The Athens Institute
A World Association of Academics and Researchers: Promoting Global Education & Research
1995-2025: 30 Years of Bringing Academics and Scholars together in Athens
A Round-Table Discussion on Shaping the Future of the Sciences: Education and Research
Monday 23 June 2025, at the Athens Institute’s Downtown Office
On Monday, 23 June 2025, the Athens Institute successfully hosted a dynamic round-table discussion titled “Shaping the Future of the Sciences: Education and Research”, held at its downtown Athens venue. The event was moderated by Dr. Timothy M. Young, Head of the Agriculture Unit at the Athens Institute, Emeritus Professor at The University of Tennessee, USA, and CEO and President of T.M. Young Institute, LLC., and featured a series of insightful presentations including:
Dr. Glen Bright (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) on Project-Based Learning for Undergraduate Engineering Students of the Future; Dr. Elena G. Skvortsova (Yaroslavl State Agricultural Academy, Russia) on Teaching Genetics in Higher Education: From Classics to Genomics; Dr. Alexandra Duarte Castillo (Caldas University, Colombia) on New Frontiers in Engineering Education; Dr. Bárbara J. Teruel (University of Campinas, Brazil) on Education and Research in Agricultural Sciences; and Dr. Theodore Trafalis (The University of Oklahoma, USA) on AI and LLMs in Engineering Research and Education.
The discussion was further enriched by brief interventions from Dr. Virginia Sisiopiku (University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA), Dr. Mohamed Mostafa Mostafa (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), Dr. Emre Bayraktar (University of Southern Mississippi, USA), Dr. Mona Ben Matiwane (University of Mpumalanga, South Africa), Dr. Magdalena Lewandowska (Institute of Health and Social Support, Poland), and Dr. Huaguo Zhou (Auburn University, USA), who each shared their perspectives on emerging challenges and innovations across engineering, transportation, and agricultural sciences.
The discussion highlighted the global commitment to interdisciplinary approaches and cutting-edge methods in teaching and research.





