Seven (7) new research diploma theses

Specifically, the following thesis topics were completed and presented:

1. "Analysis of the creation of a new business in Greece during the crisis. The case of wooden accessories" by the postgraduate student Mr. Mastrogiorgos Athanassios, with supervising professor Ms. Glykeria Karagounis and members of the supervisory committee professors: Papadopoulos Ioannis and Trigka Marios.

Thanasis Mastroiorgos presented the case study of the creation of a start-up business for the manufacture and promotion of wooden accessories in a time of crisis. The paper highlights practices and success factors by analyzing the case as it evolves, that is, from the conception of the idea to the completion of its first year of life. The value of the present study lies mainly in the fact that the limitations, obstacles and possibilities are real and uncontrollable. Therefore, the results and conclusions are more reliable. The paper concludes that innovation, networking and extroversion are the only way forward for businesses in traditional sectors that aspire to survive in crisis Greece.

2. "Implementation of cost accounting systems in wood companies" by the postgraduate student Mr. Ilias Drakopoulos, with the supervising professor Mr. Ioannis Papadopoulos and members of the supervisory committee the professors: Karagouni Glykeria and Trigka Mario.

Elias Drakopoulos investigated and highlighted the costing systems applied by companies in the wood industry both in Greece and Cyprus. The aim of the research was to highlight the data used to determine the basic operating parameters of wood companies, receiving the appropriate information, in order to deal with any difficulties, to draw up their strategy and to carry out the most correct costing of the produced wood products, through the appropriate systems. By using a specially structured questionnaire, the basic research questions were asked and answered. Thus, it was shown that the application of the various costing systems is independent of the size of the companies, while the analytical costing is statistically significantly related to the systematic monitoring of the cost centers: raw material procurement, production, storage, distribution and sales. Also, the costing of finished products greatly affects the pricing of the products that companies have, as well as determining the cost of orders and services for decision-making and many other important things.

3. "Construction of composite glued beams using Greek timber for the construction of portable settlements" by the postgraduate student Ms. Mandros Chrysas, supervised by professor Mr. Georgios Dalos and members of the committee supervised by the professors: Michael Skarveli and Trigka Mario.

Ms. Mandrou was involved in the research of replacement of the imported timber used for the manufacture of glulam beams. In Greece there are three large companies engaged in the production of glued timber for the construction of large beams. To date, all of the raw material comes from timber imports, thus increasing production costs. In the context of this work, the imported wood was replaced with wood of Greek origin, black pine from Grevena and spruce from Kalambaka. The results obtained were highly satisfactory giving values of mechanical properties very close to those of imported wood glues. The results will be given to Greek industries in the hope that the exploitation of Greek timber will soon begin, creating comparative and competitive advantages for wood companies, but also for the State.

4. "Aesthetic upgrade of one-sided metal road safety parapet blade in areas of natural beauty with wood" by the postgraduate student Mr. Papaspyros Ilias, with supervising professor Mr. Georgios Dalos and members of supervisory committee professors: Michael Skarveli and Kakara Ioannis.

Mr. Ilias Papaspyros, as part of his diploma thesis, dealt with the replacement of metal parapet blades on roads located in areas of special natural beauty. The reality so far leads to the use of metal blades that do not present a particular aesthetic value but only safety. However, in areas that belong to the NATURA network and are protected, or in general show particularly natural beauty, the existence of metal parapet blades greatly reduces the aesthetic value of the landscape. In the context of this work, experiments were carried out to find the possibility of replacing these metal elements with wood and indeed of Greek origin. Thus, they were tested for mechanical properties and especially for impact strength, glued spruce timber, impregnated spruce timber and chestnut timber. The results were absolutely encouraging with the chestnut wood giving the best, which combined with its natural resistance appears to be able to replace the metal blades without a problem on roads where traffic is less than 90 km/h. We hope the results will be adopted to improve the aesthetics of the beautiful landscapes of our country.

5. "Manufacturing and quality control of a wooden educational game for children who are on the autism spectrum" by the postgraduate student Ms. Huvarda Sultana, supervised by professor Mr. Georgios Dalos and members of supervisory committee professors: Michael Skarveli and Didakis Ioannis.

Ms. Tanya Houvarda dealt with a sensitive social group as part of her master's thesis. He tried to create, based on wood as a material, educational toys aimed at children belonging to the autism spectrum. During her work, she designed, manufactured and quality checked her creations, based on the European specification ΕΝ 71-1 so that these toys, in addition to their educational contribution, are also safe for children. For her creations, she used non-stick wood that met the standards for formaldehyde content and presented interesting creations that will help children in this special category to become familiar with letters and numbers, as well as flexibility exercises. It would be useful if her creations were adopted by Greek special schools so that Ms. Houvarda's creations would take hold.

6. "Parametric scale design using Solidworks" by the graduate student Mr. Achouriotis Kon/no, with supervising professor Mr. Ioannis Ntintakis and members of the supervisory committee professors: Kyratsi Panagiotis and Michael Skarveli. Kon/nos Ahuriotis studied and presented the scales (stairs) and mainly the geometry of its various elements, in order to simplify, standardize them and then with the use of the Solidworks design software to parametrically design some types of scales which can be changed according to with the requirements of each building and at the same time to facilitate the designer during the modeling process with the use of specialized functions that do not necessarily exist in corresponding software.

7. "Development of an "intelligent" wooden support/assistance project for livestock breeders and nature tourism visitors" by the postgraduate student Ms. Fotaki Efthymia, with supervising professor Mr. Antonios Karageorgos and members of the supervisory committee, professors: Kyratsi Panagiotis and Didakis Ioannis.

Ms. Efi Fotaki investigated the possibility of developing a wooden support rod (commonly known as "glitsa"), which would have tracking and communication systems with the aim of providing security services to the user who could be: livestock breeders, tourists, nature tourism visitors, athletes countryside, outdoor professionals  (foresters/forest workers, biologists, who are active in the countryside in remote or inaccessible areas. Its use is focused on situations where the person needs immediate care with the intervention of a third party, such as when they are unable to call for help (sudden health problem, accident), when he has no other means of communication (lack of or inability to use a mobile phone, poor signal quality, panic, damage to the device from a fall), when even when he has the means he cannot determine his location, but also vice versa when the person needs to be informed immediately about unforeseen conditions and possible danger.

The study focused on the selection of the most appropriate support rod for the request (specifically the traditional Greek shepherd), a tracking system and a communication system. The individual systems had to satisfy both the particular characteristics of each, as well as certain specifications as a single system. The tests carried out in various places with the help of a prototype built with the selected mechanisms showed that the construction of a now "intelligent" support rod is feasible, can provide a high degree of safety services to the user without falling behind in functionality and usability, economy and efficiency. The services it can provide are adaptable to the type of use and the user's requirements, and to adapt to the current developments in technology in the field of location and communication, at a very affordable cost.

The above theses were judged excellent and very good by the examination committees, while it is noted that the whole process was open to the public to watch the support of the above theses.

The investigation of innovative and current scientific issues that concern the market and the sciences of wood, design, entrepreneurship and management, continues dynamically by the Postgraduate Study Program of the Department. which is preparing until 3/30/2018 to swear in another ten (10) of its graduates in the 2^th swearing-in ceremony since its establishment (in 2015).

It is worth noting that it was approved at the General Assembly of Special Composition of the Department No. 18/6.3.2018. the comprehensive study - proposal for the re-establishment of the Master's Program of Studies, which is required by Law 4485/2017, which includes a very interesting and flexible study program, with particularly valuable and accessible teachers, which is conducted in Karditsa in the modern facilities of the Department.

Finally, it is emphasized that the Department with the operation of his master's program. the existence of the required critical group of faculty members with doctoral degrees, its 18-year significant research career, the infrastructures, and its positive external evaluation, it seems to meet all the criteria (all 7) to be included in the first four (4) Departments of the TEI of Thessaly for the acquisition of the possibility of awarding a third cycle of studies for the preparation and awarding of doctoral theses, and is therefore steadily heading towards its full and worthy universityization!

The Director of MSc

Ioannis Papadopoulos

Professor TEI of Thessaly