Joshua Byrom has been programming and gaming for over two decades, and has written numerous articles on the subjects of game programming and artificial intelligence. Around the age of eight, he was introduced to computers by his father, which generated in him a deep interest for computer science, particularly computer programming.
Since then, Joshua has written code for companies such as BMC Solutions Inc., AutoTrader.com, and Elite Property Services LLC. He has also worked for the army, where he wrote genetic algorithms for the U.S. Military. Currently, he works as a software architect, where he develops and maintains web applications for local lawyers, realtors, and retailers.
In addition, Joshua writes programming articles for online publishing, runs a small business that creates and publishes independent mobile and web applications, and provides code consulting for indie start-ups.
Currently, Joshua is located in Newnan, GA, and when he isn't lost thousands of lines deep in code, he likes to read both prose and poetry, or play video games.
Michele Pirovano is a freelance game developer and game researcher based in Bergamo, Italy. He holds a PhD in computer science from the Politecnico di Milano, where he graduated with a thesis on the design of autonomous exergaming systems.
His main interest is the application of artificial intelligence, procedural content generation, and complex mathematical systems to video games. He has written many articles on the use of computational intelligence in games, and continues to investigate both serious games and applied AI.
He is also the founder of the independent one-man game development studio Curiosity Killed the Cat. He is currently working on .Age, a rogue-lite village simulation game. He also loves cats.
Till Riemer is a game developer from Germany. He is currently living in Copenhagen, where he is working on the upcoming RPG Expeditions: Viking at indie developer Logic Artists.
As a teenager, Till started to get into programming and has always been fascinated with the prospects of adaptive AI in video games. He joined the games industry as a programmer on the acclaimed RPG Blackguards at Daedalic in 2013, and recently received an MSc in games technology from the IT University of Copenhagen, where he conducted his master's thesis about the creation of procedural side quests for role-playing games. Previously, he received a BSc in computer science.
In his free time, he works on a side project called Drakk Navis, a ship-racing game for tablets, but also loves to sit down with a guitar once in a while. He is also part of the team organizing events for the Copenhagen Indie scene and has represented the Danish Global Game Jam organizers at GDC in 2015. You can follow him on Twitter at @TillRiemer.
Gennaro Vessio received the Laurea Magistrale degree in informatics from the Department of Informatics at the University of Bari, Italy. Currently, he is a PhD student of the same department. His research is currently focused on the application of formal methods to the design and analysis of routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks.
Concerning procedural content generation, he investigated, together with other colleagues, a grammar-based approach to the procedural generation of the environment of an endless game.