Stavros Avramidis (born in

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

, Greece, in 1958) is a

Greek Canadian Greek Canadians () are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Greek heritage or people who emigrated from Greece and reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census, there were 262,140 Canadians who claimed Greek ancestry. Demographics Pro ...

wood scientist and professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in Canada, who is an elected fellow (''FIAWS'') and president of the International Academy of Wood Science for the period 2023–2026.

First years and education

Avramidis was born in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, on April 6, 1958, and grew up in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. He attended the Department of Forestry at the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about east of Thessa ...

and received his university degree in 1981. Following that, he pursued research-based postgraduate (1982–1983) (M.S. in the area of composite products) and doctoral studies (1983–1986) in the United States at the

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, in the area of biopolymer physics under the guidance of John F. Siau.

Academic career

Avramidis began his academic career in 1987 in Canada at the University of British Columbia as an assistant professor at Department of Wood Science in the Faculty of Forestry. He was appointed associate professor in 1993 and full professor in 1998. Avramidis served as the Head of the UBC Department of Wood Science for two consecutive terms, from 2016 to the present. Avramidis's research team has presented research work on the physical and drying properties of wood. His applied research addresses practical issues in the Canadian wood industry related to energy optimization and upgrading production methods, using acoustic, electrical, and optical techniques, as well as radio wave methods, simulation, and artificial intelligence.

Research work and recognition

Avramidis along with his colleagues have authored over 250 scientific articles, more than 100 industrial studies, and his research work has received almost 3,000 citations in the

Scopus Scopus is a scientific abstract and citation database, launched by the academic publisher Elsevier as a competitor to older Web of Science in 2004. The ensuing competition between the two databases has been characterized as "intense" and is c ...

database, until July 2024. In 2012, Avramidis was selected as a member of the editorial board of the journal, '' Wood Material Science and Engineering''. He has been a member of the editorial boards of ''Holzforschung, Drying Technology, Wood Research, European Journal of Wood and Wood Products'', ''Maderas. Ciencia y tecnologia'' and ''Drying Technology''. In 2020, his name was included in the ''Mendeley Data'', published in the journal ''Plos Biology'' for the international impact of his yearlong research in

wood drying Wood drying (also seasoning lumber or wood seasoning) reduces the moisture content of wood before its use. When the drying is done in a kiln, the product is known as kiln-dried timber or lumber, whereas air drying is the more traditional method. ...

. In 2022, Avramidis received the Ternryd Award 2022 from the Swedish Linnaeus Academy Research Foundation for his research in wood science. In June 2023, Avramidis was elected as the president of the International Academy of Wood Science, for the years 2023–2026. In October 2023, a referred metaresearch conducted by

John Ioannidis John P. A. Ioannidis ( ; , ; born August 21, 1965) is a Greek-American physician-scientist, writer and Stanford University professor who has made contributions to evidence-based medicine, epidemiology, and clinical research. Ioannidis studies sc ...

and his team at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, included Avramidis in Elsevier Data 2022, where he was placed at the top 2% of researchers in the area of wood physics. In August 2024, Avramidis has acquired the same international distinction for his research work in

wood science Wood science is the scientific field which predominantly studies and investigates elements associated with the formation, the physical and chemical composition, and the macro- and microstructure of wood as a bio-based and lignocellulosic materi ...

(''Elsevier Data 2023''; career data).

References

External links

Google ScholarResearchGate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avramidis, Stavros 1958 births Living people Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Expatriate academics in Canada State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry alumni Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni Greek scientists Wood sciences Fellows of the International Academy of Wood Science Wood scientists