Heraklion, Crete, May 18-22, 2026
Innovation Under Constraints: How Lab to Market Succeeds (and Fails) in the Global South
Meet the speakers
Prof. Athanasios Malamos
Vice Rector for Research & Innovation, HMU
Prof. Kostas Petridis
Vice Rector of Internationalization and Extroversion, HMU
Keynote: From HMU classroom to professional skills for higher employability (what works and what not)
Dr. Panagiotis Ignatiadis
Senior Adviser for SMEs, Region of Crete
Dr. Michael Katharakis
Administrator, Mediterranean Agri-Food Competence Center (MACC) | Director of Technical Schools, Heraklion Chamber of Commerce
Keynote: “From Lab to Land: MACC’s Living Lab Approach to Agricultural Innovation in Mediterranean Contexts”
Dr. Konstantinos Vassakis
Assistant Professor, HMU & co-founder, Bizrupt
Dr. George Kritsotakis
Assoc Professor in Health Care Management & Public Health, Dept of Business Administration & Tourism, HMU
Prof. Thrassyvoulos Manios
Professor, Department of Agriculture, HMU
Dr. Emmanuel Karapidakis
Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, Hellenic Mediterranean Univesity
Meet the Participants
Organising Committee
Prof. Kostas Petridis
Vice Rector of Internationalization and Extroversion, HMU
Dr. Ioannis Daliakopoulos
Assistant Professor, Academic Coordinator of the IRO of the HMU
Dr. George Kritsotakis
Assoc Professor in Health Care Management & Public Health, Dept of Business Administration & Tourism, HMU
Ms Kristina Giatsina
International Credit Mobility Administration, International Relations Office, HMU
Event Program
All events at Athens time (EEST / UTC+3)
Monday, Wednesday and Friday talks to be held in SEDO Seminar hall K12.1.04
Tuesday talks to be held in K24.0.02
| Monday May 18 Opening Academic Environment |
Tuesday May 19 Entrepreneurship & Financial Tools |
Wednesday May 20 Agriculture & Engineering |
Thursday May 21 Fieldtrip to Rethymno |
Friday May 22 Closing |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30 |
Athanasios Malamos
Vice Rector for Research & Innovation
|
Kwame Agyei Frimpong
From Data Collection to Field Decisions: A Critical Analysis of Implementing and Scaling Precision Agriculture Solutions in Resource-Limited, Smallholder Farming Systems
|
Fieldtrip to Rethymno
08:15–10:00 Leave HMU Heraklion for Rethymno
10:00–11:30 Visit to the Municipality of Rethymno with the Mayor and Vice Mayor
11:30–12:00 Departure from the Municipality to the HMU Hiper facility at Tria Monastiria
12:00–13:30 Visit to the HMU Hiper Lasers facility at Tria Monastiria
13:30–14:00 Departure from Tria Monastiria to Rethymno Old Town / Harbour car park
14:00–16:30 Free afternoon in Rethymno
16:30–18:00 Return from Rethymno to Heraklion
|
Kostas Petridis
From HMU classroom to professional skills for higher employability
|
|
| 10:00 |
Opening Ceremony
|
George Yerousis
Birzeit University Innovation & Development
|
Philip Omwene
Co-Creating Innovations for Smallholder Farming in Uganda
|
||
| 10:30 |
Ice breaker
|
Isaga Nsubili
Alternative Finance and Lab-to-Market Success in the Global South
|
Michalis Katharakis
MACC's Living Lab Approach to Agricultural Innovation
|
Andrew Ojulong
From Access to Impact: Lessons from African Academic Libraries
|
|
| 11:00 | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | |
| 11:30 |
Edward Kumakech
Research and Innovations Prototypes at Lira University Northern Uganda: Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned
|
Konstantinos Vassakis
HMU & co-founder, Bizrupt
|
Panagiotis Ignatiadis
Roundtable (title TBA)
|
Isibika Irene
From Lab-To-Market Failure to Lab-To-Impact: What Have we Learned Across Contexts?
|
|
| 12:00 |
Emna Khammassi
Advancing Electric Mobility and Sustainable Transport in Tunisia
|
Kwadwo Anokye Dompreh
Theoretical and Computational Physics, the missing ingredients in the LAB to Market Nexus
|
Yousra Elfar
The Knowture platform
|
||
| 12:30 |
Rayeh Nasr Salam Al-Dala'ien
From Laboratory Innovation to Field Application: Enhancing Structural Resilience under Extreme Loading Conditions in Resource-Constrained Environments
|
Antwi Agyapong
Why Great Ideas Stay in the Lab
|
Thrassyvoulos Manios
How Come We Fail When we Do Everything Right? Experiences from Circular Economy Related Efforts
|
George Kritsotakis
Who is left out of tourism and why it matters: the "Crete for All" approach to accessibility.
|
|
| 13:00 |
Ibrahim Al-Tarawneh
Studies on Pesticides in Jordanian Olive Oil and Removal of Phenolic Compounds Using Nanocomposites
|
Excursion to Knossos + Formal Dinner
|
Joshua Mwakalobo Mwakujonga
Lab to Market Lessons from Tanzania's Agriculture
|
Kristina Giatsina
KA171 Planning: New Erasmus+ ICM call
|
|
| 13:30 |
Asmaa Khater
Accelerating Renewable Energy Innovation
|
Lunch break |
Ioannis Daliakopoulos
Wrap-up & next steps
|
||
| 14:00 | Lunch Break | ||||
| 14:30 |
Walk in the University Farm
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| 15:00 | |||||
| 15:30 | |||||
| 16:00 | |||||
| 16:30 |
Past events
