Professional Experience

Software Engineer, Self employed (July 2022 - Present)

Jinifai (December 2022 - present)

• Work in progress. Side project. A scalable web application for generative AI tools.
• Main tech: python, django, fastAPI, react, redux, hugginface, rabbitMq, redis, postgresql, containers, docker, microservices, serverless inference, AWS, Runpod
• Inference is serverless. The minimum number of workers is 0 (for cost reasons). This mean that you might experience a cold start and a delay of a few seconds when you first generate an image.
• More details on this post.

Asepsuccess, Co-Founder (October 2022 - March 2023)

• At asepsuccess we created a quality training program for a major nationwide competition, the successful candidates of which will be appointed as public employees.
• I was the technical member of the team. I set up the website, the learning management system and digitized the training material. I used mainly no-code tools along with a few python scripts.
• Apart from the technical stuff, I dealt with all aspects of running the business (partnerships, customer support, marketing, financials

Studying Machine and Deep Learning, Self employed (September 2021 - July 2022)

I was always fascinated by the mysterious nature of the human brain, and a while back I dedicated some time to explore my own intuitions about intelligence. This thought process laid the groundwork for a dive in the field of deep learning. After refreshing my math skills on linear algebra and calculus, I took Andrew Ng’s machine learning course followed by Yann LeCun’s deep learning course for which I wrote a small review. During this time, I became familiar with various architectures (CNNs, RNNs, transformers, autoencoders, graph-based architectures like GTNs and GCNs), the latest research in self-supervised learning (non-contrastive joint embedding architectures) and some related tools (pytorch, pytorch-lightning).

Exploring the blockchain space, Self employed (January 2021 - September 2021)

A few years back, during 2016, out of curiosity I started digging into the blockchain technology and since then I follow the developments on this field with some periods being denser than others. Within 2021, I devoted a significant part of my time to blockchains and decentralized finance, trying to understand why and how things work. I researched on high level the vast variety of applications in this industry (decentralized application platforms, inter chain bridges, distributed storage, distributed computation, decentralized finance etc). I learned both about technical aspects of the field (smart contracts, execution layers, zero knowledge proofs, chain analysis etc) and financial aspects (derivative markets, financial indicators, technical analysis, automated market makers, impermanent loss etc).

• It was an interesting period and for a while I thought about following a software engineering path on this field. After some serious introspection though, I decided to explore the world of deep learning instead.

Upgrading my software engineering skills, Self employed (January 2020 - January 2021)

• I practiced with containers and docker. I containerized zakanda (my web application) and moved its deployment from heroku to AWS ECS.
• I changed zakanda’s design, creating a black theme for it.
• I studied data structures, algorithms, design patterns and systems design. Here I share some of my notes on these topics.
• I dedicated significant time to explore my intuitions on intelligence.
• I created my personal blog and wrote ten technical posts on it.
• I learned react and redux and for practice I created algozoom, a small algorithms animation project.

Founder, Full stack developer, zakanda (January 2015 - September 2019)

Following two of my passions, programming and entrepreneurship, I created zakanda, a web service in the sports betting industry, in an attempt that ultimately failed. Zakanda was a web service where people could make profit by copy-betting experts. I architected, designed, developed and managed the whole system from scratch. Despite the unfortunate outcome, this experience was unique and irreplaceable, making me wiser in many aspects (technical, entrepreneurial, personal).

• Tech stack: python, django, numpy, pandas, pytest, javascript, pjax.js, require.js, dc.js, crossfilter.js, getstream, skrill, mailgun, sportmonks, redis, redis-queue, postgres, docker, nginx, aws
• my epic fail as a sports betting entrepreneur
• zakanda technical overview

Founder, Bettingun (August 2018 - October 2018)

Bettingun was an idea that came in a try to save my work on zakanda. It was aspired to be a betting automation solution offered as a service to companies of the sports betting industry. The vision was to make sports betting a passive investment option for retailers. I secured API licenses from betting exchanges, I spoke with potential customers, I assembled a small team, I was selected for the acceleration program of the OKthess incubator, but I finally decided not to proceed with this project. The reason was that the available betting volume was not large enough to support a large stream of winners, so no matter how good the system might have been, it would have value only for a small number of people.

Support Engineer, BETA CAE Systems (July 2009 - January 2015)

I was member of the technical support department of BETA CAE Systems, an engineering software company that develops state-of-the-art Computer Aided Engineering software (CAE software).

• My multi-role position included duties like: Implementation of CAE simulations, software debugging and documentation, converting client needs to software requirements being the middle man between customers and developers, influencing development of new features and improvement of existing ones, automating tasks with python scripts, authoring technical CAE papers, performing technical presentations on international conferences and on customers’ sites, participating in customers’ projects, offering on-site support and training.
• CAE stack: ANSA, mETA, Nastran, Abaqus, LS-Dyna, modeFrontier, Optimus
• Additional information: my experience as a cae engineer.

Publications

• Efficient Use of CAE Pre- and Post-Processing in Offshore Structures Design (COMPIT 2013)
• Multi-Objective Design Optimization of a Rudder, using Automated CAE Model Set-Up with ANSA Pre-Processor (COMPIT 2012)
• Introducing Highly-Efficient CAE Pre- and Post-Processing Solutions in Maritime Design (COMPIT 2011)

Projects

• Jinifai is a scalable web application for generative AI tools (side project).
• Algozoom is a small web application I made while playing with React, Redux and Django rest framework. It animates algorithms using the amazing d3.js library. It’s deployed on a Heroku free tier so there might be a small delay the first time you visit it.
• Zakanda was a Robinhood like service for sport betting.
• My notes collection is a collection of notes I made on various topics.
• My personal blog is a place where I can express myself, writing for anything I consider interesting or important. I also use it as a showcase of my professional experience.

Military Service

Military Service (May 2008 - January 2009)

Military service is compulsory in Greece.

Education

Mechanical Engineer, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (September 2001 - July 2008)

I studied Mechanical Engineering in the polytechnic school of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

• Design and Structure department
• Diploma thesis under professor Natsiavas Sotirios