My name is Konstantinos Gektidis and I am a PhD student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I was born and raised in Τhessaloniki, Greece. I have studied Electrical and Computer Engineering and I received my M.Eng. on the field of Electrical Power with the grade of 8.23/10, ranking among the 10% of the best students. My passion for renewable energy sources, cutting edge technologies and my interest in industrial projects and applied research, lead me to conduct PhD under the title of “Surge protection of sensitive electronic equipment”. My research has been published both at scientific conferences and journals so far, despite of my only three months long research activity.
During my student years, I have participated in several projects and organizations as a volunteer. I was the project leader at the biggest scientific self-funding student conference in Greece (ECESCON), blog manager and founding member at TEDxAUTH, sub-project leader at space engineering student team, volunteer at Visual Impaired School of Thessaloniki, Science Popularization Week and many more. These volunteering activities helped me evolve as a person and were definitely the best choices –regarding personal growth- I’ve made so far in my life. I developed new skills, I became an active citizen and an engineer and of course I gained countless pleasant memories to recall and compelling stories to recount.
I have participated in 9 Erasmus+ projects across Europe, in 3 National cultural projects related with mathematical literature and in a Quality Label awarded e-Twining project. Through these experiences, I had the opportunity to receive stimuli and become aware of various concerning issues of our society which need to be confronted, like the immigration crisis, human rights and the risk of losing national identities. Through these programs, I have also improved my English and German language skills.