Mark Micallef

University of Malta, Malta

Mark is a software testing researcher, lecturer and occasional practitioner. Whilst in his role as an Associate Professor at the University of Malta, his day job is focused mostly on academic aspects of the field, Mark has worked and consulted for companies internationally, spoken at industry conferences such as the Google Test Automation conferences and has a doctorate in software engineering.

Today, Mark spends most of his time looking into open problems in software testing with a particular focus on the human tester.

James Bornefelt Westfall

Neatframe AS, Norway

James has been working for over 20 years in software and hardware development. He has worked with test automation since 2008 and has gradually switched from a successful developer and architect role over to an experienced test automation specialist role.

He focuses on how automatic end-to-end testing can bring together all the participants in an agile team and deliver value early in the requirements gathering and active development stages, long before the software is close to being finished.

When not giving Neat’s video-conference solutions strange dreams, James enjoys the Norwegian outdoors, especially when skiing and fly-fishing.

Usha Kandala

Firebucks, India

Usha Kandala is a senior Project Management and Quality Assurance professional with over 20 years of experience in developing and managing software products and product class applications. 

She initiated and developed QA practices and release processes in start-up environments, provided leadership and guidance to different teams running multiple product releases, and piloted globally distributed QA teams.

She holds a Master of Liberal Arts degree in Management & Operations from Harvard University, USA; and a Masters degree in Computer Science from Osmania University, India. 

She is also an alumnus of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneurship Program from IIM Bangalore, India.

Elif Gurcuoglu

Adesso, Turkey

Tech Lead with a background of working in various roles such as Project manager, QA manager, and product owner for large-scale global companies. Starting her career as a business analyst, she gained hands-on experience with a wide range of technologies.

After having years of experience in digital product management; she brought her learnings into the quality assurance field. Today, she’s the Head of Quality Assurance at adesso Turkey as well as contributing some of the Projects as a Delivery Manager.

Together with her team consists of 40 QA and Automation engineers, she focuses on boosting quality and delivery in the Projects.

Kari Kakkonen

Gofore, Finland

Mr. Kari Kakkonen has worked in testing for almost 30 years. He has EuroSTAR Testing Excellence, Tester of the Year, and DASA Exemplary DevOps Instructor Awards.

He authored Dragons Out software testing book. He trains at Gofore.  Kari volunteers at ISTQB, TMMi, and FiSTB.

Kari and Marko are co-authors of ‘ACT 2 LEAD Software Testing Leadership Handbook’.

Marko Rytkönen

Hidden Trail Oy, Finland

Mr. Marko Rytkönen works as a QA Coach for Hidden Trail. He specializes in helping with test leadership and actively shares his thoughts via public talks and trainings. He has worked for 30+ years in testing and QA in different roles.

René Tuinhout

Dutch Vechicle Authority, Netherlands

René is an experienced test advisor, a test & quality (practice) manager and an experienced speaker on (inter)national events. René repaired an imperfection in the bva testing technique, was co-author of a book on testing and reviewer of several other software testing books.

Above all, he’s passionate about our ever changing field of expertise and the influences other fields have on it (and what we can learn from that).

René combines his passion for testing with a passion for improvisational theatre, making his presentations and workshops filled with energy and interaction.

Maikel Peters

DUO, Netherlands

I have been working as a tester for over 25 years now. I live in the little village of Aduard near Groningen in the Netherlands with my girlfriend Mirjam and little son Darius.

I worked for many companies and organizations, since 2013 for the government organization Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (under the Ministry of Education). I have been involved in the government workgroup Chain testing since 2017 with the Chain test village as one of the results.

Bells Smętek

Soflab, Poland

Bells (they/them) – Senior manual QA tester and experienced technical writer. They gathered experience working in Poland and Spain and survived being hired in a vacation rental startup during the start of the pandemic.

With a background in English studies (philology, translation, communication) and a keen interest in humanities, always happy to learn and grow, they like seeing the human aspect of tech. A writer, poet, yogi and dog behaviourist in their free time.

Maryia Tuleika

Regent AB, Sweden

Maryia is test automation consultant, primarily working in backend testing and embedded systems leading test automation in one or more teams. 

She is also active in local Swedish test community and on Linkedin, teaching new test professionals in technical schools and speaking on international stage.

Having experience in broad spectrum of industries helps her focus on the important things and having a balance between hard work and enjoying life.