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Dr. George Koutitas is a serial entrepreneur and academic in electrical engineering and computer science. He has more than 7 years of business experience and applied research in smart grids, advanced metering infrastructure, load disaggregation, energy efficient networking and prosumer cooperation. George is also an adjunct professor at Texas State University and is funded for his post doc research from the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Thessaly and the European Union. From 2010 he applies his scientific expertise on optimization algorithms, game theory and signal processing for the benefit of the community. His vision is to build the foundations for innovative and impactful services in the energy sector. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Physics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an M.Sc. degree (with Distinction and prizes from 'Nokia') in Mobile and Satellite Communications from the University of Surrey, UK and a PhD in Electrical Engineering under EPSRC scholarship from Centre for Communications Systems Research, UK. George is a member of IEEE and has more than 40 scientific publications.

Dr. Costas Tzaras is a serial entrepreneur and academic. In 2007, he founded a company in Greece and in UK to develop radio and network planning software and to assess quality of service for the cellular industry. His company currently serves large cellular operators in Europe/Asia/Africa, with presence in 12 countries worldwide. He is also an active entrepreneur in smart grids developing software but also hardware solutions for RF mesh smart meter networking, meter data management systems and Web development. He ​has a B.Sc. in Physics, University of Thessaloniki, an M.Sc. in Mobile & Satellite Communications, University of Surrey, UK, and a Ph.D. in Mobile Communications, University of Surrey, UK. In the period 2000-2007 he worked as Team Leader at Vodafone Global R&D in UK and his team was responsible for the development of new software and new technologies for the radio planning of GSM and UMTS networks across the Vodafone Group worldwide. In the period 2002-2007 he also worked as a lecturer at the University of Surrey in UK.

Angelos Angelou is the founder of the International Accelerator. He has a long history in helping to build Austin’s entrepreneurial infrastructure and was part of the effort to establish the Austin Technology Incubator and the Austin Software Council (now known as the Austin Technology Council). Angelos is an active angel investor in several technology start ups and was also an affiliated investor in fund IV of Austin Ventures. He is the Principal Executive Officer of AngelouEconomics (AE), bringing nearly 30 years of experience in economic development and corporate site selection. AE has completed over 600 strategic plans for economic development clients throughout the world and sited over $18 billion of corporate projects. Angelos is the business backbone of Gridmates with enormous experience in economic development, strategic planning and start up mentoring.

Andreas Carvallo has more than 27 years of experience, having held c-level and senior management titles in the Energy, Computer, Telecommunications, and Software industries. Andres is globally recognized by the IEEE as one of the early developers of the smart grid concept and technology. Andres championed Austin Energy's industry leading smart grid program design and implementation from 2003 – 2010 as their CIO. Andres also co-led over $ 4 billion in investments into two wind farms, a solar farm, a biomass power plant, a natural gas power plant, roof top solar, a fiber communications network, and smart grid infrastructure. Andres architected the Pecan Street Project as its CTO from 2008 to 2010. Andres has co-authored the best selling book "The Advanced Smart Grid: Edge Power Driving Sustainability" and has received 34 industry awards since 2005. Andres is a core visionary and architect of the smart grid sector.

As president of Good Company Associates for 25 years, Bob King has worked with clean energy technology companies, and electric markets nationally. He is also the CEO of SPEER, the South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource, one of the nation£s Regional Energy Efficiency Organizations (REEO). Bob is a recognized thought leader, and advocate, for emerging energy technology and technology policy. Prior to these roles, he was a state official in Texas and California focused on natural resource policy, launched and managed utility efficiency programs at the TVA, was a VP of what is now Navigant Consulting, and helped lead the development of the first commercial wind farm in Texas.

Dr. Ali Vojdani is an entrepreneur and an expert in computer application and systems integration in the utility industry. He is currently the CEO and Founder of GridBright, Inc., a startup company focused on modernization of the electric grid. Prior to GridBright, he was the Founder and CEO of Utility Integration Solutions, Inc, an Inc. 500 company that was acquired by Alstom in 2011. UISOL served over 100 utilities world-wide for over a decade, and built DRBizNet, the award-winning demand response management system (DRMS) that manages over 50% of the wholesale demand response in the US. Ali has over 35 years of experience in the application of IT in the utility industry as part of his professional career at GridBright, UISOL, Vitria Technology, Perot Systems, EPRI, PG&E, and McGill University. In 2004 he instigated the all new annual Utility Integration Conference (UIC) and has chaired UIC over the last decade.

Prof. Leandros Tassiulas is a John C. Malone Professor of Electrical Engineering at Yale University, obtained the Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1987, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1989 and 1991, respectively. He has held positions as Assistant Professor at Polytechnic University New York (1991-1995), Assistant and Associate Professor University of Maryland College Park (1995-2001), and Professor at University of Ioannina (1999-2001) and University of Thessaly (2002-2015), Greece. His research interests are in the field of computer and communication networks with emphasis on fundamental mathematical models, architectures and protocols of wireless systems, sensor networks, high-speed internet and satellite communications. Dr. Tassiulas is a Fellow of IEEE. He received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Initiation Award in 1992, an NSF CAREER Award in 1995 an Office of Naval Research, Young Investigator Award in 1997 and a Bodosaki Foundation award in 1999. He also received the INFOCOM 1994 best paper award,the INFOCOM 2007 achievement award, and the IEEE 2016 Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communication Award.

Gail's 20-year communications career, predominantly in the high tech industry, ranges from highly strategic C-level consulting and a wide variety of global communications programs to mergers acquisitions, media financial, analyst, government and crisis communications. Gail also brings start-up experience in branding, Public Relations and strategic business planning and new business development. Gail has served on many community boards in advisory and communications roles and has won numerous awards for Global Corporate Communications programs.

Dimitris Koliadimas is the Founder and Creative Director of Semiotik Design Agency. In 2003 he graduated from the London College of Communication with an MA in Typo/Graphic studies. In 2005 he co-founded the Designers United creative agency, and in 2014 he established Semiotik. From 2005 until today, he and his team have won numerous national and international distinctions for their work, including D&AD, Red Dot Design Awards and European Design Awards. Ηe has been fortunate to collaborate with exceptional people and great organizations around the world. He works with multinational brands and provides a wide range of design and consulting services, performing in complex environments and achieving remarkable results. He believes in constant learning and progress through collaboration. Simplicity drives his way of thinking. Deep research, understanding and a holistic approach are the foundations of his working process.

Peter is a serial entrepreneur who brings Acrossio 20+ years of executive management, business development, sales, branding, marketing, direct marketing and alliance strategy experience. His startup experience has been in SaaS, software, industrial and process automation, SCADA, VoIP, network management services and power distribution and metering. His most successful venture was building the Industrial Automation Business Unit for Newark Electronics, a division of a multibillion dollar multinational Premier Farnell. This SBU generated 52% compounded annual growth, the highest growth rate in the company and grew to over $52 million annually by fifth year. Peter has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards. He has mentored and advised hundreds of companies and entrepreneurs throughout his career. This includes 12 years as Mentor and Adjunct at UC Berkeley Launch. Four years at the Contra Costa Software Business Incubator and most recently at the MIT Enterprise Forum Greece.