Biography
Vasilis Balafas is a highly experienced software engineer and a PhD Student in Computer Science at the University of Western Macedonia. His research interests include Machine Learning, Constraint Programming, Optimization, Cloud Computing, and Programmable Matter. His passion for programming began at a very young age, and he is now proud to be named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of the most dynamic young professionals in Greece.
His specialties include proficiency in a wide range of programming languages such as Java, PHP, JavaScript, Python, C, C++, and C#, strong experience in developing and maintaining web applications using frameworks such as Spring Boot, CodeIgniter, and Laravel, experience with popular libraries such as React, Redux, Sagas, and jQuery, experience with popular mobile development frameworks such as React Native and Flutter, hands-on experience with databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Couchbase, strong understanding of containerization and deployment using Docker and Kubernetes, practice in Test Driven Development (TDD) and CI/CD, proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams and lead technical projects and a wide range of knowledge in academic fields such as System Programming, Algorithms, Distributed Systems, Machine Learning, and Cloud Computing.
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Constraint Programming
- Optimization
- Cloud Computing
- Software Engineering
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PhD in Artificial Intelligence, 2024
Univeristy of Western Macedonia
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MEng in Computer Engineering and Telecommunications, 2021
Univeristy of Western Macedonia
Skills
Experience
As a Co-Founder and CTO at our energy blockchain startup, which has been recognized by Greek Forbes as one of the “30 Under 30”, I am responsible for leading the technical development of our platform and collaborating with the founding team to shape the direction and strategy of the company. My responsibilities include:
- Designing, developing and deploying blockchain-based solutions for the energy industry
- Leading and mentoring a team of engineers and developers
- Staying up to date with the latest developments in blockchain technology and the energy industry
- Contributing to fundraising and business development efforts.
- Development of H2020 ICARUS Decision Support System (Java, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, CouchBase)
- Application containerization and deployment with Docker
- Automatization of simulations of the atmospheric models of ICARUS (WRF-CHEM, CAMx)
- Development of yiota mobile app using React Native (JavaScript, React, Redux, Sagas)
- Enikos.gr website development (ASP.NET, C#, Symfony, PHP, Node.js, MongoDB)
- Zambon Connect Belgium development (PHP, MySQL, MailChimp)
- Zambon Connect Switzerland development (ReactJS, Node.js)
- ClickInShop.online Development (WordPress, PHP)
- BEST HPC Cloud platform (ReactJS, Java, Spring Boot, Kubernetes)
- CI/CD (CircleCI, Jenkins, BitBucket pipelines)
- TDD
- Scrum/Agile
- Planning, design, development, management, maintenance, and support of the cloud-based solutions of the company.
- Ensuring infrastructure performance, uptime, and scale, maintaining high standards of service.
- Troubleshooting incidents, identifying the root cause, fixing and documenting problems, and implement preventive measures.
- Migrating multi-tier applications on our cloud infrastructure.
- Implementing cost-control strategies.
- Educating the team on the implementation of new cloud-based initiatives.
