Maurice Sharp

Maurice Sharp is a 21-year veteran of mobile development at companies both large and small, ranging from Apple, Palm, and eBay to ShopWell and Couchsurfing. Maurice got his start as an intern developing the Newton ToolKit prototype, then as a Developer Technical Support (DTS) Engineer helping make the world safe and fun for Newton and Palm developers. After mastering the DTS side, he went back to coding, and he currently manages and does mobile development at Couchsurfing; runs his own consulting company, KLM Apps; and is ex officio technical advisor to some mobile-focused startups. When not living and breathing code, Maurice spends his time being a husband, and a father to a precocious 10-year-old girl–his two most important roles.

Erica Sadun is a bestselling author, coauthor, and contributor to several dozen books on programming, digital video and photography, and web design, including the widely popular The Core iOS 6 Developer’s Cookbook, now in its fourth edition. She currently blogs at TUAW.com, and she has blogged in the past at O’Reilly’s Mac Devcenter, Lifehacker, and Ars Technica. In addition to being the author of dozens of iOS-native applications, Erica holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Georgia Tech’s Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center. A geek, a programmer, and an author, she’s never met a gadget she didn’t love. When not writing, she and her geek husband parent three geeks-in-training, who regard their parents with restrained bemusement when they’re not busy rewiring the house or plotting global domination.

Rod Strougo is an author, instructor, and developer. Rod’s journey in iOS and game development started way back with an Apple, writing games in Basic. From his early passion for games, Rod’s career moved to enterprise software development, and he spent 15 years writing software for IBM and AT&T. These days Rod follows his passion for game development and teaching, providing iOS training at the Big Nerd Ranch (www.bignerdranch.com). Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Rod now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and sons.