Personal
I was born in Thessaloniki, Greece on 27/07/1978, my father was the late Pavlos Passalidis, my mother is Daphne Niaka, and my younger brother’s name is Giorgos Passalidis. I grew up in Kilkis, a small town situated in the North of Greece, where I currently leave and work. I am married, since 2008, to Katerina Karatisoglou and I have three children, Pavlos, Constantinos and Daphne.
I always liked to read and, whenever I find time, is still my favourite hobby either books or e-books, but always non-fiction (mainly business, history and politics). I also like sports, mainly football and basketball and I am a dedicated fan of Aris Thessaloniki. Since my adolescence I am into Greek traditional dancing and I am still an active member of the Lykeion Hellinidon Kilkis club.
Education
I graduated from the 2nd General Lykeio Kilkis and then I was accepted from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering. I received my Bachelor’s degree (Second Class Honours, Upper Division) in 2001, immediately followed by an MSc in Microsystems Engineering (Distinction) from the same University in 2002. In 2017, I received my second master’s degree, which was an MA in Sales Management (Merit) from the University of Portsmouth.
Apart from the above, during my career I have attended to dozens of seminars mainly focused on Sales and Management.
Professional Experience
After completing my military service, which is still compulsory in Greece, I started working at C3T Calibration Laboratories as an in-house and outfield engineer for dimensional measurements in 2004. Two years later, I have consciously decided to make a turn to my career joining KLEEMANN, a multinational lift manufacturing company, as Sales Engineer. After nearly sixteen and a half years and having changed several roles in Sales, getting up to Head of Sales, I decided to depart from KLEEMANN. As from January 2023 I work as Commercial Manager of Paper & Board in VIPA Group a Swiss multinational with notable worldwide activity in recycling and paper trade.