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Spyros G. Tzafestas
Spyros G. Tzafestas ( Greek: Σπύρος/Σπυρίδων Γεωργίου Τζαφέστας ) is a physicist and electrical engineer, Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Associate of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA),Greece.

Profile Resume: Born: Corfu, Greece. Residence: Athens, Greece. Fields: Systems, control, and robotics .Education: University of Athens, Imperial  College, University of London, University of Southampton. Master Thesis:

Parameter Estimation of Multivariable Systems .Advisor: David Mayne. Doctoral Thesis: Optimal Estimation and Control of Distributed Parameter Systems. Advisor: Jim Nightingale, External examiner: Alistair  MacFarlane. Known: For his contributions to distributed parameter, multivariable, multidimensional, knowledge-based and neural/ fuzzy control systems,  fixed /mobile robot path/motion planning and control, and books on automation, mobile robot control, and roboethics/robophilosophy. Honorary Doctoral Degrees: University of Southampton (D.Sc.), Technical University of Munich (Dr.Ing.E.h.), Ecole Centrale de Lille (Docteur Honoris Causa).

Biography
Spyros G. Tzafestas was born in Corfu, Greece on December 3,1939,and lived there up to 1958.The son of George Tzafestas and Elpida Tzafestas, he

married  Niki Kalliamvakou ( a Telecom Engineer) on October 4,1965. They have two children : Elpida ( Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence) born on June 23,1967, and Costas ( Ph.D. in Robotics ) born on June 24,1969. He earned a B.Sc. in Physics from Athens University [1] in 1962,with one year of further study meriting the Postgraduate Diploma in Electronics and Communications in 1963. From March 1964 to September 1965 he was an assistant researcher in computing and electronics at the Nuclear Research Center ‘Demokritos’, renamed in 1985 as National Center for Scientific Research ‘Demokritos’ [2]. Subsequent postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom, after gaining a competitive 3-year Hellenic State scholarship, merited the D.I.C. in Electrical Engineering-Automatic Control Systems from Imperial College of London, the M. Sc. in Control from London University in 1967,and the Ph.D. in Systems and Control from Southampton University of the United Kingdom in March 1969.

He returned to ‘Demokritos’ in 1969 as a research leader of the Computer Control and Automation Group of the Computer Science Division. From October 1973 to March 1985 he served as a Professor of Control Systems, Director of the Automatic Control Systems Laboratory, at the Electrical Engineering Department of the of,  [3]. He then gained a position at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (SECE) of the National Technical University of Athens  (NTUA) where he served as Professor of Control and Robotics [4]. At NTUA he founded the Intelligent Robotics and Automation Laboratory of which was the Director up to his retirement on August 31, 2006. From 1 Septemer 2006 he is a Senior Research Associate of SECE/NTUA working in intelligent control, robotics, and automation (including philosophical, ethical, and social impact issues).

His research work is broadly divided in two periods: 1969-1984 and 1985 -2006. The areas covered during the first period are:

1. Distributed parameter control systems

2. Computing and micro-processor-based control systems

3. Multivariable control systems

4. Multidimensional systems

5. Walsh series-based modeling and control

The areas covered in the second period include:

1. Robotic systems

2. AI and KB control techniques

3, Computational intelligence techniques

4. Control of manufacturing systems

He is known for substantial contributions in the above areas. His work was worldwide recognized by University researchers, and systems, control and robotic scientific societies (IEEE,ASME,IEE,IFAC,IMACS,EUCA). He was invited to pursue short term research and/or offer short-term courses and seminars  in his fields of expertise in many Universities ,including Southampton University, Imperial College, UMIST, Florida University, MIT, Denmark TU, IDN, Brussels University(ULB), and TU Delft.

On the administrative side he served for two terms as Director of the Systems and Control Division of Patras University, for two terms as Director

of  the Computer Science Division ( NTUA), for two terms as Director of the Signals, Control and Robotics Division (NTUA), and for ten years (1999-2009) as Director of the NTUA Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) [5]. He was the coordinator of several national and European Projects for NTUA/ICCS (EPET, ESPRIT, TIDE, GROWTH, IST, etc.).

Awards and honors
University honors

Mar 1978      Doctor of Science,

Oct 1997       Dr.Ing.E.h., of

Oct  2003     Docteur  Honoris Causa, Ecole Centrale de Lille

Scientific Societies                                                                                     

Apr   1982     Fellow of IEE,

Jun    1986     IMACS Vice President

Apr    1987    Fellow of IEEE,

Jun     1995    Hellenic Society of Writers Honorary Award, Athens.

Jun     2002    IEEE Mediterranean Control Association KTESIBIOS Award

Sept    2002   ASME Long Time Membership Award, New York.

Jul      2007    EUCA President

Other

Mar     1995     20th Century Award of Achievement

May    2005    World Life Achievement Award

Mar     2010    Praise for ICCS Leadership and Development (ICCS/NTUA, GR)

Journal and research book editing
Tzafestas is known for his extensive editorial activity.

1. He edited several research volumes with invited contributions or      enhanced/revised versions of conference papers.

2. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems(1998), serving as the Editor-in-Chief until August 2006 [6].

3.  He is the editor of the Springer book series on Intelligent Systems,

Control, and Automation (ISCA) originated in 1988 as Microprocessor-

Based and Intelligent Systems Engineering (Kluwer Academic Publishers).

This series has up to 2017 published 92 volumes [7].

4. He was Guest Editor of some 30 Special Issues in several journals.

A few examples are the following:

(i) Special Issue on Distributed Parameter Systems, Journal of the Franklin Institute, 315(5-6), 1983.

(ii)    Special Issue on Neural Networks/Neurocomputing, Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 40(5-6), 1996.

(iii)  Special Issue on Autonomous Mobile Robots in Health

Care Services, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 22 (3-4), 1998.

(iv)  Special Issue on Intelligent Robots, Advanced Robotics, 12(4),            1997.

(v) Special Issue on Research on Autonomous Wheelchairs in Europe, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, 7(1), 2001.

(v) Special Issue on Bioengineering for People with disabilities, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine,9 (1 ),2003 (with N. Bourbakis).

(vii) Special Issue on Emerging Methodologies for Control System Design, European Control Journal, 13(2-3), 2007 (with Panos Antsaklis)

(viii) Special Issue on Roboethics, Information (Open Access Journal), 2018.

Greek
He has written over the years several Greek educational textbooks on control, expert systems, and robotics. The ones that have been used by Greek Universities are [8]:

(i)  Expert Systems and Applications with Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (Έμπειρα Συστήματα και Εφαρμογές—Με Εισαγωγή στην Τεχνητή Νοημοσύνη).

(ii)  Robotics: Analysis, Control, Planning, Programming, and Sensing

( Ρομποτική— Ανάλυση, Έλεγχος, Σχεδιασμός, Προγραμματισμός, Αίσθηση).

(iii)  Computational Intelligence (Υπολογιστική Νοημοσύνη), Vol. A: Theory (Θεωρία), Vol. B: Applications (Εφαρμογές).

(iv)  Automatic Control of Linear and Nonlinear Continuous-and-Discrete-Time Systems (Αυτόματος Έλεγχος Γραμμικών και Μη Γραμμικών Συστημάτων Συνεχούς και Διακριτού Χρόνου).Vol. 1: Analysis and Basic Controllers (Ανάλυση και Βασικοί Ελεγκτές), Vol. 2A: Classical, Optimal, Stochastic and Adaptive Controllers (Κλασικοί, Βέλτιστοι, Στοχαστικοί και Προσαμοστικοί Ελεγκτές). Vol. 2B: Robust, Nonlinear, Hierarchical, Decentralized and Intelligent Controllers (Σθεναροί, Μη Γραμμικοί, Ιεραρχικοί, Αποκεντρωμένοι και Ευφυείς Ελεγκτές)..

English
(i)  Human and Nature Minding Automation: An Overview of Concepts, Methods Tools and Applications (Springer, 2010) [16].

(ii)   Introduction to Mobile Robot Control (Elsevier, 2013) [17].

(iii)  Roboethics: A Navigating Overview (Springer, 2015) [18].

(iv)  Sociorobots: A Guided Tour for All (Springer, 2016) [19]

(v) An Introduction to Robophilosophy: Cognition, Intelligence, Autonomy,   Conciousness, Conscience, and Ethics (River Publishers, 2016) [20].

(vi) Systems, Cybernetics, Control, and Automation: Ontological, Epistemological, Societal, and Ethical Issues (River Publishers, 2017) [21].

(ii) Energy, Information, Feedback, Adaptation, and Self-organization: The Fundamental Elements of Life and Society (Springer (2018).[22].

Conference organization
Spyros Tzafestas is well known for his extraordinary contribution to the worldwide dissemination of scientific knowledge through the organization

of more than thirty international conferences. A small sample of them is:

2007   ECC’07: EUCA 2007 European Control Conference, Kos, Greece, 2007[9].

1998   EURISCON-SOFTCOM’ 98: Joint 3rd European Robotics, Intelligent Systems and Control Conference and IMACS/IFAC International Symposium on Soft Computing in Engineering Applications, Athens,             Greece, June, 1998 [10].

1991   EURISCON’1991: 1st European Robotics, Intelligent Systems and Control Conference, Corfu, Greece, June, 1991 [11].

1990   MIM-S2’ 90: IMACS/IFAC International Symposium on Mathematical and Intelligent Models in System Simulation, , Sept., 1990 (Jointly with Patrick Kool: VUB and Raymond Hanus: ULB) [12].

1986   25th CDC:  1986 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control,, December, 1986 ( Local Organizer and Co-chairman. Chairman: Anthony Ephremides) [13].

1984   RTC-LSS’84-DIGITECH’84: Joint European Workshop on Real –Time Control of Large Scale Systems and IMACS International Symposium

on Digital Techniques in Simulation, Communication, and Control, Patras,

Greece, July, 1984 (with: G. Schmidt, M. Singh and A. Titli ) [14],.

1978   MECO’ 78   IASTED/Panhellenic Soc. of Mech. and Electrical  Engineers on Measurement and Control,, June ,1998 (with

M. Hamza, Alberta Univ./Canada) [15].

Reference links
1.    www.uoa.gr

2.    www.demokritos.gr

3.     www.upatras.gr

4.    www.ntua.gr

5.    www.iccs.gr.

6.    www.springer.com/engineering/control/journal/10846?detailsPage=editorialBoard

7. www.springer.com/series/6259

8. https://service.eudoxus.gr/search/#s/ΣΠΥΡΟΣ ΤΖΑΦΕΣΤΑΣ/0

9..     www.euca-control.org/ecc.html

10.   EURISCON-SOFTCOM’98  Proceedings

(i) EURISCON: Progress in System and Robot Analysis and Control Design (Co-editor: G. Schmidt)  www.springer.com/la/book/9781852331238

(ii) SOFTCOM:Computational Intelligence in Systems and Control Design and Applications, Springer, 1999. https://books.google.gr/books?isbn=1402003943

11.  . EURISCON’ 91 Proceedings: (1) Robotic Systems: Advanced Techniques and Applications, Springer, 1991.

https://books.google.gr/books?isbn=9401125260

(2) Advances in Intelligent Systems: Concepts, Tools, and Applications, Springer, 1991.  https://books.google.gr/books?isbn=9401148406

12.  www.worldcat.org/title/mim-s2-90-final-programme-september-3-7-  1990-brussels-belgium/oclc/835177630

13.   www.ieeecss.org/CAB/conferences/cdc2010/history.php

14. (i) RTC-LSS’84 Proceedings: Real Time Control of Large Scale Systems

www.springer.com/engineering/robotics/book/978-3-540-15033-6

(ii) DIGITECH’84 Proceedings: Digital Techniques in Simulation,    Communication, and Control, Elsevier, 1985.

https://amazon.com/Digital-Techniques-Simulation-Communication-Control/dp/0444876952

`15..MECO’78  Proceedings: Advances in Measurement and Control, IASTED Press, 1978.. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005801411

16. www.springer.com/us/book/9789048135615  (ISCA  Series, vol.41).

17. www.amazon.com/Introduction-Mobile-Control-Elsevier-Insights/dp/0124170498

18. www.springer.com/us/book/9783319217130   (ISCA  Series, vol.79).

19. www.springer.com/us/book/9783319214214   (ISCA  Series, vol.80).

20.. www.riverpublishers.com/book­_details.php?book_id=376

21. www.riverpublishers.com/book_details.php?book_id=455

22. www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319669984  (ISCA  Series, vol.90).