268 visits on its website (www.kainotomeis.gr), 1,665 likes on its Facebook page, with a social reach of 608,651 users, while the number of its Twitter followers has exceeded 320.

All the information pertaining to the competition has been posted on its website (www.kainotomeis.gr). The same applies for any announcements regarding the next rounds, e.g. the completion of the written assessment and the regional events.

The Album of the Competition 2010-2011
Press Release - “Greece Innovates!” with the 20 participants shortlisted in the 2nd round of the Applied Research & Innovation Competition
The written assessment of the proposals submitted in the first round of the 2nd “Greece Innovates!” Applied Research & Innovation Competition, has been successfully completed. The Competition is jointly sponsored by SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and Eurobank.

Out of the 242 proposals submitted in the 2nd Competition, 216 met the formal tender conditions and were assessed by 159 reviewers. Of the assessed proposals, 45% were from Attica, 21% from Macedonia, 10% from the Peloponnese, 8% from Crete and 16% from the rest of Greece. The strong geographical distribution of participants outside Attica confirms that regional Greece also conducts high level research and produces innovation.

The assessed proposals pertain both to applied research and innovation products and services which are ready for the production line, contribute to improving everyday life and from a business standpoint, promote and strengthen the extroversion of the Greek economy.  They cover sectors such as IT, mobile telephony, energy, medical technology, environment, biology, food, microelectronics and others.

The shortlisted proposals are a clear evidence of the high level of Greek researchers as well as of their continuous and persistent search for the means to connect with the business world and turn their ideas into products.

Specifically, the 20 proposals shortlisted in the next round of the 2nd Competition are the following (sorted by the submission number):
  1. (4006 – INNOVATION)  “Development of natural detergents with increased cleaning performance, human and environmentally friendly. Fleriana: the natural detergent”, Provipax SA, represented by Mr Konstantinos Gouliaris
  2. (4038 - INNOVATION) "Easy-to-use system for genetic analysis based on mobile phone technology, also aimed at developing countries",  Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), represented by Dr Electra Gizeli, Group Leader and Associate Professor of the Department of Biology of the University of Crete.
  3. (4213 – INNOVATION)  “Integrated ballast water treatment system, with advanced filtration and electrolytic disinfection, for the protection of marine biodiversity”, ERMA FIRST ESK ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SA, represented by chemical engineer Mr Konstantinos Stampedakis, MSc
  4. (4572 – INNOVATION)  “Healthy olive snack-pack in innovative packaging”, Gaea, represented by Mr Aris Kefalogiannis
  5. (4656 – RESEARCH)  “LMNT II portable laser device for rapid and direct identification of chemical elements in solid materials”, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, FORTH, represented by Mr Panagiotis Siozos
  6. (4685 – INNOVATION)  “Greek Propolis with highly antioxidant and photoprotective properties”, APIVITA SA, represented by Ms Panagiota Dragani
  7. (5035 – RESEARCH)  “COSSMOS: Computational tool for analysis and optimisation of ship energy systems”, Det Norske Veritas Research & Innovation, Greece, represented by Dr. Nikolaos Kakalis
  8. (5134 – RESEARCH)  “Electronic Care and Treatment Compliance System”, PCC Hellas Ltd, represented by Mr George Mazarakis
  9. (5189 – RESEARCH)  “Nanotechnology, environmental protection and human life improvement”, Onex Global Nanotechnologies (Glonatech SA), represented by Dr Stephanos Nitodas
  10. (5454 – INNOVATION)  “Functional food ingredients from olive oil mill waste water”, Phenoliv AB, represented by Dr Charis M. Galanakis
  11. (5498 – INNOVATION)   “Design and manufacture of an electric vehicle (of extremely low cost), using the “parametric chassis and suspension module” technology”, EllenicVehicle Research, represented by Dr Dimitrios Chatzikakidis
  12. (5635 – RESEARCH)  “NOOWIT: Α magazine that gets to know you”, NOOWIT company, represented by Mr Nikolaos Nanas
  13. (5998 – RESEARCH)  “Smart, nanostructured surfaces and bioanalytic labs-on-chip”, Demokritos National Center for Scientific Research, represented by Mr Evangelos Gogolides
  14. (6075 – INNOVATION) “Method for detecting intracellular microorganisms in sperm cells to avoid infectious and/or antigenic embryos”, Locus Medicus SA, represented by Mr Angelos Gritzapis, PhD
  15. (6108 – RESEARCH)  “System for preliminary health impact assessment of selected nanoparticles”, Laboratory of Aerosol and Particle Technology, Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, represented by Ms Eleni Papaioannou
  16. (6193 – RESEARCH)  “A photonic sensor for monitoring shear stress between human skin and artificial surfaces of limbs and wheelchairs”, FORTH-IESL, represented by Dr Stavros Pissadakis
  17. (6195 – RESEARCH)  “Spectral machine hyper-vision for early and non-invasive diagnosis”, Electronics Laboratory, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Crete, represented by Dr Costas Balas, associate professor and head of the Electronics Laboratory
  18. (6250 – INNOVATION)  “SEATRAC –Autonomous access to the sea for people with movement disabilities”, TOBEA MECHANICAL APPLICATIONS Ltd, spin-off company of the University of Patras, represented by Mechanical and Aeronautics Engineer Mr Ignatios Fotiou
  19. (6259 – RESEARCH)  “Robotic antenna systems for radio transmission automatic monitoring and control”, FASMETRICS SA, represented by Mr Dimitris Kolokotronis
  20. (6296 - INNOVATION) «Measuring quality of vision», SinusMedii Ltd, represented by Harilaos Ginis, PhD
Following the announcement of the 20 shortlisted proposals, the 2nd “Greece Innovates!” Competition enters the next stage, which includes a series of presentations, events and exhibitions organized by SEV and Eurobank to promote the 20 shortlisted proposals to the wider public and the business world.
The 2nd “Greece Innovates!” Applied Research and Innovation Competition will be completed in June 2013 with the oral assessment, open-to-the public (25% of the final grade). The awards ceremony will take place in Athens in July 2013, and will be attended by members of the Greek academic, research and business community.

Stay tuned for more news and all the latest updates on the 2nd “Greece Innovates!” Applied Research and Innovation Competition:
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