Professor Tourassis received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (5-year combined B.S./M.S. program) and his M.S. and Ph.D degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University. Before joining Nazarbayev University, Professor Tourassis was a Research Fellow at Carnegie-Mellon’s Robotics Institute, a tenured Professor at the University of Rochester in New York, U.S.A. and most recently the Vice Rector for Development and Research at Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. His current research interests have evolved after his pioneering work in robot dynamics and modular robotics to include issues in mechatronics, manufacturing and innovation. Professor Tourassis has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal and international conference articles. The eight Ph.D. students he has supervised hold professional appointments in the U.S.A., the U.K., Singapore, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. Professor Tourassis is a Senior Member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and he has been listed in Who’s Who in Science and Technology, Who’s Who in American Education and Who’s Who in the World. He is also active internationally in higher education administration fora. Professor Tourassis is an invited expert of the Asia-Europe Foundation’s Education Hub and a Governing Board Member of the OECD Directorate for Education program on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE).