Dimitris Mourtzis is a Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics and Vice President of the Research Council of the University of Patras. He is a Founding Member of the CLEAN AVIATION Joint Undertaking Governing Body and Director of the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation (LMS). He is a Fellow of the International Academy for Production Research (CIRP), the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP), and Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). His scientific interests focus on design, planning, and control of manufacturing systems and networks, robotic systems, automation, advanced simulation including augmented, mixed, and virtual reality in manufacturing, manufacturing processes modeling and optimization, digital manufacturing, industry 4.5, industry 5.0, metaverse, and hybrid teaching factory.