About

Nick Laiacona is the founder of Performant Software Solutions LLC. Nick has been developing software professionally for over fifteen years and has a background in the computer game industry. He has worked as a Producer at Electronic Arts and a Principal Designer on projects developed for Sony Online Entertainment. Recently, he has been focused on developing software to meet the needs of higher education in science and the humanities.

Paul has been a programmer since the early days of personal computers and has always kept up with the latest developments in software technology. He has a broad spectrum of technical expertise ranging from user interface development to firmware, from Assembler to scripting languages, desktop applications to Internet applications. His goal is to get computers to understand people better rather than the other way around. Paul's contradance band, Floorplay, recently released a CD, available on iTunes and CD Baby.

Ed has over 20 years of professional experience, mostly in the computer games industry, working for companies like Kesmai, Electronic Arts, Maxis, and Tenderfoot Games. He was a founding partner of both Sacred Tree Software and of Pixel Dust Games. He has worked on many large scale MMOs, and was a Technical Director for the Sims Online and Lead Developer on Catan Online and Wild West Online. In his spare time he likes to play with fire as a member of Scintillation Fire Troupe.

Lou is a software developer with 20 years of experience. This experience spans a wide range of industries including financial, military, education and gaming. His technical expertise is also broad, covering anything from low level C for device drivers to scripting languages. He enjoys finding scalable, maintainable solutions to complex problems. In his free time, he enjoys playing board games and keeping active with kettlebells.

Dave has 25 years of professional software development experience focusing on technical leadership, process improvement and agile coaching. He has worked in the financial, security and gaming industries on a diverse range of technologies from embedded control systems to server clusters. Dave spends his free time running the local trails, lighting shows at the theater and learning to sing.

Bob loves talking about user interface design and building websites in Ruby on Rails. He brings over a decade of varied experiences in IT, from server administration and customer support to quality assurance and project management. He has managed project teams with members across the globe and mentored local teenagers at Computers 4 Kids. Bob lives in Philadelphia with his wife Melissa and daughter Lainie. He's hoping it won't be another 25 years before the next Phillies World Series championship.

Adam is a software developer with a background in software engineering and automation. His experiences include website development and building gaming software. He is proficient in multiple programming languages and enjoys learning about new languages and technologies. In his spare time, you'll find him playing tabletop games or deep in a good book.

Kristin combines a background in the humanities with an interest in digital technologies. She has a doctoral degree in English literature from the University of Virginia and has managed or contributed to online projects at the University of Virginia Morris Law Library, NINES, the Poetess Archive, and the Electronic Text Center. When away from the office, Kristin enjoys canoeing and kayaking on the rivers of central Virginia.

Susan has five years experience in medical software support for Martha Jefferson Medical Enterprises, including testing new software releases and training end users. At Performant, she uses knowledge gained from user-side testing to provide detailed testing of software in development. Susan enjoys creating end-user documentation such as manuals and how-to documents. In her spare time, Susan writes creative non-fiction essays and short stories.