Kostas J. Spyrou

National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece


39th Georg Weinblum Memorial Lecture (2016/17)

Homoclinic phenomena in ship motions
Journal of Ship Research, vol. 61, no. 3, September 2017, pp.107–130


Short Biography

Kostas Spyrou, born in 1960 in Athens, Greece, acquired his engineering diploma in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 1984. He served the Greek Navy for 25 months and then worked for a year in marine environmental protection. He obtained his doctoral degree at the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Ship and Marine Technology in 1991 with a dissertation on "A new approach for assessing ship maneuverability based on dynamical systems‘ theory". He worked further at the University of Strathclyde as a researcher until taking up a position as deputy fleet manager at Troodos Shipping Co. Ltd., Piraeus, a major at the time tanker operator.

In 1994, Spyrou was offered a 21 month scholarship by the Science & Technology Agency of Japan for post-doctoral work which he spent at the National Research Institute of Fisheries Engineering (NRIFE) in Hasaki, working on the dynamics behind the broaching-to instability of ship motion. Returned to Europe in 1996 for another post doc, this time at the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and its Applications of University College London (UCL) and subsequently started as a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

In 1999, Spyrou joined the Faculty of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of NTUA where, since 2009, he is Professor of Dynamic Stability and Safety of Ships with Applications to Ship Design. He served as Dean from September 2013 till December 2017. Since 2003, he holds the honorary appointment of visiting professor of the Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Marine Engineering of the University of Strathclyde.

He has authored 12 textbooks, co-edited three books for international publishers and released over 170 publications, including works on: Ship Dynamics and Stability in Waves, Ship Manoeuvrability and Course Stability in Waves, Efficient Computation of Extreme Non-linear Roll Motion, Non-linear Time-Varying Phase Space Investigations of Dynamical Systems, Methods for the Probabilistic Evaluation of Large Ship Motions in Irregular Waves, Risk Analysis for Fire Safety. Prof. Spyrou has contributed to the editorial board of five journals and he has served as reviewer for over forty international scientific journals.

Member since 2000 of the International Standing Committee of the International Conference on the Stability of Ships & Ocean Vehicles (STAB), he is currently the Chairperson of the Committee. He led the organizing team of the STAB 2012 Conference in Athens.

Professor Spyrou is a Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers as well as of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He chaired the Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology (the Greek Society for Marine/Maritime Technology) for 8 years, having established the Institute’s very successful annual meeting. From 2007 to 2013 he was a member of the Executive Council of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He is also member of the Executive Committee of the International Maritime Association of the Mediterranean (IMAM). He has participated several times in meetings of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as scientific advisor for the Greek delegation.


Additional Documents

[–] Presentation given by Kostas J. Spyrou


External Links

[–] Webpage of NTUA research group
[–] Kostas J. Spyrou at NTUA (in Greek)


Last update: January 2018