Paola Blasi
The role of stone consultant in supporting a sustainable architecture: from quarry evaluation and stone characterization to processing, installation, and maintenance.
Paola Blasi is a chartered geologist with 30+ years’ experience in the use and selection of natural stone in architecture. She works in Arup, London – as architectural stone consultant in many national and international projects.
She has previously spent many years in Carrara, Italy – the international marble hub. She has extensively travelled, visiting stone quarries and factories.
She has assisted and given lectures to architects and designers on the use and characteristics of stone in many parts of the world, thanks to her solid background and extensive professional network.
Paola is the Chair of CEN (European Committee for Standardization) TC 246 Natural Stone since 2009 and an expert in other international committees. She is particularly interested in the sustainable use of stone.
Ioannis Chatzipanagis
Management Studies of the Hellenic Survey of Geology & Mineral Exploration (H.S.G.M.E.) in the Main Areas of Ornamental Stones, in Northern Greece.
Research Employee at IGME (Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration) (1986-2019) and HSGME (Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration) (2019-2025)
From 1986 to 1998, conducted research on manganese supergene ore deposits in Drama County, and investigated P.B.G. mineralization and precious metals in the Palaea Kavala area, and studied industrial minerals including kaolin, pegmatites, graphite, kyanite, and white carbonatic rocks in Eastern Macedonia.
From 1998 to the present, specialized in ornamental stones in Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia-Thrace.
From 2010 to the present, performed field inspections and risk assessments for natural disasters of geological origin (excluding earthquakes) in Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace.
Active member of the Quarry Area Designation Committees in Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia-Thrace.
Ioannis Kapageridis
Smart Quarries: AI and Machine Learning Transforming Marble Exploration, Extraction, and Processing.
Dr. Ioannis Kapageridis is an Associate Professor of Mining Informatics, Head of the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering of the University of Western Macedonia, and Director of the Laboratory of Mining Informatics and Machine Learning Applications. He is a mining engineer with over 20 years of experience in mine planning, geostatistics and AI applications in mining. His PhD and postdoctoral research work focused on the application of artificial neural networks to grade estimation from exploration data. He has trained dozens of geologists and mining engineers from various mining companies in Europe, Africa, and Asia, in geostatistics and mine planning. He has conducted various resource/reserves estimation and mine planning studies for mining companies, as an independent consultant for Maptek, TetraTech, Golder Associates, Royal Haskoning, and Waste et Water. In the last ten years, Dr. Kapageridis has been actively involved in resources estimation and reporting, and quarry design for marble companies in Greece.
He currently teaches Applied Geostatistics, Mine Planning, and AI Applications in Mineral Resources Engineering and supervises three PhD projects. Dr. Kapageridis is a Chartered Engineer (CEng – Engineering Council, UK), Chartered Scientist (CSci – Science Council, UK), a member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (MIMMM), and Qualified for Minerals Reporting (QMR – IOM3).
Costandis Kizis
Earth, memory, myth; stone in contemporary architecture.
Costandis Kizis studied at NTUA (Diploma in Architectural Engineering), Columbia University (MSc Advanced Architectural Design) and the Architectural Association (PhD). He has taught architecture at universities in the UK and has been an Associate Professor at NTUA’s School of Architecture since 2021. He has been working professionally since 2006 at Kizis Office, which he has been running with his father for the last few years. He has received several awards.
As an equal member of a team in international, European and Greek architectural competitions. He is a member of the board of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.
Maria Menegaki
Can marble exploitation be both a backbone to local prosperity and an environmental pioneer? The answer is definitely yes.
Dr. Maria Menegaki is a Professor at the School of Mining & Metallurgical Engineering of the NTUA. She graduated from the School of Mining & Metallurgical Engineering and she obtained her PhD in the field of Surface Mining. Her research interests include surface mining planning and design, mining economics, environmental impacts of mining and rehabilitation prospects. She teaches a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. She has participated in more than 35 research programs and has published over 65 papers.