UNIVERSITY UNIT OF SYROS
(based in Ermoupolis, Syros )

In September 2000, the Department of Product & Systems Design Engineering was founded in Syros as natural consequence of the general policy of the University of the Aegean to expand in every important area of the Archipelago (i.e. the Aegean Sea ). As all the Departments of University are, so is this Department is supported by the widest / biggest academic network in Greece : the AEGAIO-NET (or AEGEAN-NET). The modern, well-organised library offers access to the collections and acquisitions of all University Units of the Institution and all modern sources of knowledge. The Department is housed in the building of the former 1 st High School of the city of Ermoupolis , which was donated to the University by the Municipality of Ermoupolis .

The city of Ermoupolis , capital of Cyclades , is a city with particular architectural physiognomy and of great importance for the Modern Greek neoclassical history of architecture. Important commercial and shipping centre of free Hellenism, Ermoupolis knew very big economic booming in the 19 th century, while the rest of Greece was under the Ottoman subjagation. Its wealth made Ermoupolis well-renown to Europe and attracted a lot of Greek and European architects, mainly German and Italian, who formed its impressive neoclassical image.

Syros is the most populated island of Cyclades , with roughly 20,000 inhabitants. It has a central place in Cyclades , with 84 square kilometers in extent. The island has intense relief, with a lot of elevations and small valleys, and its coasts have enough safe bights. Apart from the highly populated and built-up areas of both Ermoupolis and the picturesque medieval Ano Syros, there are lots of scattered settlements in the eastern coast of the island. It was on the island of Syros that one of the greatest civilizations of the world was born in the 3 rd millennium B.C.: the Cycladic Civilization, which was named “Civilization KEROS-SYROS” by the experts.

The island is connected with Piraeus by boat daily, while it is linked with all the rest of Cycladic islands very frequently. Furthermore, it is connected with Thessaloniki , the Dodecanese , Crete , Rhodes , Samos Mytilene and other destinations by ship, whereas it is linked with Athens and other Aegean islands by air.