About

Lance has been a computer nut ever since his dad bought him a computer when he was a kid. As a result, he obtained his undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics, and went on to complete a master’s degree in software engineering. After doing Java development for a diverse range of companies such as Kodak, Lockheed, McKesson, CNN, and GE, he decided to end his addiction to heavy inheritance, static typing, and coding without tests. After a few years of programming Ruby he eventually fell in love with native Android development (along with a smattering of native IOS). These days, he practices clean living with lots of well-tested code, class composition, and fun languages as the founder and lead software engineer of Polyglot Programming. He has extensive experience in native Android and IOT and is a committer on several open source projects. In addition, he is a regular speaker at conferences around the world, is a co-organizer of the Atlanta Sensors and Startups, Atlanta Google Developer Group, Atlanta GDG dev fest, Rubyfuza and Ruby D-Camp ZA. He is known to practice interspecies pair (“purr”) programming with his orange tabby, Allie, and when he’s not writing code, you will find him diving with sharks, trekking through Chernobyl, or sampling wine.

Marlene, a native South African, got started in software when she landed her first data analysis job after college. Although she didn’t really get to use her business management degree, she did become obsessed with the web and eventually with software development. She returned to school for graduate studies in computer science and medicine to use technology and bioinformatics for improving health care. These days she specializes in AI and native IOS development. Away from the computer she’s a voracious reader and an avid genealogist and crafter.