Course Sylabbuses

FALL SEMESTER

ADVANCED TOPICS IN COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS (instr. George Stavroulakis)

Energy and variational methods for numerical approximation of the solution to partial differential equations. Elasticity, thermal and coupled field problems (multiphysics). Finite and boundary element methods. Programming of the method and usage of open access codes. Demonstration of commercial packages and projects.

ANALYSIS AND MATRIX COMPUTATIONS (instr. Anargiros Delis)

Vector and matrix norms. Sensitivity of linear systems. Condition number and perturbation analysis of linear systems. Direct methods (LU decomposition, pivoting strategies, Cholesky decomposition), pivoting strategies. Iterative methods (Jacobi, Gauss-Seidel, SOR, optimal gradient method). Orthogonal matrices. QR analysis. Householder transformations. Eigenvalue analysis and the SVD. Linear least squares problem. Methods of computing eigenvalues and eigenvectors.

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND DATA ANALYTICS (instr. Nikolaos Matsatsinis)

Artificial Intelligence & Decision Systems, Knowledge Management, Business Intelligence, Business Intelligence and Business Analytics, Decision Process Modeling, Automated Decision Making, Data and Data Analysis, Big Data, Expert Systems, Knowledge Acquisition & Representation, Machine Learning, Data Mining, Process Mining, Computational Intelligence (Neural Networks, Fuzzy Systems, Evolutionary Algorithms), Deep Learning, Fuzzy Logic, Intelligent Agent Systems, Recommender Systems, Multi-criteria Analysis & Intelligent Systems, Coordination, Collaboration and Negotiation of Intelligent Systems, User Modeling – Personalization, Integration of Intelligent Methods and Decision Systems. Business Intelligence, Knowledge Mining and Data Analytics Tools, Languages & Systems. Applications.

DYNAMIC MAN-MACHINE SYSTEMS (instr. Thomas Kontogiannis)

Part A: Business process management, system representation with IDEF diagrams, effects of ergonomic factors, human information processing, decision-making models, human reliability analysis, incident investigation. PART B: System dynamics theory, system archetypes, operational control of production, quality and safety processes, applications using the Vensim software. PART C: Modeling systems with Petri nets, fundamental Petri net systems, Colored Petri Nets, workflows modeling, applications using the CPN Tools software.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (instr. Constantin Zopounidis)

Financial statements, Analysis of financial statements, Working capital management, Sources of capital, Cost of capital, Capital structure, Forecasting financing needs, Time value of money, Investment evaluation, Dividend policy.

MANUFACTURING MODELING AND SIMULATION BY CAD/CAE SYSTEMS (instr. Aristomenis Antoniadis)

Analytical and numerical simulation methods for manufacturing processes. Manufacturing simulation software. FEM applications for cutting and forming operations. Software development using programming languages like FORTRAN, VB, C++. Manufacturing simulation using CAD systems. Cutting tools design. Optimization of cutting processes based on minimization of tool wear and machined surface integrity. Simulation based on specific measurements.

MULTICRITERIA ANALYSIS AND FINANCIAL DECISIONS (instr. Constantin Zopounidis)

Basic concepts and characteristics of multi-criteria analysis, multi-criteria approach to financial problems, applications: financial analysis of companies, sovereign risk, financial planning, acquisitions and mergers of companies, portfolio management, presentation of multi-criteria analysis software for dealing with financial problems.

OPTIMAL CONTROL WITH COMPUTATIONAL APPLICATIONS (instr. Dimitris Ipsakis)

Calculus of Variations (Historical Data), Introduction to Optimal Control Theory, Functionals of single and multiple N functions, Extrema of Functionals, Euler-Lagrange Equations, Hamilton-Jacobi Equations, Bounded-value problems, Applications of the Calculus of Variations in Optimal Control, The Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations, optimal control problems with finite/infinite time horizon, Linear Quadratic Regulator, Pontryagin's minimum principle, Performance measures (objective functions per problem), Matlab examples and coding regarding the following: a) tracking problem, b) minimum-time problem, c) terminal control problem, d) minimum control effort problem.

QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN MARKETING (instr. Stelios Tsafarakis)

Aggregate market response models. Individual customer response models. New product development models. Conjoint analysis. Market segmentation. Market targeting. Product positioning. Forecasting methods. Advertising models. Pricing models.

QUEUEING SYSTEMS (instr. Stratos Ioannidis)

Discrete and continuous time Markov chains. Useful probability distributions. Basic principles and properties of queueing systems. Linear difference and differential equations. Elementary queueing systems and extensions. Non exponential systems (Μ/Εn/1 and G/En/1 systems). Generating functions. Multi-server systems (Μ/C2/2). Combining make-to-stock and make-to-order systems. Assigning jobs to machines problem. Production lines.

RATIONAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT OF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS (instr. George Arampatzis)

Introduction to energy and energy related problems. Principles of energy analysis and energy efficiency of production systems. The energy system. Principles of systems theory. Primary energy and end use (secondary) energy. Energy balance at process and system level. Rational use of energy in the industrial sector. Energy savings on boilers and steam systems. Heat recovery. Cogeneration systems of heat and power. Cogeneration technologies. Heat-to-power ratio. Trigeneration of heat-electricity-cooling. Rational use of energy in transportation. Estimation of energy demand for transport. Rational use of energy in the domestic sector. Energy saving policies. Economic and environmental dimension.

ROBOTIC SYSTEMS AND MECHANISMS (instr. Lefteris Doitsidis, Nikos Tsourveloudis)

Historical overview of robotic systems. Homogeneous transformations, kinematic analysis of actuators, position, velocity and force control problems. Aerial, terrestrial, underwater robotic systems: characteristics and selected control topics. Autonomy and navigation of robotic vehicles. Biomimicry.

SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 

Introduction to service quality (principles and definitions). Methodology for applied Total Quality Management practices in services. Alternative methodological approaches (Servqual, Servperf, Oliver, Fornell and Kano models, structural equation models, MUSA method). Customer value management. Quality awards and satisfaction barometers. Customer satisfaction surveys. Employee satisfaction. Customer loyalty. Advanced topics on service quality. Applications and studies.

SPECIAL FORECASTING TOPICS: INNOVATIVE ECONOMIES AND SOCIETIES (instr. George Atsalakis)

Emerging and declining economies. The logic of the action of the organized groups of special private interests. The effects of the action of organized private groups. Slowers in the adoption of innovations and new technologies in an economy. Developed democracies after World War II. Unification of territories and foreign trade. Inequality, discrimination and development. Stagnation, unemployment, business cycles and growth.

SPECIAL TOPICS IN NON-LINEAR PROGRAMMING (instr. Ioannis Papamichail)

Introduction, Convexity Analysis (Convex sets – Convex functions), Nonlinear Optimization (Optimality Conditions – Optimization Algorithms), Nonlinear programming applications, Global optimization of nonlinear programming problems (Deterministic methods – Convex relaxation of functions), Mixed integer linear and nonlinear programming, Applications.

SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCT DESIGN USING INTELLIGENT OPTIMIZATION METHODS (instr. Ioannis Nikolos)

Introduction to optimal system and product design. Description of geometry using parametric curves and surfaces. Introduction to optimization methods. Heuristic optimization methods. Introduction to Evolutionary Algorithms (EA). EA categories, structure and special features. The Evolutionary Strategies. The Differential Evolutionary Algorithm. Comparison between different types of Evolutionary Algorithms. Operators of Evolutionary Algorithms. Methods of implementing constraints. Methods to accelerate Evolutionary Algorithms (special operators, parallel processing, meta-models). Evolutionary Algorithms for multicriteria optimal design problems. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). Combination of EA and ANNs. Case studies.

WEB-BASED DATA FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (instr. Konstantinos Tsagarakis)

The aim of this course is to familiarize Ph.D. researchers with online data collection, web scraping, web data collection, and structured questionnaire data collection. This course involves three sections. Data collection and analysis of company profiles and job posts from LinkedIn. Data collection and analysis from internet searches with the Google Trends tool. Methodological techniques for online surveys and paradata analysis using 1ka.

SPRING SEMESTER

A PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH ON TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (instr. Dimitrios Patelis)

Highlighting the logic of the history of research and technological activity within the development of society as a whole; revealing the laws-tensions of this activity in the contradictory escalation of the socially and technologically mediated out-of-body metabolism-transformation of nature. The elaboration, development and application of universal means and modes of acting on nature and society and the enormous scale of catastrophic -deconstructive and creative-constructive tendencies. Submission to self-interested considerations, contrary to the logic of research and real needs, leads to the former. The latter mature with the universalization-creative revolutionization of the ideal and material conditions of this transformation, which imperatively links the struggle for scientific truth with the prospect of the unification of humanity.

ADVANCED DESIGN AND OPERATION CONTROL OF ENERGY SYSTEMS (instr. Dimitris Ipsakis)

Introduction to the basic principles of process systems design and control, research and literature review, revisiting the continuous, semi-batch and batch physicochemical processes, by-product utilization and process stream recycling towards profit maximization, review of RES (Renewable Energy Systems) and hybrid systems, optimal energy management, empirical methods of process unit sizing, capital cost estimation for industrial equipment, economic terms (fixed capital investment, operating costs/expenses, return  on investment, depreciation, efficiency criteria), heat exchange network design with the pinch analysis, Aspen Plus/Aspen Hysys tutorials (simulation under dynamic operating conditions with/without feedback controllers), introduction to optimal control, evaluation and application of control systems on real processes using simulation software.

ADVANCED NUMERICAL ANALYSIS (instr. Anargiros Delis)

Derivatives in Rn, Fréchet derivative and Gateaux derivative. Newton's method for the solution of nonlinear systems. Fixed point theorems, contraction theorems, speed of convergence of Newton's method. Numerical solution of systems of ordinary differential equations. Single step and multistep methods. Consistency, stability, and convergence. Stiff problems. Polynomial Interpolation: Lagrange interpolation, Hermite interpolation, interpolation with linear and cubic splines. Interpolation error estimation. Elements of approximation theory.

COMPUTATIONAL METHODS IN FLUID MECHANICS AND HEAT TRANSFER (instr. Ioannis Nikolos)

Elliptic, parabolic, hyperbolic partial differential equations for equilibrium - transient - non-equilibrium phenomena. Introduction to discretization methods of differential equations of flow and heat transfer. Discretization errors, stability, convergence. Fourier and von Neumann analysis. The finite volume method (for structured and unstructured meshes). The method of finite differences.

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS OF CATALYSIS (instr. Michalis Konsolakis)

Energy production by fossil fuels. Environmental consequences of fossil fuels consumption. Catalytic materials: synthesis, characterisation and evaluation. Basic principles and applications of catalysis. The role of catalysis on energy production and environmental protection.  Alternative technologies for energy production. Production of energy from biomass. Production and exploitation of biofuels. Production and use of hydrogen-the role of hydrogen as energy carrier. Clean carbon technologies.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS EVOLUTION (instr. George Atsalakis)

Understanding business developments before they actually happen. Preparing businesses to face rapid change. Adaptation of business activities to the changing economic climate. Business cycles. Dealing with periods of low growth and periods of high growth. Showing the rise, fall and rebirth of businesses. Laws that govern the market in which businesses operate. The new directions in business development. Fuzzy and sigmoidal models of business development.

FUZZY SYSTEMS AND CONTROL (instr. Nikos Tsourveloudis)

Definitions and basic operations with fuzzy sets, membership functions, the extension principle, fuzzy relations, operators, fuzzy numbers. Linguistic values and variables, fuzzy IF-THEN rules. Approximate Reasoning- Fuzzy Control. Fuzzy control applications. Fuzzy modeling of business research problems by Bellman and Zadeh. Introduction to neuro-fuzzy systems. The Fuzzy Logic Toolbox of MATLAB.

METAHEURISTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS FOR SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS (instr. Yannis Marinakis)

What is the supply chain, classic supply chain management problems, supply chain management problems described using graphs, the traveling salesman problem, the vehicle routing problem, variants and extensions of the vehicle routing problem, combinatorial supply chain management problems, heuristic algorithms, local search algorithms, metaheuristic algorithms (simulated annealing algorithm, tabu search algorithm, variable neighborhood search,  greedy randomized adaptive search procedure, path relinking algorithm), evolutionary algorithms (genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, multi-population genetic algorithms, memetic algorithms, differential evolution algorithm), nature inspired algorithms (ant colony optimization algorithm, particle swarm optimization algorithm, artificial bee colony algorithm, honeybees/bumblebees mating optimization algorithm, firefly algorithm, bat algorithm, cuckoo search algorithm), other algorithms inspired by natural processes (harmony search algorithm, clonal selection algorithm, gravitational search algorithm).

MULTICRITERIA DECISION SYSTEMS (instr. Michael Doumpos)

Modeling multicriteria decision problems, Functional decision models, Value and utility functions, Preferential independence, Social choice theory, Relational decision models, Outranking relations, Multicriteria mathematical programming, Goal programming, Preference disaggregation, Case studies and examples.

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS (instr. Anargiros Delis)

Fundamental numerical techniques for various partial differential equations (hyperbolic, elliptic and parabolic). These techniques include the following methods: Finite Difference Methods: Finite difference method for the two-point problem. Finite difference methods for parabolic, elliptic and hyperbolic problems. Stability and convergence of the methods. Finite element methods: the finite element method for the two-point problem. Introduction to finite elements in multidimensions. Introduction to the concept of the weak derivative and the variational formulation of boundary value problems. Basis functions and discretization. Mass matrix, stiffness matrix, and methods for solving linear systems. Error estimates. Finite volume methods: for hyperbolic type problems and conservation laws. TVD stability and discontinuity computations in one and two dimensions.

OPTIMAL DESIGN OF STRUCTURES (instr. George Stavroulakis)

Usage of optimization for optimal design. Sensitivity analysis. Coupling with finite and boundary element methods. Energy methods in mechanics and optimal design. Topology optimization. Programming of methods and projects.

PROBLEM SOLVING METHODS IN MANAGEMENT (instr. Vassilis Moustakis)

Introduction to the methodology and framework for solving problems and making decisions. Key concepts and models: symptom, problem, model, solution, planning for the implementation of the solution, and control planning for the implementation of the solution. Organizational learning and knowledge management. Problem taxonomy: organizational procedures, communication with suppliers and customers, innovation, and management of technological change. Quantitative methods supporting decision making: statistical analysis, machine learning, and decision making under uncertainty and risk. Case study analysis and student projects.

PRODUCTION PLANNING AND SCHEDULING (instr. Vassilis Kouikoglou)

Markov chains and nonlinear optimization: applications to flow and routing control and stability of production systems. Interchange arguments, dynamic programming, and branch and bound techniques: applications to production scheduling problems involving one machine, parallel machines, flow shops, and job shops.

SPECIAL TOPICS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND DECISION SYSTEMS (instr. Nikolaos Matsatsinis)

A) Introduction. Decision Theory. Group Decision Making & Negotiations. Group Decision Making with Multiple Criteria. Social Choice Theory. Preference Aggregation Methods. Intelligent Decision Systems. Decision Making in Dynamical Systems. B) Information Systems Management. Evaluation and Effectiveness of Information & Decision Systems. Business Process Management. E-Business & Virtual Enterprises. Evaluation of E-Business Websites and Applications. Special Categories of IS & DSS (Group DSSs, Multi-criteria DSSs, Executive Support Systems, Spatial DSSs, Distributed DSSs, etc.) Applications of DSSs in Marketing, Health, Financial Management, Production, Management, Tourism, etc.

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF ENERGY SYSTEMS (instr. Spiros Papaefthimiou)

Energy and environment. Environmental and ecological evaluation of energy systems. Energy-population-economy. The dimensions of the energy problem. Forecasting and energy scenarios. Evolution of demand and depletion of stocks. Energy production using Renewable Energy Sources (RES). Design of solar thermal systems. Design of photovoltaic systems. Design of wind farms. RES and environmental impacts. Technical, economic and environmental evaluation parameters of RES applications. Restrictions on energy production from RES.