Speakers

Symeon Christodoulou began his undergraduate studies in 1987 on an academic scholarship awarded by the Agency for International Development (AID), and in 1991 he received a B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from Columbia University (New York City, USA). He then went on to complete his graduate studies, all on academic and research scholarships from Columbia University, graduating in succession with a Master's of Science (M.Sc., 1992), a Professional Engineering Degree (1995), a Master's of Philosophy (M.Phil, 1996) and a Doctorate (Ph.D., 1998). Upon completion of his PhD, and after several years of industry experience in the field of construction management, he joined Polytechnic University (Brooklyn, New York) as an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Head of the Construction Management Program of the university (1998 - 2003). In 2004 he joined the University of Cyprus, having also worked for a year in Cyprus (construction industry) and in Greece (Democritus University of Thrace) as an Adjunct Professor. Dr. Christodoulou is the author of several scientific publications, the recipient of significant research funding (including a prestigious award from the National Science Foundation, NSF), the recipient of two international research awards (London, 1999; Athens, 2015) and of a best-teacher award (University of Thrace, 2003). He has served on several national and international scientific committees (most prominently, he is the President-Elect of the European Council for Computing in Construction, and he has been Cyprus’s national representative to the ESF/COST Domain Committee on transport and urban development, 2006-2013), he is an Associate Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a reviewer for several scientific journals (ASCE, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, Springer, IWA, etc.), and a founding Board of Directors' member of the Nireas International Water Research Center. Dr. Christodoulou’s research and teaching interests are founded on three equally important pillars: (1) Construction engineering and management (primarily topics on resource-constrained scheduling, competitive bidding, building information models, and entropy); (2) Computer-aided engineering (fully integrated and automated project processes in the management of construction, with an emphasis on Building Information Models (BIM) and integrated information management systems, information technology, system integration and soft-computing techniques); and (3) rehabilitation of urban infrastructure and risk analysis, with an emphasis on urban water distribution networks.