History – BEST Chania Πολυτεχνείου Κρήτης

This is the history of BEST Chania, here in the island of Crete...

1993 - 1994

Our Local BEST Group was created in May 1994. One of the Erasmus-exchange students who were in Torino noticed the 11th GA. There were contacts with BEST Patras, which sent two of their members to present BEST in our University on 22 May. After that presentation, a group of 20 interested students, set up a team with the task to contact BEST and organize a possible Local BEST Group.

1994 - 1995

Members of this group attended BEST Patras' summer course on July ´94 and participated in Stockholm and Eindhoven workshops on spring ´95. On May ´95 our group set up its statement of purpose, internal regulations and its first local board. One week later we participated in the 13th GA in Patras receiving the observer status and voted to organize a workshop which was our first International event (Chania WS´95, 29 Sep - 2 Oct) with 27 International participants.

Local Board

President: Kefallinos Nikos
Vice-President: Salonidis Theodoros
Treasurer: Kontogiannis Nikos
Secretary: Peppa Betty
Member: Chatzichrisafis Nikos

1995 - 1996

At the 1st Presidents Meeting in Trondheim (Oct ´95) our group became a baby member of BEST. On April ´96 the 2nd local board was formed and on July ´96 our first summer course (Chania SC´96, 15 - 28 July) took place with 27 European students participating. During this event we hosted the 1st Summer Program Optimization Committee meeting, an international committee of BEST in which one of us, Nikos Kefallinos, was a member.

Local Board

President: Kefallinos Nikos
Vice-President: Salonidis Theodoros
Treasurer: Kontogiannis Nikos
Secretary: Peppa Betty
Member: Chatzichrisafis Nikos

1996 - 1997

At the 2nd Presidents Meeting in Vezsprem in November ´96 our LBG became a full member of BEST. On March ´97 we organised our 2nd workshop (Chania WS´97, 27 Feb - 2 Mar) with 16 participants. During the following 15th General Assembly in Belgium our member Theodoros Mastrokostopoulos was elected as the secretary of the 10th International Board of BEST. On July ´97 we organised our 2nd summer course (Chania SC´97, 14 - 27 July) with 25 participants. On August ´97 our 3rd local board was formed and later on September ´97 another member of our group, Yannis Rammos became a member of EduCo, International committee of BEST.

Local Board

President: Galinos Dimitrios
Vice-President: Salonidis Theodoros
Treasurer: Mastrokostopoulos Theodoros
Secretary: Papageorgiou Dimitra
Member: Geomelas Dimitris

1997 - 1998

On March ´98 we held our first Sailing Week (Chania SW ´98) hosting 12 participants. During Torino Presidents Meeting ´98 our LBG was voted to organize the following Presidents Meetings.

Local Board

President: Valvis Giannis
Vice-President: Valiadis Fivos
Treasurer: Rammos Giannis
Secretary: Moustakas Aris
Member: Mastrokostopoulos Theodoros

1998 - 1999

On November ´98 we set up our 4th local board. In the beginning of 1999 we made a cultural exchange with BEST Lulea. 12 of us visited Lulea in February while 12 Swedish pals visited us on April. On July ´99 we held our 3rd summer course (Chania SC 1999) with 26 participants.

Local Board

President: Valiadis Fivos
Vice-President: Karampatzakis Dimitris
Treasurer: Drosidis Grigoris
Secretary: Pagalou Dialekti
Member: Farantouri Vaso

1999 - 2000

On November, BEST Chania reached its best moment so far by organising the 5th Presidents Meeting (Chania 5th PM, 11-15 Nov) with 80 international students attending it. During the 18th General Assembly in Sweden we became the nurse LBG for the baby member BEST Thessaloniki. A little bit later the friendly Cretan sea hosted our 2nd Sailing Week (Chania SW 2000) with participants. On July 2000 our 4th summer course (Chania SC 2000) took place with 27 participants.

Local Board

President: Karampatzakis Dimitris
Vice-President: Farantouri Vaso
Treasurer: Kaloutsakis Giorgos
Secretary: Simeonova Rossie
Member: Dalamagidis Makis

2000 - 2001

On December 2000 BEST Chania organises the 2nd Greeks´ Meeting. Representatives from all the Local BEST Groups in Hellas (Greece) gathered in Chania to discuss matters of national BEST importance. On May 2001 20 Portuguese are coming to Chania to participate the Cultural Exchange between Chania and Coimbra while some weeks before 17 Greeks have visited that wonderful Portuguese city. On July 2001 21 European students participated the 5th Summer Course (Chania SC 2001).

Local Board

President: Dermatas Kostis
Vice-President: Papadopoulos Manthos
Treasurer: Taskos Kostas
Secretary: Simeonova Rossie
Member: Dalamagidis Makis

2001 - 2002

On March 2001 LBG Chania organises an International BEST Symposium (IBS 2002 Chania) with 20 Participants. The topics of discussion were: Alternative Evaluation Methods, Student Exchanges: problems & solutions, Modern educational tools: Internet Resources, Virtual Libraries, and Web Portals. The discussion reports were presented into the E4 European Union project and considered as the students´ input for the progress of the project. On July 2002 our 6th Summer Course took place in Chania (Chania SC 2002) with 21 European students participating.

Local Board

President: Sarigiannis Charis
Treasurer: Priskos Spilios
Secretary: Kapareli Maria
PR: Papadopulos Manthos
IT: Alvizos Emmanouil

2002 - 2003

16 Students from Chania and 19 from Copenhagen participated the Cultural Exchange between those two Cities. The visit in Chania took place on October. On March we organised our 3rd Sailing Week with 11 participants. On July 2003 we organised our 7th Summer Course (Chania SC 2003) with 21 participants. On August 2003 BEST Chania and BEST Athens organise together the 2nd CaSCo Summer meeting in the island of Paros. The same days in Chania the 4th Sailing Week is taking place with 11 participants.

Local Board

President: Isigonis Panagiotis
Treasurer: Priskos Spilios
Secretary: Valassi Olia
PR: Papadopoulos Manthos
IT: Alvizos Emmanouil

2003 - 2004

On April 2004 19 students from Valladolid are visiting Chania. This Cultural Exchange concludes with 15 Students from Chania visiting Valladolid. On July 2004 the 8th Summer Course (Chania SC 2004) is taking place in Chania with 21 participants and the help of a co-organiser from Thessaloniki. In the 22nd General Assembly in Copenhagen LBGs Athens, Chania, Patras and Thessaloniki were voted for organising the 23rd General Assembly in Greece together. In the 22nd General Assembly of BEST, Panagiotis Isigonis was elected as Vice-President for Career Support of the XVII Board of BEST.

Local Board

President: Isigonis Panagiotis
Treasurer: Vouzounerakis Giorgos
Secretary: Alvizos Emmanouil
HR & PR: Priskos Spilios

2004 - 2005

The 4th Greek - Italian Meeting took place in Chania on October with delegates of the 5 Italian and the 4 Greek LBGs. On November and December 2004 BEST Chania celebrates it´s 10th Birthday. We participated in the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the Technical University of Crete on November and on December we organised a small trip on Omalos Mountain for members, alumni and university´s students. On April the 23nd General Assembly took place in Chania, organised by the Local groups of Athens, Chania and Thessaloniki, with more than 250 delegates from all around Europe..... In that General Assembly, Harilaos Vasiliadis was elected as Coordinator of PR team. On July the 9th Summer Course (Chania SC 2005) took place with 19 European students and 2 co-organisers (Thessaloniki, Brno). In parallel, the Board Summer Meeting (BSM 2005 Chania) of the XVIII International Board of BEST took place at the Technical University of Crete, with the 6 boardies and 9 coordinators.

Local Board

President: Vouzounerakis Giorgos
Treasurer: Zarevic Nikos
Secretary: Chartsias Agis
HR & PR: Priskos Spilios

2005 - 2006

In March the first Spring Course of BEST Chania took place with 19 European students.In parallel we hosted the Regional Advisors Meeting. In July, the 10th Summer Course (Chania SC 2006) took place with 18 European students and 2 co-organisers (Thessaloniki, Valladolid).

Local Board

President: Koufidakis Manolis
Treasurer: Skourtis Vasilis
Secretary: Charalampopoulos Nikolas
HR & PR: Malafouris Zafeiris
IT: Afratis Panagiotis

2006 - 2007

In July and August the 11th Summer Course (Chania SC 2007) took place with 20 European students, 2 co-organisers (Patras,Ekaterinburg) and 1 co-professor(Madrid).

Local Board

President: Kagkadis Alexandros
Treasurer: Exizidou Nopi
Secretary: Roumpa Dimitra
HR & PR: Vasiliadis Charilaos
IT: Afratis Panagiotis

2007 - 2008

The 1st ever Motivation Weekend of BEST Chania, “Wolves VS Sheep”, takes place on 8-9 December 2007 in Omalos, Kallergi Shelter. In March our Local BEST Group launches its brand new website. On 4-7 April 2008 the South-East Regional Meeting is a fact! 75 participants from Local BEST Groups Ankara, Athens, Belgrade, Brasov, Bucharest, Istanbul, Istanbul Yildiz, Nis, Novi Sad, Patras, Skopje, Sofia, Thessaloniki and of course Chania gathered in Paradise for trainings, discussions and parties! In May, 10 Swedish from BEST Uppsala came to Chania to participate in the Cultural Exchange Chania-Uppsala 2008 while 10 Greeks from BEST Chania had previously visited the wonderful city of Uppsala in February. The 12th Summer Course takes place on 13-26 July 2008 with the participation of 26 students from around Europe.

Local Board

President: Dayiadas Photis
Treasurer - Fund-Raising Responsible: Volani Christina
Secretary: Vasiloudis Dimitris
Vice-President for Human Resources: Drosou Cristina
Vice-President for Promotion: Rozakis Giannis

2008 - 2009

The 2nd Motivation Weekend, Mo.Ro.Mou, took place on 13-14 December 2008 in Tavris Resort. On 23 July- 5 August 2009 BEST Chania organizes the 13th Summer Course. In October we welcomed 10 members of BEST Copenhagen while we had visited them in April for our Cultural Exchange Chania-Copenhagen 2009.

Local Board

President: Drosou Cristina
Treasurer - Fund-Raising Responsible: Iliopoulos Spiros
Secretary: Spiliotis Konstantinos
Human Resources Responsible: Kalabratsidou Vilmi
Promotion Responsible: Theodoropoulos Michalis
IT Responsible: Pappas Costas

2009 - 2010

In December 2009 BEST Chania celebrates its 15th Birthday by organising a Motivation Weekend in Tauris Shelter in Omalos mountain. On March ´10 we organised our 3rd workshop (Chania WS´10, 12-14 Mar) named VAMOS for the needs of the following event. In 26-29 of March took place the last internal event for BEST, as known as Jamboree Chania 2010! 250 people from all over Europe gathered to party and meet each other. In May, people came to Chania to participate in the Triple Cultural Exchange: Chania - Ekaterinburg USTU - Madrid. On 25 July- 7 August 2010 BEST Chania organizes the 1st Engineering competition course about wireless communication. An other workshop took place on June named "Let your babies grow up!" to Mylopotamos in Rethymno.

Local Board

President: Afentoulis Dimitris
Treasurer - Fund-Raising Responsible: Spiliotis Konstantinos
Secretary: Leonidakis Stelios
Human Resources Responsible: Konstantinidis Stefanos
Public Relations Responsible: Agoras Dimitris
IT Responsible: Gardelakos Argiris

2010 - 2011

On December 2010, BEST Chania organised a Motivation Weekend at a camp in Kokkini Chani area in Heraklion. On March 2011 we organised for first time a Jobfair in parallel with our Local BEST Engineering Competition taking place in Neoria at the Old Harbor in Chania. On 1-4 of April BEST Chania organised the South Regional Meeting hosting in Minos Hotel and before that a Workshop for the event happened named "Survived the RM Labyrinth". In May, people came to Chania to participate in the Triple Cultural Exchange: Chania - Nis - Uppsala. In 2-5 June we organised the first event "Board Evaluation and Training Sessions" at campus where we evaluated the work done so far and had training sessions to develop our members. Finally, on 15-30 of July we organised the 2nd Engineering competition course named "Advanced Optical Imaging Methods and Technologies for non-Destructive and non-Invasive Diagnosis".

Local Board

President: Konstantinidis Stefanos
Treasurer - Fund-Raising Responsible: Dimitris Chachlakis
Secretary: Stefanos Bampounis
Human Resources Responsible: Giorgos Gerontidis
Public Relations Responsible: Kostantinos Oikonomakis
IT Responsible: Dimitris Rekoumis

Non-boardies:

Media Responsible: Marirena Grigora

2011 - 2012

On December 2011, BEST Chania organised a Motivation Weekend at a camp in Kokkini Chani area in Heraklion. On March 2011 we organised a Jobfair in parallel with our Local BEST Engineering Competition taking place in Cultural Center at the Old Harbor in Chania. In May, people came to Chania to participate in the Triple Cultural Exchange: Chania - Krakow - Moscow. In 12-13 May we organised "Board Evaluation and Training Sessions" at campus where we evaluated the work done so far and had training sessions to develop our members. On 25-27 of May, BEST Chania organised the second phase of BEST Engineering Competition, EBEC Greece. Finally, on 15-30 of July we organised the 3rd Engineering competition course named "Exploring DIY. Materials and techniques to build just about anything".

Local Board

President: Gerontidis Giorgos
Secretary: Konstantinos Argyropoulos
Treasurer Responsible: Aggelikh Kouda
Fund-Raising Responsible: Antonis Peristeropoulos
Human Resources Responsible: Katerina Kapsoulia
Public Relations Responsible: Marianna Papageorgiou

Non-boardies:

Vivaldi responsible: Elena Spiropoulou
V.I.P. responsible: Argy Gardelakos
Media responsible: Chrysoula Pantelidi
IT responsible: Petros Pirgis

2012 - 2013

On December 2012, BEST Chania organised a Motivation Weekend at scout camp "Paradisos" in Rethymno area. In March 2012 we organised our 3rd Local BEST Engineering Competition taking place in KEPEDHX-KAM at the Old Harbor in Chania. In March, people came to Chania to participate in the Triple Cultural Exchange: Chania - Cluj Napoca - Ankara. On 14-22 of May, BEST Chania organised Board Training of the new elected Board of international BEST. In 25-26 May we organised "Board Evaluation and Training Sessions" at campus where we evaluated the work done so far and had training sessions to develop our members. Finally, on 10-21 of July we organised our summer course named "Code name: M.APPL.E. (Materials & Applications for Environment)".

Local Board

President: Argyropoulos Konstantinos
Secretary-Treasurer: Mosxou Theodora
Fund-Raising Responsible: Kokotas Theodosis
Human Resources Responsible: Spuropoulou Elena
External Relations Responsible: Georgiadi Stefania

2013 - 2014

On December 2013, BEST Chania organised a Motivation Weekend at scout camp "Paradisos" in Rethymno area. In February 2013 we organised our 4th Local BEST Engineering Competition taking place in KEPEDHX-KAM at the Old Harbor in Chania. In April we organised two in the row events, Aegean Regional Meeting and part2Jam with more that 200 participants from all over Europe. Also, in GA Bucharest 2014, BEST Chania has been voted to host the next General Assembly of BEST. On 14th of May, BEST Chania organised "Board Evaluation and Training Sessions" at campus where we evaluated the work done so far and had training sessions to develop our members. Finally, on 10-21 of July we organised our summer course named "Working on Product Lines".

Local Board

President: Marini Aggeliki
Secretary: Lioudaki Emmanouela
Treasurer Responsible: Peristeropoulos Antonis
Fund-Raising Responsible: Kontos Panagiotis
Human Resources Responsible: Kalivas Giannis
External Relations Responsible: Kokotas Theodosis

Non-boardies:

Vivaldi responsible: Evita Meristoudi
Grants responsible: Theodora Moschou
V.I.P. responsible: Marianna Papageorgiou
Media responsible: Attila Akac
IT responsible: Pinelopi Marini
Designer: Elena Vasilaki

2014 - 2015

On December 2014, BEST Chania organised a Motivation Weekend at camp "Rea's fun club" in Stavros area in Chania and before that we did a Workshop to update "Internal Regulations of BEST Chania". In February 2014 we organised our 5th Local BEST Engineering Competition taking place in Technical University of Crete, and our first Local Event on Education where students of Technical University of Crete discussed on current educational issues. From 23rd of April to 1st of May we organised "BEST General Assembly Chania 2015", where 300 members from all 96 Local BEST Groups gathered together to take important decisions for the future of BEST. Before the General Assembly took place a one-day event "BEST Career Day", where there was interaction between students and international companies. During GA Chania 2015, BEST Chania organised an Alumni Meeting participating 131 Alumni. After GA Chania 2015, we organised "GMore" an event where participants of GA had the chance to explore Chania and enjoy the local hospitality. Finally, on 10-21 of July we organised our summer course named "Engineer? Doctor? Or maybe both?", and in parallel we hosted Board Training where it happened to the new elected Board of international BEST.

Local Board

President: Sofia Athanasiou
Secretary: Katerina Pateraki
Treasurer Responsible: Fotis Drakopoulos
Fund-Raising Responsible: Aris Sdrakas
Human Resources Responsible: Aggelos Kolosionis
External Relations Responsible: Elpida Chatira

Non-boardies:

Vivaldi responsible: Maria Tziviloglou
Grants responsible: Panos Kontos
V.I.P. responsible: Konstantinos Argyropoulos
Media responsible: Stavros Tsiaras
IT responsible: George Chazlis
Designer: George Pavlou

2015 - 2016

On December 2015, BEST Chania organised a Motivation Weekend at scout camp "Paradisos" in Rethymno area. In March 2016 we organised our 6th Local BEST Engineering Competition taking place at Technical University of Crete. On 18-20 of March, BEST Chania organised "Board Evaluation and Training Sessions" at campus where we evaluated the work done so far and had training sessions to develop our members. On 30th of March to 6th of April we organized the second part of our Triple cultural exchange Barcelona - Chania - Ekaterinburg (CE+ or BCE also meaning "Breath - Create - Explore"), where 16 University students visited Chania, in order to experience our Greek culture, traditions and our way of life. Also, in May BEST Chania organised the National BEST Engineering Competition where the Team-Design team of TUC passed to the final EBEC Belgrade 2016. Finally, on 10-21 of July we organised our summer course named "Introduction to Petroleum exploration & production".

Local Board