A double distinction in the field of applied research in a global competition organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), was awarded to research projects carried out in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The award ceremony took place on June 16, 2025, in Taipei, Taiwan.

Specifically, second place in the global competition “IAS Student Thesis Contest” was awarded to the research work entitled “Coordination of surge protective devices installed in DC power systems”. The research was carried out within the context of the Master Thesis of Ms. Polina Mikropoulou at the High Voltage Laboratory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Thomas Tsovilis.

At the same time, the research proposal entitled “Surge protection of sensitive hospital infrastructure: An intensive care unit case study” was awarded third place in the global “IAS Humanitarian Contest”. The research proposal was based on experimental results obtained at the High Voltage Laboratory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki by a research team consisting of PhD candidates Niki Gkonou and Konstantinos Gektidis, undergraduate student Ilias Nikiforidis, and Assoc. Prof. Thomas Tsovilis with the kind support of Asst. Prof. George Peppas and Dr. Nikolaos Kokkinos.