Digitalization of Maritime Operations Through Sustainable Systems, Software and Architecture

John Emm. Kokarakis is Technical Director of the Southeast Europe, Black and Adriatic Sea Zone at Bureau Veritas (BV), Greece. He is responsible for the smooth technical operation within the Zone as well as in the harmonic cooperation with the BV offices worldwide to the benefit of the BV clients, with a focus on the implementation of “green” regulations and fuel-saving techniques. He has a Diploma in NA&ME (in 1979) from NTUA; an M.S. in NA&ME (Marine Engineering) (in 1983) from the University of Michigan (UM), USA; an M.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering from UM (in 1984); and a PhD in NA&ME (in 1986) from UM. His doctoral dissertation is on the “Static and Dynamic Analysis of Marine Risers.” His main scientific areas of interest are advanced techniques in ship design, ship performance evaluation, prediction of environmental loads, risk and failure analysis, evaluation of propulsion plants, and energy efficiency.

In his capacity as a forensic engineer, he participated in the technical investigation of the Exxon Valdez grounding, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the drillship Sea-Crest capsize, the Piper Alpha fire and explosion, the Aleutian Enterprise foundering in Alaska as well as many other accidents of less notoriety. For the last 25 years, he works in Greece, in classification. He served in the American Bureau of Shipping and Germanischer Lloyd before joining Bureau Veritas. Published his work in various journals and at various conferences, he has been the president of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology (2010–2012), a member of the IACS Environmental Panel (2013–2018), and gave invited lectures at Strathclyde, and Technical University of Athens. He is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, since 1976, a fellow of the Society and chairman of the Fellows Committee. He is also the chairman of the Greek Section, since 2014.

Dr. Stamatina Th. Rassia is an interdisciplinary researcher, academic and professional with international expertise spanning architecture, naval engineering, sustainability, and advanced design systems. She holds a Diploma in Architecture Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), an MPhil in Environmental Design in Architecture, and a PhD in Architecture from the University of Cambridge. Her international academic and professional experience includes work in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, France, and Greece, across leading research, academic, and professional environments. Her research integrates optimization, advanced technologies, environmental performance, renewable energy, and human-centred innovation, with applications in smart cities, public health, sustainable maritime and naval architecture, resilience, and AI-enabled design. Her cross-disciplinary expertise connects engineering, technology, sustainability, and future-oriented design, offering a broad international perspective highly relevant to contemporary research and scholarly publishing.