Dr. Christos Tsalidis
Director of Neurolingo, 58, Agiou Konstantinou Str. GR-15 124, Marousi, Athens, Greece

Title: Technologies in Traditional and Modern NLP: Mnemosyne as a Case Study.

Abstract: In this presentation I will explore the evolution of Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies by comparing traditional rule-based approaches with modern data-driven methods. The talk will highlight key technologies such as morphology lexicons, syntactic parsing, and statistical models in traditional NLP, as well as machine learning techniques like deep learning, transformers, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) in modern NLP.

The Mnemosyne platform will be introduced as a practical example of how these diverse techniques can be integrated within a single framework, showcasing how it bridges the gap between both paradigms. This hybrid approach is essential for tasks that require linguistic accuracy, flexibility, and scalability, such as named entity recognition, text generation, and information extraction.

BIO:Christos Tsalidis – Software Engineer & NLP Specialist

Specialization:
Christos Tsalidis specializes in Informatics, with a focus on the design and development of Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems, including lexicons, proofing tools, information and knowledge management platforms, and data cleansing algorithms.

Current Positions:
- 2022–Present: Freelance Software Engineer, Luxembourg (VAT: LU33743435).
- 2005–Present: Director of Neurolingo, Greece.

Education:
- 1991: PhD in Informatics, University of Patras, Greece. Thesis: "Integrated Measurement of Software Quality Characteristics in Programming Languages".
- 1986: Diploma in Computer Engineering & Informatics, University of Patras.

Research and Professional Experience (Indicative Projects):
• 2023-2024: Coordinated the development of two rule-based chatbots for the Partnership for Innovative Rural Tourism Actions (Acronym: JOINOUT), under the Action "Cooperative Innovation Formations/2nd Call - Enterprises". The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and National Resources.
• 2019–2021: Led the development of a sentiment and opinion extraction system for travel reviews, using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques.
• 2018–2020: Technical Coordinator for Neurocom Lux in the European Commission's E2DATA project, integrating the Mnemosyne NLP Environment with TornadoVM technology.
• 2016–2018: Technical Coordinator for Neurocom Lux in the European Commission's VINEYARD project, utilizing high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure (FPGAs and GPUs) for high-speed stock trading and real-time pre-trade risk management.

Indicative Publications:
- 2022: Co-author of "Healthcare NLP Infrastructure for the Greek Language", published in Natural Language Processing in Healthcare.
- 2020: Co-author of papers on the development of grammar checkers for Modern Greek and their use in language teaching, published in Literary and Linguistic Computing and presented at ICEIT 2020, University of Oxford.
- 2012–2013: Published research on lexical ambiguity and electronic lexicons for Modern Greek in Literary and Linguistic Computing.
- 2010: Co-authored a paper on NLP tools for lexicographic applications presented at eLex 2009.

Notable Contributions:
Christos Tsalidis has made significant contributions to the field of NLP, particularly in Greek language processing, by leading projects that integrate traditional lexicons with modern machine learning approaches, coordinating technical development in European research projects, and publishing influential research on linguistic technologies. He continues to be an active contributor to the evolution of NLP through both applied research and practical system implementations.