Hi! My name is Noah Peden, and I’m a…
Senior Software Engineer. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Frontend and React / Next specialist. AI, vector, and RAG enthusiast. Experienced Elixir, Phoenix, Node & GraphQL engineer. Struggling but succeeding AWS deployer. Passionate and caring teammate. Quadlingual. Professional dung and coal burner.
About me && my professional career
01 — More than 7 years experience
From fast paced startups to dynamic deadline driven enterprise level corporations, I have succeeded at all levels as a frontend specialist with fullstack chops. Whether it’s REST or GraphQL or a Next.js React Server Component interacting directly with the database (in my case it was Supabase), I have written a variety of backend code, and whether it’s Redux, MobX, or some other sort of state (I prefer Zustand or Context), I am a React and fullstack expert.
02 — Frontend specialist
From Redux to Next.js to Remix to Material UI to TailwindCSS, I have seen and done it all throughout my profession. If being a successful software engineer means that you have a catalog of solutions in your mind that you can pull out in any situation, then my catalog is quite large, and adaptive.
03 — Fullstack chops
Whether it’s doing Elixir and Phoenix work for a pre-seed AI startup or configuring AWS deployment via github actions, or writing Lambda APIs in Node, I can work across the stack without hesitation from backend to cloud to frontend, even if my specialty lies in frontend land.
04 — Empathy first teammate
While I love to set standards, spread the knowledge that I have, and make sure only good code gets out of PR, I also make sure that I never put anyone down. In my experience, the fastest way to level up a teammate is to walkthrough their code with them in a safe pair programming environment and discuss the lines of code together that you think can be improved. At this point in my career I really try to tread the line between being a force multiplier for my team while also producing quality code at a high rate. And you can’t do either of those things if your team doesn’t respect you, which is why I always lead with empathy first.
05 — From Peace Corps to coding
Given my unique journey to becoming a software engineer, which involved teaching myself the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from my ger (yurt) in Mongolia on a 3G hotspot, I am able to produce and thrive in any environment. I have worked across cultures, and I speak Spanish, Portuguese, and Mongolian. Because of all this diverse experience, I am able to connect with anyone, I know the value of building true and sincere relationships, and I’m not afraid of public speaking or presenting my ideas in a digestible way. Plus because I did it for two years in Mongolia, if you ever need someone to start a dung and coal fire to keep you warm during a -40F weather, I’m your guy.
Professional Projects
Nutrien’s Crop Planner
Nutrien Ag Solutions, a $40 billion dollar agriculture corporation, had the team I was on build a crop planner for farmers to maximize the profits in their fields. On this scrum and agile team of 4 devs, 1 designer, and 1 QA, I used React, Redux Thunks, React Query, and GraphQL with Django to build and release this employee facing app to more than 10,000 sales reps and farmers.
Symbolic.ai
On this Elixir, Phoenix, and JS project, I helped a pre-seed startup deliver their beta and MVP in two months. I was mainly in charge of helping to deliver their infinite canvas research tool that was both multiplayer and allowed AI actions to be taken on Miro-esque sticky notes. We then used Retrieval Augmented Generation and vector databases to generate high quality drafts for journalists.
Carbon Calculator
Proposed and implemented the release of a carbon calculator as a microfrontend using React, Typescript, and Material UI. Hitting an API from UC Berkeley, we released this important feature to WeSpire customers in 4 weeks, allowing them to calculate their supposed carbon output, and then letting them fund projects that offset their carbon tons.
United Airlines Check In
Using React, Redux Sagas, and Atmos Design System, I implemented the logic on united.com/checkin where users would input their name and ticket info and I would direct them to the correct page based off 13 different posibilities. I also integrated this into the homepage widget without any performance hits to the main page.
Halteres.ai
My own personal project for Crossfit coaches, personal trainers, and gym owners that uses vectors, OpenAI, and retrieval augmented generation to allow clients to put in their gym details, favorite workouts, and program specifics to generate up to 6 weeks of workouts based off their needs. Uses Next.js, DaisyUI, and Supabase with a vercel deployment.
Where I’ve worked
-
Helping lead all frontend efforts in our Next.js project, my work at Bonterra Tech is focused on their social good products where I'm helping build apps for grant writing, connecting NGOs with funders and corporations, and contributing to our design system - Stitch.
-
Acquired by Bonterra Tech in July of 2023, I helped WeSpire as a lead frontend engineer on their React and Rails application that enabled employers to encourage their employees to be better global citizens. We built features such as carbon calculators, carbon offset marketplaces, Dollars for Doers platforms, and DEI channels.
-
A $40 billion dollar agricultural corporation, I worked at Nutrien two different times. The first I helped build their shared component library and their first iteration of their Crop Planner. And then when I came back I was promoted to Dev Team Lead (engineering manager) where I managed a team of five devs.
-
A small web agency in downtown Chicago, Voka had me embedded at the United Airlines office working on their migration from .NET to React. In my time there I helped write logic for customers checking in for a flight and integrated it into their homepage widget.
-
GoAbroad.com is a meaningful travel website that ended up creating two different startups that I had a hand in helping build and release - Last Farewells and ThankYouSpot. Last Farewells was a React and GraphQL project that allowed users to send letters to loved ones after they passed.
