Page 10 - LEGO MINDSTORMS - Robotics Invention System-2 Projects

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Technical Reviewers

Mario Ferrari received his first LEGO box around 1964, when he was four-
years-old. LEGO was his favorite toy for many years, until he thought he was too
old to play with it. In 1998, the LEGO MINDSTORMS RIS set gave him reason
to again have LEGO become his main addiction. Mario believes LEGO is the
closest thing to the perfect toy. He is Managing Director at EDIS, a leader in fin-
ishing and packaging solutions and promotional packaging. The advent of the
MINDSTORMS product line represented for him the perfect opportunity to com-
bine his interest in IT and robotics with his passion for LEGO bricks. Mario has
been an active member of the online MINDSTORMS community from the
beginning and has pushed LEGO robotics to its limits. Mario holds a bachelor’s
degree in Business Administration from the University of Turin and has always
nourished a strong interest for physics, mathematics, and computer science. He is
fluent in many programming languages and his background includes positions
as an IT Manager and as a Project Supervisor. With his brother Giulio Ferrari,
Mario is the co-author of the highly successful book Building Robots with LEGO
MINDSTORMS (Syngress Publishing, ISBN: 1-928994-67-9). Mario estimates he
owns over 60,000 LEGO pieces. Mario works in Modena, Italy, where he lives
with his wife, Anna, and his children, Sebastiano and Camilla.

Giulio Ferrari is a student in economics at the University of Modena and
Reggio Emilia, where he also studied engineering. He is fond of computers
and has developed utilities, entertainment software, and Web applications for
several companies. Giulio discovered robotics in 1998, with the arrival of
MINDSTORMS, and held an important place in the creation of the Italian
LEGO community. He shares a love for LEGO bricks with his oldest brother,
Mario, and a strong curiosity for the physical and mathematical sciences. Giulio
also has a collection of 1200 dice, including odd-faced dice and game dice.
Giulio has contributed to two other books for Syngress Publishing, Building
Robots with LEGO MINDSTORMS (ISBN: 1-928994-67-9) and Programming
LEGO MINDSTORMS with Java (ISBN: 1-928994-55-5). Guilio studies, works,
and lives in Modena, Italy.

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