About — Michelangelo Diamanti

🧵 Long story short-ish

Born in the picturesque town of Sant'Elpidio a Mare, Italy, in 1994, my childhood wasn't just about beautiful landscapes. I was that curious kid who took apart electronics to see inside, and I was obsessed with designing advanced LEGO ships (I'm still convinced NASA borrowed a few ideas!).

The journey into the gaming world began when my brother introduced me to classics like Diablo and Grand Theft Auto 2. From there, I ventured through every gaming device imaginable. Nintendo NES? Check. Various PlayStations? Absolutely!

When the crossroads of career choices appeared, the path was obvious. I set my sights on I.T.I.S. Montani di Fermo and began my exploration into computer science. It was then I realized that videogames weren't just about playtime — behind each one, there's a world of coding and creativity. I craved to be that creator. This led me to further studies at Università di Camerino (UNICAM).

By my early 20s, a few insights were clear: traveling is wonderful, computers and videogames are my passion, and too much heat? Nope! This led me to the coolest decision ever — literally. I decided to study in Iceland. Those two semesters at Reykjavik University were transformative. Between Artificial Intelligence and Video Game Development courses, I was mesmerized by the beauty of Icelandic nature.

The experience was so enriching that after graduation I joined a PhD program at CADIA, under the mentorship of Hannes Högni Vilhjálmsson. There I collaborated with some of the brightest minds, took on exciting projects, and travelled the world for conferences. One of the highlights? Developing the Agora Crowd Simulation Framework.

After the PhD and a postdoc came industry: at Parity Games I worked on Island of Winds — gameplay, AI systems, and performance on a commercial Unreal Engine title. Then I struck out on my own: today I run a small software studio in Reykjavík and build for clients as a contractor. Most recently that's meant a real-time platform where people investigate multi-terabyte data in plain English and turn useful findings into visual automations — full-stack, from the compiler down to the data pipeline.

So: games, simulation, systems, and AI — building, shipping, and taking on the kind of contract work that lets me keep creating. Life sure has its twists, doesn't it?

Feel free to explore my projects — perhaps you'll discover something intriguing.

So long (for now), and thanks for all the fish.
— Michelangelo