Nickolas S. Sapidis is currently an Associate Professor of Computer-Aided Product Design with the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering of the University of the Aegean (Syros, Greece). He holds a diploma in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering (1985), an M.A. in Applied Mathematics (1987), and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (1988). He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Sciences from the University of Rochester in 1993.

Aside from serving as a reviewer for Computing Reviews, Sapidis is on the editorial board of these international journals: Virtual and Physical Prototyping, International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, Computer-Aided Design and Applications, International Journal of Product Development, and Computer-Aided Design. He has also served as Guest Editor for other journals, producing four special issues focusing on geometric modeling, supply chain management, and computer-aided design (CAD) education. He is a reviewer for 15 international journals, including all major journals in the fields of computer graphics and computer-aided design.

Sapidis has researched the following topics: the design of mechanical products, CAD, computer-aided engineering (CAE), solid modeling, geometric modeling of surfaces, geometric algorithms, virtual engineering, and computer graphics. His favorite subjects are: aesthetic design of curves/surfaces based on advanced differential-geometry, efficient algorithms to discretize three-dimensional solid models, reverse engineering of CAD surfaces from point clouds, and representation of spatial design-constraints based on solid modeling.

His current research deals with the last of the above problems, and also with point-based geometric modeling and CAD, information models for product life cycle management, and defining solids using sketches. Focal points of his research have been working on important industrial-problems, and, at the same time, going very deep into the related mathematics to devise optimal algorithmic solutions. He is the author of more than 40 papers on the above subjects. His research has been implemented in industrial CAD/CAE software systems by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and companies including General Motors (GM), Intergraph, and Tribon Solutions.

Sapidis has taught at the Hellenic Air Force Academy, the National Technical University of Athens, the University of Athens, and the Polytechnic University of Catalunya (Spain). In addition, he has provided education and training services to MIT, as well as major Greek corporations, including Elefsis Shipyards and the Bank of Greece. His industrial experience--on CAD/CAE research, development, and application--includes working with the GM R&D Center and GM Design Center (USA), as well as the Marine Technology Development Co. (Greece).

He edited (or co-edited) Computer aided geometric design: from theory to practice, (National Technical University of Athens, 1996), and Designing fair curves and surfaces: shape quality in geometric modeling and CAD (SIAM, 1994). In addition, he has served on 15 international conference program committees, and was an invited keynote speaker for the international conferences CE2000 (Concurrent Engineering) and GMP 2002 (Geometric Modeling And Processing). Sapidis has given invited lectures at numerous conferences, universities, and corporations in Asia, Europe, and the US.