Acknowledgements

A great number of people have helped and support me in the years prior to and during my graduate studies. Of course this number is countable and I would like to express my gratitude to all of them. First, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Manuel Lopez who has been by my side during the progress of the thesis. Dr. Lopez always was encouraging me on believing in my work. Next, I would like to thank my examiners, Dr. Jim Marengo and Dr. Anurag Agarwal for their support. Furthermore, I would like to thank the dean of our college Dr. Sophia Maggelakis and my previous supervisor Dr. Andreas Arvanitoyergos, for their encouragement over the years. Moreover, from the research side, I would like to thank Dr. Nathan Cahill and Dr. Elizabeth Cherry for the enjoyable collaboration on project work. The endless support of my family and friends was the corner stone of all this effort. Finally and most importantly for his many years love and ability to keep me grounded, I would like to dedicate my thesis to Zois Boukouvalas.