Intelligent Systems Laboratory (iSL)
Τhe Intelligent Systems Laboratory (iSL) was officially established in 2015 as a research laboratory in the Department of Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics (located in Lamia), at the School of Science, University of Thessaly. The iSL researchers' topics include but are not limited to the following: Machine Learning Algorithms, Computer Vision, Intelligent Systems, Evolutionary Computation, Robotics, Cybersecurity, Embedded Computing Systems, High-Performance Computing (HPC), Health Informatics. iSL offers three discrete services to the community, namely education, research, and research application to SMEs and organizations, following the triple helix model.
iSL is one of the largest research laboratories in Central Greece and Thessaly, employing 4 Professors, 1 Senior Researcher as Laboratory Teaching Staff, 3 PostDoc researchers, more than 15 Ph.D. candidates, more than 10 MSc, and approximately 20 undergraduate students. The laboratory supports its activities by one technician, one financial assistant, one marketing expert, and one secretary. Its premises include more than 70 sq.m. of offices and 30 sq.m. of laboratory facilities.
The driving incentives of iSL are the following:
- Conduct basic and applied research on the topics its members are active and disseminate the research outcomes to the community by presenting them in events, publishing them in prestigious international scientific journals and conference proceedings.
- Offer courses based on the Department's curriculum for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs of studies. iSL is also actively participating in inter-departmental postgraduate programs.
- Organize or participate in research projects in collaboration with other national or international partners.
- Organize and participate in seminars, tutorials, symposia, conferences, seasonal schools, publications, and invite internationally recognized personalities and scientists, to promote the laboratory's goals.
- Create a strong network with other research units active in the same topics iSL is conducting its research.
- Attract PostDoc researchers, talented undergraduate and graduate students to participate in research projects by enhancing the iSL collaborating researchers' skills.
- Establish research infrastructures to execute research projects and provide specialized services to private and public sector bodies.
- Facilitate the adoption of innovative technologies by the private sector.
- Facilitate the digitization of public sector organizations, offering solutions on the integration of intelligent systems.
- Raise awareness for state-of-the-art research and cutting-edge technology, promoting knowledge to the public.
Fields of Research
iSL focuses on developing computational models and their practical implementation, aiming at knowledge discovery, inference generation, and information retrieval. Also, it can implement any model in various software and hardware technologies. The research carried out in the laboratory is at the intersection of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics and focused on applications in health, medical technology, industry, cybersecurity, social sciences, and economics.
Specifically, the research interests of iSL's researchers include new algorithms for training Artificial Neural Networks and Machine Learning, the study of new Evolutionary Algorithms, Development of Clustering Algorithms, Parallel and Distributed computations, Knowledge Mining from Big Data, Application in Biomedical Technology and especially in multimedia content, bio-signal processing, data processing from IoT devices, Embedded Computing Systems, Neuromorphic systems, security, blockchain and applications in the prevention, care, nursing and support of patients via wearable devices. Also, apart from software development, the laboratory is specialized in designing application-specific hardware (for a variety of parameters, like performance, power dissipation, cost, autonomy, safety, and security). Researchers use existing and emerging technologies to implement any digital system. Finally, Health Informatics & Health care information systems, which refers to health research applications and the administration and financial management of health units, are researched. It also includes ICT applications related to telemedicine, patient registries, electronic prescribing, health technology assessment, health data analysis, and health systems interoperability.
Scientific activity
iSL participates in an extensive network of collaborating laboratories, research facilities, and organizations in Greece and abroad. It has been the leading disruptor of the Central Greece research and innovation ecosystem for the last five years. The iSL participates in the Institute for System Security and Data Science (ISSDS), University Center for Research, Innovation, and Development “Jason". Its members have a record of participation in numerous scientific and research committees and governmental and business boards of directors. Furthermore, in the framework of its scientific collaborations, it participates in the Hellenic Blockchain Hub. Finally, it collaborates with SMEs either in the bound of a research project or the transfer of knowledge in research issues.
iSL is actively participating in research projects and the organization of Special Sessions and Workshops in internationally recognized high-profile conferences. Below is an indicative list of current projects.
“Clustering Big Data", GSRT-HFRI: 1st HFRI Research Projects Announcement: For the Support of Postdoctoral Researchers, P.I. Sotirios Tasoulis, Budget: €198.002, duration: 03/2019-03/2022
“Smart Delivery", Action Research-Create-Innovate co-funded by the European Union and national resources via the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship & Innovation (EPAnEK)", P.I. Athanasios Kakarountas, Budget: €320.000 (out of €1.000.000 for all partners), duration: 06/2018-12/2021
“Mining of Knowledge From Large-Scale Biological Charts To clarify Complex Disease Mechanism", Operational Program, Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning co-funded by Greece and the European Union, P.I. Vassilis Plagianakos, Budget: €62.650, duration: 05/2018-01/2020
“Research on IoT Security based on Bio-informatics-(SmartBIoT)", International grant by Nokia Corporation (Bell Labs), P.I. Athanasios Kakarountas, Budget: €30.000, Duration: 09/2017-08/2021
“SISEI: Smart Infotainment System with Emotional Intelligence," Action Research-Create-Innovate co-funded by the European Union and national resources via the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship & Innovation (EPAnEK)", P.I. Vassilis Plagianakos, Budget:€ 311.165 (out of €1.000.000 for all partners), 2019-2022
“Monitoring the supply chain and process of producing food products using blockchain technology," Action “Support for Research, Technological Development and Innovation Plans in areas of RIS3 of the Central Greece Business Program 2014-2020", P.I. Vassilis Plagianakos, Budget: €698.000, duration: 2020-2022
“ParICT_CENG: ICT Research infrastructures enhancement in Central Greece for the processing of Big Data from sensor streams, multimedia, and complex mathematical models simulations," Action “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure," funded by the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation" (NSRF 2014-2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), P.I. Athanasios Kakarountas, Budget: € 1.200.000, duration: 11/2019-04/2022
Equipment
iSL operates Infrastructure as a Service via its datacenter on premises of the University of Thessaly. The processing infrastructure includes:
- Openstack cluster consisting of 3 Server (DELL PowerEdge R440 1U/Xeon Silver 4210 (10 cores)/64GB RAM 2x480GB SSD /6x600GB 10K RPM SAS 12Gbps/2 PSU)
- 1 X Server Intel i9 9900k CPU, 32GB RAM
Furthermore, iSL includes in its laboratory equipment Panoramic Cameras; Smart Watches, Bio-sensors (e.g., encephalography), Interaction sensors (gesture recognition, motion detection), Robotic platform (PeopleBot), microcontrollers, and platforms applications (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Beaglobone), development boards including FPGAs and embedded processing cores (Digilent PYNQ-Z1, Digilent BASYS-3, Digilent NEXYS-4, Tul PYNQ-Z2).