Lois Athanassios (Thanassis)
Instructor MSc Supply Chain Management & Logistics
Operations Research, Informatics✉ lois (at) uth.gr
Office Hours: Friday 13:00-14:00
Dr. Athanasios Lois holds a BSc in Physics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1990), an MSc in Production Management and Industrial Management from the University of Thessaly (2005), and a PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Thessaly (2010), with a dissertation focusing on real-time (online) algorithms for the Dial-a-Ride Problem. Since 2005, he has been a researcher at the Systems Optimization Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Thessaly, while he has also worked at the University’s Network Center since 1996.
Since 2012, he has taught courses in Operations Research and Supply Chain Management at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Thessaly. Specifically, he has taught Optimization Theory (linear programming, transportation problems, network models, integer and nonlinear programming, interior-point algorithms, heuristics, and metaheuristics) and continues to teach Network Algorithms for Transportation and Logistics. Since 2019, he has also taught Strategic Transportation and Logistics Management. In addition, he has served as a reviewer for scientific journals and conferences, including IEEE publications (since 2018), Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review (2017), and the IEEE 18th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (2015).
He has participated in numerous national and European research projects in demand-responsive transportation, supply chain management, and green vehicle routing, including INMOSION, RESCUE, RAIL4SEE, GreenRoute, THALES, REDUCTION, MOG, e-Synergetic Urban Logistics, TAXIME, ENIRISST, EasyRights (Horizon 2020), and FENIX. From 2010 to 2015, he served as a scientific consultant to the railway company TRAINOSE S.A. on optimization-related matters, including train scheduling, resource allocation, and energy-efficient train driving. As part of his research activities, he has developed a comprehensive software suite supporting an operational demand-responsive transportation system with real-time, bidirectional communication. He also has more than three decades of experience in software development and the implementation of optimization algorithms.
His research interests focus on Operations Research and combinatorial optimization, with applications in transportation and supply chain systems. In particular, they include the design and analysis of static and online algorithms for the Dial-a-Ride Problem; the development of heuristic and metaheuristic methods (e.g., Large Neighborhood Search and Tabu Search) for vehicle routing problems; the integration of machine learning methods into urban logistics; the design of flexible demand-responsive transportation (DRT) systems; and supply chain resilience.
- Ph.D., Online Algorithms for the Dial-a-Ride Problem, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly, 2010.
- M.Sc., Production Management and Industrial Management, University of Thessaly, 2005.
- B.Sc., Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1990.
Recent
- Sotiriou, S., Lois, A., Xenakis, A., Floros, G., & Ziliaskopoulso, A. (2025, July). Machine Learning-Driven Optimization of Loading and Unloading Processes in Urban Logistics. In 2025 IEEE 45th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems Workshops (ICDCSW) (pp. 428-431). IEEE.
- Balikos, A., Pantopoulos, A., Lois, A., Xenakis, A., Floros, G., Kolomvatsos, K., & Ziliaskopoulos, A. (2025, July). Google’s VRP Free Algorithm Evaluation Study and its Use in Small and Medium Transportation Problems. In 2025 IEEE 45th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems Workshops (ICDCSW) (pp. 432-438). IEEE.
- Gkourou D, Mpidiou E, Lois A, Ziliaskopoulos A (2024) Research and conclusions on the resilience of the supply chain and logistics services of big companies in Greece. (CSUM 2024), Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82818-8_33.
- Lois A, Ziliaskopoulos A, Tsalapatas S (2018) Evaluation of probabilistic demands usage for the online dial-a-ride problem. 4th Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility (CSUM 2018), Skiathos, Greece, 24–25 May 2018. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-02305-8_53
- Lois A, Ziliaskopoulos A (2017) Online algorithm for dynamic dial a ride problem and its metrics. Transportation Research Procedia 24:377–384 (CSUM 2016). doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2017.05.097
Featured
- Chrysochoou, E. C., Ziliaskopoulos, A. K., & Lois, A. (2015). An exact algorithm for the stochastic inventory routing problem with transhipment (No. 15-2037). Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting 2015, Washington DC.
- Grabocka J, Dalkalitsis A, Lois A, Katsaros E, Schmidt-Thieme L (2014) Realistic optimal policies for energy-efficient train driving. 17th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC 2014). doi:10.1109/ITSC.2014.6957760
- Lois A, Bertos N, Ziliaskopoulos A (2011) Optimize a thru flight inspection of a Fighting Falcon using routing algorithms. SAE International Journal of Aerospace 4(2). doi:10.4271/2011-01-2750
- Ramazzotti D, Lois A (2009) Sustainable flexible transport services: a solution against social exclusion. WIT Press. ISBN 978-1-84564-424-6. doi:10.2495/SDP090181
- Lois A, Koukkos I, Ziliaskopoulos A (2009) The use of dial-a-ride algorithms in the design of a profitable and flexible DRT system through a convergence process. Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting, Washington DC, January 2009.
- Lois, A., Ziliaskopoulos, A., & Aifantopoulou, G. E. O. R. G. I. A. (2007, August). A very large scale neighborhood heuristic algorithm for the multivehicle dial a ride with time windows. In Proceedings of 87th transportation research board annual meeting, Washington DC, USA.