Ioannis Mantas

Grown up in the beautiful town of Chalkida, I came to study Computer Science and (eventually) became genuinely passionate about it. After completing my undergraduate studies at the University of Athens, Greece, and my graduate studies at Polytech Nice, France, I moved to Lugano, in Ticino, Switzerland. There, I spent several years doing research at Università della Svizzera italiana, where I was awarded a PhD degree. After that, I spent a few years in St. Gallen working as an R&D Software Engineer at Leica Geosystems, focusing mainly on software engineering and building reliable systems. Currently, I live in Zurich, Switzerland, where I work as an R&D Engineer at Planlabs, focusing on algorithm development and turning optimization ideas into practical, scalable solutions.

At work, I'm currently part of a small cross-functional startup team at Planlabs, building an automated design platform for building technology planning—my focus is efficient algorithm development and scalable software engineering for optimized, reliable solutions. In my free time, you can also find me tackling algorithmic and optimization challenges—sometimes as small research explorations, sometimes as hands-on real-world problem solving.

Beyond engineering, I enjoy staying active and exploring new places. I love hiking, kayaking, and traveling in general, and I've been involved in sports for many years. I also enjoy participating in—and sometimes organizing—community and social initiatives.

Following, there is a short description of my education and work experience. There is also a list of my publications, and my talks and teaching activities related with my stay as a PhD candidate at USI. You can also read my latest news which I try to keep up to date!


Work experience

  • Planlabs, Zurich, Switzerland
    R&D Software Engineer
    August 2025 - ongoing
  • Leica Geosystems part of Hexagon, St. Gallen, Switzerland
    R&D Software Engineer
    Decemeber 2022 - April 2025
  • Hellenic Army, Greece & Cyprus
    Special Operation Forces Soldier
    February 2022 - October 2022
  • Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland
    Research and Teaching Assistant
    October 2016 - January 2022
  • INRIA Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France
    Research Intern
    March 2016 - August 2016

Education

  • Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
    Faculty of Informatics, Lugano, Switzerland
    Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Informatics, 2016-2022
  • Université Côte d’Azur
    Polytech Nice Sophia, Nice, France
    Master of Science (MSc) in Ubiquitous Networking and Computing, 2015-2016
  • National Kapodistrian University of Athens (UoA)
    Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, Athens, Greece
    Ptychion (4-year BSc) in Informatics and Telecommunications, 2011-2015