February 9, 2026
How 5G Enables Real-Time Defect Detection
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The Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) is the research arm of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). Known across Europe for its leadership in advanced wireless systems, cybersecurity, and next-gen infrastructure, ICCS is now doing something refreshingly down-to-earth: building a course that teaches students to do 5G, not just study it.
At ICCS, 5G is being transformed into a full-semester, lab-driven course that puts real tools in students’ hands. Powered by Firecell’s Labkit, the program guides students through setting up, experimenting with, and understanding private 5G networks in depth.
“We had huge success with our networking lab. Students loved getting their hands dirty. So we asked—why not do the same for private 5G?”
— Dimitris Kalogeras, PhD in Electrical Engineering and Senior Research Associate at ICCS
Most 5G education today is siloed—confined to master’s-level courses or advanced research. ICCS is flipping that by designing a hands-on curriculum structured into 13 lessons, offering students a guided yet exploratory dive into private network infrastructure.
The course has the support of NTUA leadership and could integrate into national programs through Greece’s Ministry of Education. But it’s not just for academia.
While students are the primary audience, the impact won’t stop there. Through Firecell’s community platform, these courses could also reach SMEs in manufacturing, logistics, and other industrial sectors, offering practical training and reusable learning material. Designed for classrooms—useful in the real world.
The foundation is Firecell’s Labkit: a compact, flexible, open system that mirrors the architecture of real-world deployments. It allows ICCS to teach everything from provisioning to QoS tuning, all in a controlled learning environment.
ICCS also plans to contribute to Firecell’s growing Private 5G Recipes library—publishing its lessons and lab exercises to benefit the wider research and developer community.
“We’re interested in building exercises that can be published and shared. Our first two lessons will be ready by June, and we’ll take it from there.”
The course is being developed and tested at NTUA’s Athens campus within ICCS’s research facilities. It’s part of a broader movement to open up telecom knowledge—not just for Greece, but for Europe and beyond.
ICCS collaborates with global innovation programs like OpenAirInterface and OpenSlice, keeping its curriculum aligned with the real-world experimentation landscape.
The project is led by Dimitris Kalogeras, PhD in Electrical Engineering, and Professor Emeritus Efstathios Sykas, PhD, who previously co-developed one of NTUA’s most popular networking labs. That course became a student favorite thanks to its clear, challenge-based approach—and now, the team is applying the same method to 5G.
With a mix of engineering curiosity and educational structure, they’re building something that’s as scalable as it is impactful.
Even for professionals, 5G can feel like a black box. ICCS is cracking it open. Their approach—hands-on, open-source, and grounded in practical exercises—is designed to demystify private networks and empower the next wave of builders.
By sharing their work through Firecell’s platforms, they’re helping more people learn what’s possible with 5G—and how to get started.
“Even in national innovation hubs, 5G is often a black box. We want students and engineers to lift the lid, understand the system, and build with it.”
Name: Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS)
Founded: 1989
Location: Athens, Greece (NTUA Campus)
Affiliation: National Technical University of Athens
Focus Areas: Telecommunications, security, embedded systems, energy, transport
5G Lab Setup: Firecell Labkit for private 5G experimentation and curriculum design
Did You Know? ICCS’s previous networking lab became so popular on campus that it inspired students to request more hands-on tech courses—paving the way for this 5G initiative.
