PhD Candidate & Petroleum Engineer in Petroleum Engineering & Computational Fluid Dynamics
I am Fotios N. Zachopoulos, a petroleum and drilling engineer with an M.Sc. from Robert Gordon University and a PhD candidate at the International Hellenic University. My doctoral research focuses on understanding and predicting hydrocarbon kick behavior during drilling operations through advanced computational fluid dynamics methods.
With a background spanning field engineering at GEOTECH, shift supervision at an anhydrous ammonia plant, and academic teaching at multiple universities, I bring a multidisciplinary approach to drilling safety research. I also work as a Project Manager and Full-Stack Web Engineer at VODA.ai, combining engineering domain expertise with modern software development.
Core areas of my academic research
VODA.ai
Jul 2023 - Present · Boston, MA, USA
Full-stack web development and project management for water infrastructure AI solutions.
Democritus University of Thrace
Feb 2022 - Present · Kavala, Greece
Teaching Drilling Engineering course at postgraduate level.
International Hellenic University
May 2019 - Present · Kavala, Greece
Petroleum Engineering, Chemistry & Technology of Petroleum/Natural Gas, Drilling Engineering.
International Hellenic University
Dec 2019 - Jun 2022 · Kavala, Greece
Leak Detection and Pipeline Corrosion Evaluation modules for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline program.
EMaTTech
Feb 2019 - May 2019 · Kavala, Greece
Chemistry and Technology of Natural Gas (Laboratory Course).
GEOTECH - Georesources Technology S.A.
Aug 2018 - Jul 2023 · Kavala, Greece
Field supervision, well design, project coordination, wireline cased hole logging, pipe recovery and perforations.
New Karvali Fertilizers S.A. — Anhydrous Ammonia Plant
Feb 2017 - Jul 2018 · Kavala, Greece
Nitrogen production (cryogenic), hydrogen production (reforming), ammonia synthesis (Haber-Bosch), SCADA operations.
New Karvali Fertilizers S.A.
Jun 2016 - Jan 2017 · Kavala, Greece
Operated chemical processes using SCADA (FOXBORO), field operations at Hydrogen Production unit.
Apprenticeship Schools, OAED
Oct 2013 - Jun 2014 · Crete, Greece
All core modules and Work Environment & Entrepreneurship.
Hellenic Petroleum S.A. — Refinery of Thessaloniki
Apr 2012 - Oct 2012 · Thessaloniki, Greece
Simulated distillation column (reformate splitter) using AspenTech HYSYS, chemical additives management.
International Hellenic University, Department of Chemistry
2022 - Present · Kavala, Greece
Hydrocarbon Kick Behavior Analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics
Robert Gordon University
2019 - 2023 · Aberdeen, UK
Thesis: Prediction of Penetration Rate during Drilling Operations using Explainable AI (XAI). Part-time, 90 ECTS.
SAE Institute
2022 - 2023 · Athens, Greece
Full Stack Web Development
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology
2014 - 2015 · Kavala, Greece
Thesis: Sour and Acid Gas Miscible Flooding Assessment — Grade: 9.11/10 (Excellent). 90 ECTS.
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology
2009 - 2013 · Kavala, Greece
Thesis: Simulation of Reformate Splitter Unit (Reformer) using HYSYS. 240 ECTS.