Distinctions
2024 Yannis Phillis:
- Medal of Honor, World Automation Congress 2024, Cancún, Mexico, 2024.
- Elected Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), 2024.
- Elected Fellow of the International Artificial Intelligence Alliance (AIIA), 2024.
Medal of Honor for Professor Emeritus and former Rector of the Technical University of Crete, Yannis A. Phillis
10/09/2024 Distinctions Source: Public & International Relations Social Α2
Professor Emeritus and former Rector of the Technical University of Crete, Yannis A. Phillis was recipient of a Medal of Honor at the World Automation Congress (WAC2024) which took place in Cancún, Mexico from 22 to 25 September 2024. Its theme was machine learning and artificial intelligence. The award was bestowed upon the honoree "For excellent contributions to production engineering management and very high-level leadership in engineering." Professor Phillis also gave a keynote talk entitled "On a mathematical theory of sustainability assessment and decision making."
At the award-giving ceremony Professor Phillis addressed the audience as follows:
"Ladies and gentlemen good evening. I would like to thank for their support and kindness Founding Chair, Professor Mo Jamshidi as well as all the members of the Organizing Committee who made this Congress a reality.
The theme of the Congress is machine learning and artificial intelligence, but I also noticed some specific topics such as circular economy, climate change, community safety, smart living.
We've made tremendous progress in science and technology in just a few decades. However, we shouldn't ignore the shortcomings of this progress. I am talking about aspects hinted at in the previous topics. We cannot be proud of the anthropogenic climate crisis, the chaotic economic inequalities among countries and citizens, the irreversible ecological disasters that threaten our very existence, the obscenity of resolving national or international disputes and grudges through war. It occasionally seems that with time we become more and more intelligent and less and less wise.
We cannot provide technical fixes to such problems and then lay back ignoring politics and human nature. Science cannot be apolitical. We have an enormous amount of interdisciplinary work ahead if we want our society to be sustainable.
But I'll go one step further. All these years I have come to the realization that, important as our material world might be, the most permanent things in life do not contain ordinary matter as gadgets and cars and cell phones do; they do not contain molecules and atoms but something that our advanced and, mind you, material brains conceive in a totally different vein. I am speaking of beauty, friendship, camaraderie, love - the deepest essence of humanity.
And this gathering here tonight has it all.
Thank you, indeed!"
The audience gave Professor Phillis an enthusiastic standing ovation.
Science and Education
Medal of Honor, World Automation Congress 2024, Cancún, Mexico, 2024.
Elected Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), 2024.
Elected Fellow of the International Artificial Intelligence Alliance (AIIA), 2024.
Elected Member, European Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2018
Elected Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, 2018
2013 UCLA Engineering Alumnus Professional Achievement in Academia Award
Best Paper Award, World Automation Congress 2012, presented to: E. Grigoroudis, V. Kouikoglou and Y. Phillis for their paper entitled “A System-of-Systems Approach for Improving Healthcare Systems,” Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, June 24-27, 2012.
Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his “Outstanding contributions to the analysis and design of production and environmental systems, and leadership in higher education and environmental awareness,” World Automation Congress, Kobe, Japan 2010.
Senior Visiting Fellow, Onassis Foundation, USA, 2008
AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow, 2007
"Outstanding Professor of the Year 1986" Boston University.
IEEE Senior Member, 1981
Keynote speeches
"Healthcare Planning under Climate Crisis" 11th International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Sciences (LISS2021) 23-26 July 2021, Jinan, China.
“Natural disasters and climate change,” invited talk, Regional Press Institute, Chania, Greece, July, 2019.
“A mathematical model of national sustainability: Where the world is heading,” Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study Distinguished Lecture, March 29, 2019.
Keynote speaker, talk entitled “How secure are nations in an era of climate change: A quantitative analysis,” 8th International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Science, Aug. 3-6, Toronto, Canada, 2018.
Keynote speaker, talk entitled “Mathematical models of biodiversity,” 7th Planta Europa Conference on ‘Plants for people, people for plants,’ Orthodox Academy of Crete, Kolymbari, Crete, 2014.
Keynote speaker, talk entitled “System-of-Systems models of public health and biodiversity,” at the VIII International Congress of Applied Statistics, Polytechnic University, Quito, Ecuador, 2013.
Keynote speaker, talk entitled “Overview of sustainability,” at the 1st Conference and Training Programme on Sustainable Alternatives for Poverty Reduction and Ecological Justice, Orthodox Academy of Crete, Kolymbari, Crete, 2012.
“Strategies for sustainable management”, Keynote speech at the 3d International Conference on Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management, Chania, Greece, Sep. 12-14, 2012.
“A system-of-systems framework of sustainability components”, Keynote speech at the 7th International Conference on Management of Technological Change, Alexandroupolis, Greece, Sep. 1-3, 2011.
“A system-of-systems approach to the analysis and control of sustainability”, Keynote speech at the 13th International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Services Sciences, Beijing, China, June 8-11, 2011.
“Global sustainability performance”, Keynote speech at the “Engineering Sustainability” seminar organized by the IEEE Systems Man and Cybernetics Society UK and Ireland and City University London, March 30, 2011.
“Important environmental and social systems as System-of-Systems (SoS)”, Keynote speech at the 2010 World Automation Congress, Kobe, Japan, Sep. 19-23, 2010.
“A system-of-Systems approach to the analysis and control of sustainability”, Keynote speech at the 13th International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Services Sciences, Beijing, China, June 8-11, 2010.
“Sustainability assessment”, Keynote speech at the 2009 IEEE International Conference on System of Systems Engineering, Albuquerque, USA, May 30-June 3, 2009.
Literature
First "Prize of Twelve" for his play "The Statue," Athens, 1998.
Best Book Award by the Greek Writers Association for his poetry collection "Zarathustra and the Five Vespers," Athens 1985.
Harry Kurnitz Literary Award at UCLA twice in 1979 and 1980 for poems in English.
First prize by the Ministry of Culture and Science for his first poetry collection "Starting at Nauplion," Athens 1976.
Society
Award by the Municipality of Assini, "For his contributions to letters, science, and arts," 2008.
Award by the Academy of Athens for creating the Park for the Preservation of Flora and Fauna in the Technical University of Crete, Athens, 2007.
Fellow of the Venizelos Research Foundation, Chania, Greece 2006.
Award by the Municipality of Chania “For his long standing contributions to the city of Chania,” 2005.
Gold Medal Award by the Club of Liberals, Athens, 2005.
Gold Medal, Naval Museum of Crete, 2004.