Naratorn PisedtasalasaiSoftware Engineer

I grew up in Bangkok, went to school in Auckland, and ended up in Sydney. So I've had plenty of practice being the new kid. Somewhere along the way, I got pretty comfortable with it.

I studied Computer Science and Digital Music at the University of Sydney and I'm now partway through a Master of Engineering. My thesis is about turning source code into diagrams, with the idea that people should be able to understand how software fits together before they have to write it themselves.

Most of what I've learned about building things came from building the wrong thing first. Pickup started because I kept turning up to public courts and finding nobody there. Now it's a real app in TestFlight. The bit I'm happiest about isn't the technology behind it. It's that people who didn't know each other can open the app, find a game, and end up playing together in the same park.

Away from a screen, I play bass and sing in an indie band called Could Be Tuesday. I also spent two years singing in a barbershop a cappella society, which taught me just how exposed you feel when there isn't an instrument to hide behind. I play futsal and football most weeks too.

I also volunteer with Vinnies, both on the van and in the office. That usually means some combination of barbecues, database work, organising things, and doing the jobs that aren't particularly exciting but still need someone to do them.

I speak English and Thai, can hold my own in Mandarin, and spent two years learning Spanish before an exchange in Padova convinced me that Italian was the language I wanted to keep going with.

I've taught music to kids, helped touring crews pack down stages in the rain, and now work part time at a dental clinic. None of those jobs have much to do with software. All of them have taught me something about being useful, working with people, and getting stuck in when something needs doing.