ABOUT

… or how I started pushing random keys on a keyboard and ended up delivering apps to millions of people.

I’ve been passionate about technology since I was a kid. Back in the early nineties it was quite uncommon for kids to play around with computers, but I guess that pressing keys on a keyboard — with that special sound — was the main driver that brought me closer to this world.

Education

My first coding attempt was in high school with Turbo Pascal. Definitely not “cutting edge technology”, but we all need something to start with, right?

In 2009 I got my bachelor degree in Computer Engineering at Politecnico di Torino. It took me a couple of years longer than expected, but I got the chance to study C, Java, ASP, PHP, HTML/CSS and many other core technologies. I also fell in love with Adobe Flash and ActionScript 3 — and for the first time in my life I understood that coding could actually become my main activity and one of my greatest passions.

In 2011 I got my master degree in Cinema and Media Engineering. During those years I learned Visual Effects, 3D modelling, improved my skills in audio engineering and discovered what was about to become my main interest: mobile development.

In 2014 I completed a post-lauream degree in Software Services and Cloud Computing. As of today, I’m still learning new things every day.

Synesthesia

In 2012 I started my first “real” job at Synesthesia — and I’ve never left. It’s quite uncommon for people in our industry to stay in the same place for so long, but Syn gave me the chance to work on so many different projects across so many areas: sports, agriculture, finance, management. And I’m not even mentioning the wonderful people I had the chance to meet and work with.

I started as an Android developer (!!), but after a few months I switched to iOS and never looked back. I’ve lost count of the apps we delivered as a team since then, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the total count was over 200.

Witnessing such a small company grow so much — we were about 6 people when I joined — while being an active part of it and getting recognized as one of the key people is something I’m really proud of.

Public Speaking

In 2014 Synesthesia decided to bring Droidcon, an international Android development conference, to Italy.

I still remember that first life-changing experience: even though I wasn’t deeply involved in Android development, I learned a lot from all of those awesome speakers. I promised myself that at some point I would overcome my constant impostor syndrome and be on stage sharing my own experience.

In 2018 we brought a new conference to Torino for Swift developers — Swift Heroes. I finally got my chance to get on stage (right after an unexpected panic attack a few minutes before my slot) with a talk about RxSwift.

I still remember a famous speaker giving me the most honest and constructive feedback right after the talk. It really meant a lot.

In 2020 we had to stop in-person events and switch to streaming. For Swift Heroes I became the “resident expert” — the guy asking speakers tech questions and interacting with the audience. For Droidcon I got to be the main host for a single online edition.

When in-person events came back, I continued co-hosting as tech expert and bringing talks and workshops to the new Swift Heroes editions.

Free Time

When I’m not coding, I enjoy playing music — drums and guitar are my favorites.

In summer I like to jump on my e-MTB and climb mountains, enjoying the ride all the way back downhill.

I used to snowboard a lot since I was young, but let’s just say it’s been a while…

The weirdest thing I ever got to do was probably riding an ostrich in South Africa.