Max Ploner studied computer science at Humboldt University of Berlin and Technical University of Berlin focusing on machine learning. He now works as a PhD student under the supervision of Professor Alan Akbik at HU Berlin. His research interests are concentrated on   topological changes during the training of artificial neural networks (ANN). In his master thesis, Max studied growth as a means for reducing the pre-training time of transformer networks. At SCIoI, Max is working on Project 45A (“Modeling Neurogenesis for Continuous Learning”) and researches how ANN growth can improve the continual learning capabilities of these models.