Theme: Ta Panta Rhei

The saying attributed to Heraclitus "Everything Flows" or "Ta Panta Rhei" in Greek, captures a timeless human reflection and dilemma between resistance and acceptance of change. Thus, TEDxDUTH 2023 will seek to highlight the nature of change and its impact on the human experience, and how humans can manage it.

Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, DUTH
Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, DUTH
Komotini, Anatoliki Makedonia kai Thraki, 69100
Greece

Fanis Dellios

Founder of the non-profit organisation "Arogi 12+"

Fanis Dellios is the founder of the non-profit organisation "Arogi 12+". He brought to the table - for the first time - the condition of addiction. As a former addict himself, he explained in very simple terms that addiction is commonly a disease, which can be diagnosed by low levels of dopamine (pleasure centers) in our bodies. And this is where a huge chapter of discussion opens up as most people accuse addicted people of immorality, irresponsibility and criminal nature. Arogi12+ consists of closed groups of addicted people where they find support and guidance.

Fay Makantasi

Research Director at diaNEOsis

Fay Makantasi, Research Director at diaNEOsis, taught Microeconomic Theory and Game Theory at Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and Principles of Economic Theory at Hellenic Open University. Her Ph.D., "Trade Policy under Imperfect Competition," was completed at AUEB. She was a Post-Doctoral fellow on public sector reform, Greece's export performance, and human capital measurement. She received awards/fellowships from IKY, Bank of Cyprus, George and Victoria Karelia Foundation, AUEB, and the European programme "HERAKLITOS II". Recently, she got a research award from the Hellenic Observatory of London School of Economics on e-government modeling in Greece. She's presented papers at international conferences, published in journals, and authored socio-economic studies on Greece's economic crisis exit and modernization.

Fotis Zantalis

Electronic Engineer, Founder of "Tech to Me About It" Youtube Channel

Fotis Zantalis received his degree in Electronic Engineering from TEI of Athens in 2014 and in 2018 he completed his postgraduate studies in "Computing and Networking Technologies" at the Department of Computer Science of the University of West Attica. He has been a PhD student at the University of West Attica since 2020 and is currently working in the research area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Internet of Things (IoT) applications. He has been involved with teaching by doing some courses at the University of West Attica as an academic scholar. His main occupation at the moment is in the Software testing field. At the same time, he has been running the "Tech to me About it" channel on YouTube since 2019, where he presents concepts related to artificial intelligence and technology in general in a simple way.

Marina Ntonopoulou

Country Manager of A21 Greece

She was born, raised, studied and works in Thessaloniki. She graduated from the Department of Primary Education with a Master's degree in Management and Leadership in the sciences of education and continuous learning. She worked for two years in the field of education and for the last 11 years she has been working at the International Non-Profit Organization "A21" with the aim of combating human trafficking. She is now the director of A21 Greece and with her team they try to help as much as they can in the fight against this crime that puts human dignity at the core.

Mpampis Theologis

Former prisoner

Mpampis (Bobby) Theologis has a special story as his life started very ingloriously. He was born in Aigio and at the age of seven he moved with his family to Astoria, New York. From his teenage years he started looking for ways of independence from home and the difficulties he faced from his father led him to pursue a life of crime and narcotics. Years passed and a series of robberies in America and Greece resulted in him serving thirty one years in prisons in the United States and Greece, seven of which were spent in solitary confinement. He was recently released from prison in 2023 and at the age of 54 and he is trying to assimilate into today's society, which has changed so much since the last time he was free. His aim, as he states, is to steer young people away from gangs, drugs, illegalities and crime as he argues that it is not worth wasting your life in prison or risking it for any kind of madness or foolishness.

Natassa Vafeiadou

Publisher of the newspaper "Paratiritis tis Thrakis"

Anastasia (Natassa) Vafiadou is a journalist, publisher and editor of the newspaper "Paratiritis tis Thrakis". She was born and grew up in Komotini, Komotini, Rhodope, Greece. She is a graduate of the Graphic Arts Department of the School of Graphic Arts and Artistic Studies of the Athens University of Graphic Arts and Artistic Studies (University of West Attica), as well as the "Laboratory of Journalism" in Athens. She continued her studies at the American College of Greece "Deree" where she received a Bachelor's degree in Communication, while she holds a Master's degree from the Law School of the Democritus University of Thrace. Since 2012 she has been the radio producer of the daily magazine "Radio Observer 94fm", "With N and with B", while she also collaborates with local TV stations.

Sherif Barakat

Co-Founder of Swaplanet

Sherif is the CEO and co-founder of Swaplanet, an innovative sustainable fashion startup that brings the circular economy to parents' and kids' wardrobes, helping them save money while helping the planet. He is a father of two kids that inspired the idea, back in 2020. Sherif is based in Athens, and previously lived in Montreal, London, Paris, Berlin, Casablanca, and Cairo (his hometown).