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Born in Cyprus in 1962. Married and father of two daughters. He holds a Dipl.-Ing. degree in Computer Engineering and Informatics, and a Dr.-Ing. degree in Mechanical Engineering (both from School of Engineering, University of Patras, Greece). Before joining academia in 2006, he has held various industrial appointments reaching the position of the Director of the Central Information Systems Services at Patras University. He has extensive experience in managing large... IT projects.

Professor Nearchou's research focuses on the modeling of production and service systems, and, more specifically, on the planning and scheduling of these systems. Recently, his research also has focused on intelligent transportation systems related to city logistics, maritime logistics as well as robotics logistics. He has authored numerous research papers in scientific referred journals and international conferences on these topics.

Ηe mainly works on the development of efficient algorithms for, operations scheduling, manpower shift planning, balancing and sequencing of assembly lines, projects scheduling, facilities layout design, location analysis, routing and scheduling in transportation and robot motion planning. Related results have appeared in several refereed journals including Int. J. Prod. Economics, Int. J. Prod. Research, Computers & OR, J. Adv. Manuf. Technology, J. Heuristics, J. Intelligent Manufacturing, Engineering Optimization, Eng. Applications of AI, Computers in Industry, Robotics & CIM among others. He is regular reviewer in more than 20 scientific journals and member of the editorial board of 4 referred scientific journals. He is, also, acting as a Program Committee member in several IT and industrial engineering related international scientific conferences.

- Planning and Scheduling in Manufacturing and Services.
- Optimal Design of Production and Assembly Lines.
- Logistics and Supply Chain Optimization.
- Advanced Transportation Systems.
- Computational Robotics (algorithmic aspects for autonomous robots).
- Combinatorial Optimization (heuristics to large-scale real-world manufacturing and services optimization problems)
- Computational Intelligence with emphasis on Evolutionary Computation and Swarm Intelligence models.

Google Scholar                Scopus

Member of the editorial board, Memetic Computing Journal
Member of the editorial board, Industrial Robot 
Member of the editorial board, Assembly Automation 
Member of the editorial board, International Journal of Metaheuristics

• Nearchou A.C., Giannikos I.C., and Lagodimos A.G., "Multi-site and multi-shift personnel planning with setup costs", IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1093/imaman/dpy017.

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• Nearchou A.C., "Multicriteria scheduling optimization using an elitist multiobjective population heuristic: the h-NSDE algorithm", Journal of Heuristics, 24/6, 817-851, 2016.

• Giannopoulos N. and Nearchou A.C., “Bi-criteria scheduling against restrictive common due dates using a  multi-objective differential evolution algorithm”, IMA Journal of Management Mathematics. 29/1, 119–136, 2016. 

• Nearchou A.C. and Omirou S., "Assembly Line Balancing Using Differential Evolution Models", Cybernetics and Systems, 48/5, 436-458, 2017.

• Zacharia P. and Nearchou A.C., "A population-based algorithm for the bi-objective assembly line worker assignment and balancing problem", Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 49, 1–9, 2014.

• Xidias E., Zacharia P. and Nearchou A. “Path Planning and scheduling for a fleet of autonomous vehicles”, Robotica, 34/10, 2257-2273, 2014.

• Nearchou A.C., Giannikos I.C., and Lagodimos A.G., “Efficient greedy algorithms for economic manpower shift planning”, Engineering Optimization, 47/1, 36-54, 2015.

• Nearchou A.C., Giannikos I.C. and Lagodimos A.G., "A genetic algorithm for the economic manpower shift planning problem", Cybernetics and Systems, 45:5, 439-464, 2014.

• Zacharia P. and Nearchou A.C., “A meta-heuristic algorithm for the fuzzy assembly line balancing type-E problem”, Computers & Operations Research, 40/12, 3033–3044, 2013.

• Nearchou A.C. and Lagodimos A.G., “Heuristic Solutions for the Economic Manpower Shift Planning Problem”, European Journal of Industrial Engineering, 7/6. 657-686, 2013.

• Nearchou A.C. and Omirou S, “A particle swarm optimization algorithm for scheduling against restrictive common due dates”, Int. Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems, 6/4, 684-699, 2013.

• Nearchou A.C., “A hybrid meta-heuristic for the single machine total weighted tardiness problem”, Cybernetics and Systems, 43/8, 651-668, 2012.

• Giannopoulos N, Moulianitis V., and Nearchou A.C., “Multi-objective optimization with fuzzy measures and its application to flow-shop scheduling”, Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 25/7, 1381-1394, 2012.

• Xidias E., Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N., “Integrating path planning, routing and scheduling for logistics operations in manufacturing facilities”, Cybernetics and Systems, 43/3. 143-142, 2012.

• Zacharia P. and Nearchou A.C. “Multi-Objective Fuzzy Assembly Line Balancing Using Genetic Algorithms”, Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 23/3, 615-627, 2012.

• Petropoulos D.I. and Nearchou A.C., “A particle swarm optimization algorithm for balancing assembly lines”, Assembly Automation, 31/2, 116–129, 2011.

• Nearchou A.C., “Maximizing production rate and workload smoothing in assembly lines using particle swarm optimization”, Int. Journal of Production Economics, 129/2, 242-250, 2011.

• Nearchou A.C. “Scheduling with controllable processing times and compression costs using population-based heuristics”, Int. Journal of Production Research,, 48/23, 7043–7062, 2010.

• Xidias E., Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N., “Vehicle scheduling in 2D shop floor environments”, Industrial Robot, 36/2, 176-163, 2009.

• Omirou S. and Nearchou A.C., “An epitrochoidal pocket—A new canned cycle for CNC milling machines”, Journal of Robotics and Computed Integrated Manufacturing, 25/1, 73-80, 2009.

• Nearchou A.C. “Multi-objective balancing of assembly lines by population heuristics², Int. Journal of Production Research, 46/8, 2275-2297, 2008.

• Nearchou A.C. “A differential evolution approach for the common due date early/tardy job scheduling problem², Computers & Operations Research, 35, 1329-1343, 2008.

• Nearchou A.C. “Balancing large assembly lines by a new heuristic based on differential evolution method”, Int. Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 34, 1014-1029, 2007.

• Omirou S. And Nearchou A.C., “A CNC Machine Tool Interpolator for surfaces of cross sectional design", Journal of Robotics and Computed Integrated Manufacturing, 23/2, 257-264, 2007.

• Nearchou A.C. and Omirou S., “Differential evolution for sequencing and scheduling optimization², Journal of Heuristics, 12/6, 395-411, 2006.

• Nearchou A.C. ²Meta-heuristics from nature for the loop layout design problem², Int. Journal of Production Economics, 101/2, 312-328, 2006.

• Nearchou A.C. “A novel metaheuristic approach for the flow-shop scheduling problem”, Journal of Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 17/3, 289-300, 2004.

• Nearchou A., "Flow-shop sequencing using hybrid simulated annealing”, Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 15, 317-328, 2004.

• Nearchou A.C., "The effect of various operators on the genetic search for large scheduling problems". Int. Journal of Production Economics, 88/2, 191-203, 2004.

• Azariadis P., Nearchou A.C., and Aspragathos N., "An evolutionary algorithm for generating planar developments of arbitrarily curved surfaces". Journal of Computers in Industry, 47, 357-368, 2002.

• Nearchou A.C., “A Genetic Navigation Algorithm for Autonomous Mobile Robots”, Cybernetics and Systems, 30/7, 629-661, 1999.

• Nearchou A.C., “Adaptive Navigation of Autonomous Vehicles using Evolutionary Algorithms”, Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, 13/2, 159-173, 1999.

• Nearchou A.C., Sofotassios D. and Aspragathos N., “Reducing the Complexity of Robot’s Scene for Faster Collision Detection”, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 26, 79-89, 1999.

• Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N. “Collision-Free Cartesian Trajectory Generation using Raster Scanning and Genetic Algorithms”, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 23, 351-377, 1998.

• Nearchou A.C., “Path Planning of a Mobile Robot using Genetic Heuristics”, ROBOTICA, 14, 575-588, 1998.

• Nearchou A.C., “Solving the Inverse Kinematics Problem of Redundant Robots Operating in Complex Environments via a Modified Genetic Algorithm”. Journal of Mechanism and Machine Theory, 33/3, 273-292, 1998.

• Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N., “A Genetic Path Planning Algorithm for Redundant Articulated Robots”. ROBOTICA, 15, 213-224, 1997.

• Dermatas E., Nearchou A. and Aspragathos N., “Error-Backpropagation- Solution to the Inverse Kinematic Problem of Redundant Manipulators”, Journal of Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 12/4, pp. 303-310, 1996.

• Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N., “Application of Genetic Algorithms to Point-to-Point Motion of Redundant Manipulators”. Journal of Mechanism and Machine Theory, 31/3, 261-270, 1996.

• Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N., “Collision-Free Continuous Path Control of Manipulators using Genetic Algorithms”. Journal of Systems Engineering, 6, 20-32, 1996.

  
  
  

  Conference Papers

• Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N., “Genetic Algorithms in Continuous Path Control of Manipulators”. AMTECH '93, Science Conference on Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Rousse, Boulgaria, May 17-19, 1993.

• Nearchou A., “Robot Motion Planning: A Survey”, Int. Symposium on Integrated Manufacturing Systems and Industrial Automation, University of Patras, 23 May-6 June, 1993.

• Dermatas E., Nearchou A., and Aspragathos N., “Solving the Inverse Kinematic Problem of a Robot Arm using the Error Back-Propagation Algorithm”. IEEE Mediterranean Symposium on New Directions in Control Theory and Applications, June 21-23, Crete, 1993.

• Dermatas E., Nearchou A.C., and Aspragathos N., “A Task Oriented Neural Network Solution to the Inverse Kinematics Problem of Manipulators”. Joint Hungarian-British Mechatronics Conference, Budapest, September 21-23,1994.

• Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N., “Obstacle Avoidance Control of Redundant Robots using Genetic Algorithms”. 3rd IEEE Mediterranean Symposium on New Directions in Control and Automation, Limassol, Cyprus, July 11-14, 1995.

• Nearchou A.C., “Using Evolutionary Algorithms to solve the symmetric traveling salesman problem”, ISCA 14th International Conference on Computers and their Applications. Seattle, Washington, USA, March 28-30, 2001.

• Nearchou A.C., “Solving the single machine total weighted tardiness scheduling problem using a hybrid simulated annealing algorithm”, 2nd ΙΕΕΕ Int. Conf. on Industrial Informatics (INDIN’04), June 24-26, Berlin, Germany, 2004.

• Nearchou A.C., “A differential evolution algorithm for simple assembly line balancing”, 14th Int. Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) World Congress, Prague, July 4-8, 2005. (IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 38/1, 2005, 247-252).

• Nearchou A.C., “An efficient meta-heuristic for the single machine common due date scheduling problem”, 2nd I*PROMS Virtual International Conference on Intelligent Production Machines and Systems. July 3-14, 2006.

• Xidias E., Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N.,, “Motion Planning in Reconfigurable Manufacturing Environments Using the Bump-Surface Concept”, 3rd I*PROMS Virtual Int. Conference on Intelligent Production Machines and Systems, July 12-13, 2007.

• Nearchou A., “Population Heuristics in manufacturing optimization”, I*PROMS Researchers Symposium, Cardiff, UK 1st - 3th July, 2008.

• Xidias E., Nearchou A.C. and Aspragathos N. “Simultaneously motion planning and scheduling for two autonomous vehicles”, The 4th virtual I*PROMS Conference on Innovative Production Machines and Systems, 1-14, July 2008.

• Giannopoulos N. and Nearchou A.C., “Lamarckian and Baldwinian learning in differential evolution for production scheduling problems”, IPROMS 2010, the 6th V. Conference, Network of Excellence on Innovative Production Machines and Systems, 2010.

• Xidias E. and Nearchou A., “Motion planning and job scheduling in manufacturing environments”, 2nd Panhellenic Conference on Robotics, University of Patras, December 9-10, 2010.

• Nearchou A. and Giannikos I., "The Multi Shift Coverage Facility Location Problem", XXII EURO Working Group on Locational Analysis Meeting, 2015.

• Andreas C. Nearchou, Scheduling in Manufacturing and Services, Broken-Hill Publishing, 2017.

• Andreas C. Nearchou, Introduction to Games Theory, University of Patras Publishing, 2016. 

“Genetic algorithms in robot trajectory planning”, University of Patras, School of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department, January 1996. Nemertes institutional repository of University of Patras (http://nemertes.lis.upatras.gr/jspui/handle/10889/4529).

• Co-chair of the 1st Int. Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interaction (ACHI 2008), St. Luce, Martinique, February 10-15, 2008.
• 2nd IPROMS Virtual International Conference on Intelligent Production Machines and Systems, took place on the Internet, 3-14 July, 2006.
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• 3rd European Starting AI Researcher Symposium (STAIRS 2006), Riva del Garda, Italy, August 28-29, 2006 3. 3rd I*PROMS Conference on Innovative Production Machines and Systems, will take place on the Internet between 2 and 13 July 2007.
• 4th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO-2007), Angers, France, 9-12 May 2007.
• 5th Int. Conference on Advanced Engineering Computing and Applications in Sciences ADVCOMP 2007, Papeete, French Polynesia (Tahiti), November 4-9, 2007.
• 1st Int. Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interaction (ACHI 2008), St. Luce, Martinique, February 10-15, 2008.
• 5th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO-2008), Funchal, Madeira-Portugal, 11-15 May, 2008.
• 6th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO-2009), Milan, Italy, 2-5 July, 2009.
• 4th IPROMS Virtual International Conference on Intelligent Production Machines and Systems, on the Internet, 6-17 July, 2009.
• 2nd Int. Conferences on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, ACHI 2009, Cancun, Mexico, February 1-6, 2009.
• First International Conferences on Advanced Service Computing, SERVICE COMPUTATION 2009, Athens, Greece, November 15-20, 2009.
• Second International Conferences on Advanced Service Computing, SERVICE COMPUTATION 2010, Lisbon, Portugal November 21-26, 2010.
• 3rd International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, ACHI 2010, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, February 10-16, 2010.
• 7th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO-2010), Funchal, Madeira - Portugal, 15-18 June, 2010.
• 6th Virtual Conference Innovative Production Machines and Systems (IPROMS 2010) , take place on the Internet, 15 - 26 November, 2010..
• 4th Int. Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions (ACHI 2011), Gosier, Guadeloupe, France, February 23-28, 2011.
• 8th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO-2011), Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, 28-31 July, 2011.
• 2011 IEEE Symposium on Differential Evolution A part of the IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence, Paris, France, 11-15, April 2011.
• iCAST 2011: 3rd International Conference on Awareness Science and Technology, September, 27-30, Dalian, China.
• 2011 FTRA International Conference on Intelligent Robotics, Automations, telecommunication facilities, and applications (IRoA-11), Gwangju, Korea, October 20-22, 2011.
• Fifth International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions (ACHI 2012), Valencia, Spain, January 30 - February 4, 2012.
• 9th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO-2012), Rome Italy, 28-31 July, 2012.
• 2nd World Congress on Information and Communication Technologies (WICT 2012), Trivandrum, India, October 30- November 2, 2012.
• 12th Int. Conference on Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS'12) Pune, India, 04 - 07 December, 2012.
• The Sixth International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions (ACHI 2013), February 24 - March 1, 2013 - Nice, France.
• 10th Int. Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2013), Reykjavνk, Iceland, July 29-31, 2013.
• 13rd Int. Conference on Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS'13), Tunis Tunisia, 04 - 06 December, 2013.
• 3rd Int. Conference on Intelligent Machines (ICIM’2014), May 1-4, Tunis, Tunisia, 2014.
• Seventh International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions (ACHI 2014), March 23 - 27, Barcelona, Spain, 2014.
• 3rd International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communications and Informatics (ICACCI- 2014), Greater Noida, India, September 24-27, 2014.
• 11th Int. Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2014), Vienna, Austria, September 1-3, 2014.
• The 6th IEEE International Conference on Awareness Science and Technology (iCAST 2014), Campus of Senart - University of Paris-EST Cre?teil, Lieusaint-Paris, France (Technically Sponsored by IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society), October 29-31, 2014.
• The 14th International Conference on Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS 2014), Kuwait, Dec. 14th -16th, 2014
• Eighth International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions (ACHI 2015), Lisbon, Portugal, February 22 - 27, 2015.
• Fourth International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communications and Informatics (ICACCI-2015), Aluva, Kochi, India,August 10-13, 2015.
• 12th Int. Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2015), Colmar, Alsace, France, July 21- 23, 2015
• The 15th Int. Conference on Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS‘15), Seoul, Korea November 16 – 18, 2015.
• The 6th Int. Conference on Innovations in Bio-Inspired Computing and Applications (IBICA 2015), Kochi,India, December 16-18, 2015
• The Ninth International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interaction (ACHI 2016), Venice, Italy, April 24 - 28, 2016.
• The 16th International Conference on Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS'16) Marrakech, Morocco, November 21-23, 2016.
• Sixteenth Int. Conference on Intelligent Systems Design and Applications (ISDA 2016) Porto, Portugal December 14 - 16, 2016.
• 1st Int. Conference on Human Computer Interaction Theory and Applications ” - HUCAPP 2017 (http://www.hucapp.visigrapp.org/), Porto, Portugal, 27 February-1 March, 2017.
• 9th World Congress on Nature and biologically Inspired Computing (NaBIC 2017), South Asian Univeristy, Delhi, India during December 14-16, 2017.
• 2nd Int. Conference on Human Computer Interaction Theory and Applications” - HUCAPP 2018, Funchal, Modeiro-Portugal, 27-29 January, 2018.

This course is designed to present an introduction to the field of production and operations management. Production is the creation of goods and services. Operations management involves all those activities and processes that create value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs to outputs. Emphasis is given in the quantitative analysis of the problems arising during the management of operations. The topics covered in the lesson are: Operations and productivity.  Project management. Product design. Process selection and design. Process reengineering. Operations technology. Capacity planning. Location strategies. Layout strategies.

This lesson focuses on the quantitative analysis of the problems involved during the management of a supply chain from the sourcing of raw-materials and other resources, to the creation of the final products and their distribution to the customers. Developing and maintaining effective supply chains has been today a key element in the creation of competitive advantage around the world. Many critical decisions need to be made: Where should we locate facilities?What type of facilities should we develop? How to organize our distribution network? How many people should we hire? How to deliver our products? How to manage our fleet of vehicles? How to control the inventory? How to schedule the customers’ orders?

The aim of this lesson is to extend the knowledge of the students to selected topics in operations management. Emphasis will be given to sequencing and scheduling decisions in manufacturing and services. The following areas will be covered: Project planning and scheduling. Resource-constrained project scheduling. Machine scheduling (single machine problems, parallel machine problems, the flow shop problem, the job shop problem). Routing and scheduling in transportation (the vehicle routing problem). Workforce scheduling.

This course is concerned with the fundamental operations of a business or an organization and the way these operations affect its competitiveness and future prospects. These operations refer to the design and the production of the right products and services, at the right quality, with the right cost and their distribution to the customers at the right time. Students will be introduced to the basic methodologies with which these operations may be designed and implemented efficiently and effectively.

Moreover, the lesson covers in introductory level all the issues and topics of knowledge needed for the managers to manage projects effectively. 

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