Dr. Panayiotis Kolios, a Researcher Associate at the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence of the University of Cyprus, has received an Honorary Distinction by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for his valuable contribution to the successful implementation of the “Assessment Mission Course” training program. The honorary distinction was awarded by the Commissioner for Volunteerism and Non-Governmental Organizations of Cyprus, Mr. Yiannis Yiannakis, during a special ceremony at Hilton Hotel.
The “Assessment Mission Course” training program takes place 5 times a year with 20 participating experts from European Member States. Within the course, an introduction is made on the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as a tool for needs assessment after the strike of a disaster.
Dr. Kolios has extensive experience in the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and is considered to be a leading expert on UAS applications in emergency management. He has carried out a number of training activities at national, European and international level receiving remarkable praise.
Moreover, he contributed to the successful implementation of the first four – day training workshop on the use of UAS for emergency management, which was co-organized by KIOS CoE and Cyprus Civil Defence, under the DG ECHO Exchange of Experts course of the Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) Training programme. The workshop was attended by 17 responders from across 11 European countries. Participants included fire fighters, civil protection officers, emergency management instructors and police officers.
Additionally, as part of the activities of the KIOS CoE in the field of emergency response, Dr. Kolios has led the preparation of competitive funding proposals for the development of innovative applications in the use of UAS in emergency response.
It is worth noting that these developed technologies and the related trainings activities will now become part of an operational EU-wide UAS module through the DG ECHO LEAPFROG program, which aims at introducing RPAS modules (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) to the voluntary pool of response capacities to requesting EU Member States. This project is coordinated by the Cyprus Civil Defence.
