Background

Naoum is a Research Associate at the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), where he focuses on industrial systems and network analysis issues across a range of industrial applications and with an inter-disciplinary outlook.

Before joining the IfM, Naoum had been working as a post-doctoral researcher in the GREEN-AgriChains research project led by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.Th.), Greece, that involved key stakeholders from the European agrifood sector. His research involved the mapping of agrifood supply chains and the impact assessment of sustainability-driven policies and interventions. He also acted as lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of A.U.Th. in the undergraduate course "Reliability and Maintenance" (Academic Course Code: MENG328).

Naoum holds a diploma in Production and Management Engineering from Democritus University of Thrace (Xanthi, Greece), while he possesses Master’s Degrees in "State-of-the-Art Design and Analysis Methods in Industry" (Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece), in "Technology Entrepreneurship" (Department of Management Science and Innovation of the University College London, London, UK), and in "Engineering Project Management" (School of Science and Technology of the Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece). He received his research doctorate from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of A.U.Th. (Laboratory of Statistics and Quantitative Analysis Methods, Industrial Management Division). During his Ph.D. studies, Naoum had been working in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of A.U.Th. as a junior researcher in a plethora of research projects, whereas he acted as a teaching assistant in the following undergraduate courses: Operations Research I (Academic Course Code: MENG125), Multivariate Statistics (Academic Course Code: MENG208), Industrial Management (Academic Course Code: MENG130), Inventory Management and Products’ Distribution (Academic Course Code: MENG327), Project Management (Academic Course Code: MENG356), and Management of Technology and Innovation (Academic Course Code: MENG331).

Academic/Research interests

• Sustainable supply chain management and performance assessment metrics
• Food security and short supply chains
• Sustainable energy and social implications
• Eco-cities and green interventionary policies
• Entrepreneurship and innovation clusters
• Marketing in the food and energy sectors.

Selected Publications

• Aivazidou, E., Tsolakis, N., Vlachos, D. and Iakovou, E., 2015. Water footprint management policies for agrifood supply chains: A critical taxonomy and a system dynamics modelling approach. Chemical Engineering Transactions, 43, pp.115-120.
• Tsolakis, N. and Anthopoulos, L., 2015. Eco-cities: An integrated system dynamics framework and a concise research taxonomy. Sustainable Cities and Society, 17, pp.1-14.
• Tsolakis, N., 2015. Entrepreneurial prospects in loyalty marketing: Real-world grocery retailers’ market survey & conceptual case study. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 175, pp.3-11.
• Toka, A., Iakovou, E., Vlachos, D., Tsolakis, N. and Grigoriadou, A.-L., 2014. Managing the diffusion of biomass in the residential energy sector: An illustrative real-world case study. Applied Energy, 129, pp.56-69.
• Tsolakis, N., Keramydas, C., Toka, E., Aidonis, D. and Iakovou, E., 2014. Agrifood supply chain management: A comprehensive hierarchical decision-making framework and a critical taxonomy. Biosystems Engineering, 120, pp.47-64.