Connecting Woks, Wrenches & Software Systems
I'm Noah Han. I build software architectures in the Bay Area, but my engineering mindset was forged in high-heat restaurant kitchens, refined under intense academic environments, and tested on real-world plumbing and automotive systems.
Culinary Mastery & Business Operations
Before entering college, my life was anchored in our family's busy restaurant. Operating within a family business means taking on every role imaginable. As a certified chef, I mastered high-volume Chinese culinary techniques, outperforming tier-2 professional chefs under heavy rush hours.
Beyond cooking, I worked closely with management to optimize operations, streamline supply costs, and restructure kitchen workflows. Our primary target was clear: drive profitability and operational efficiency. The ability to analyze bottlenecks in a high-stress kitchen and translate those insights into business returns laid the groundwork for my career in software, where optimizing performance directly impacts operational cost.
Systematic Learning & High-Stakes Exams
Transitioning into higher education culminated in preparing for the highly competitive National Postgraduate Entrance Examination (NSEEE) in China. This massive, unified nationwide exam sees millions of candidates dedicate months to intense, high-pressure preparation for extremely limited graduate placements. I targeted admission to Peking University (PKU), one of China's most prestigious institutions, and my structured preparation systems yielded excellent results: I ranked 2nd in my department and was in the top 2% of the entire college (out of about 600 accepted applicants, with thousands of candidates overall).
To achieve this, I formulated and refined personalized study frameworks based on the Feynman Technique and active recall. This method of breaking down massive, complex, and ambiguous subjects into modular, highly digestible logical structures is the exact same strategy I use today when diving into unfamiliar software repositories or conducting technical root-cause analyses.
Utility Retrofits & Wrench Turning
My passion for engineering spills directly into physical structures. I believe if you own a system, you should understand how to disassemble, repair, and optimize it.
When my home's traditional tank water heater needed replacement, I bypassed commercial contractors and executed a complete conversion to a high-efficiency gas tankless water heater myself—managing gas pressure calibrations, water flow piping, and venting regulations. Alongside this, I retrofitted my home with custom-wired smart switches, lighting control grids, and secure smart locks. On the road, I apply this same hardware curiosity to vehicle electrical systems, custom dashboard cameras, and 12V wiring diagnostics.
Philosophies
My Three Pillars of Composure
1. Mise en Place
The culinary discipline of organizing ingredients and tools before starting. In software engineering, this is system architecture planning—ensuring environment settings, data pipelines, and interfaces are defined before writing the first line of code.
2. Martial Focus
Years of martial arts conditioning built strong focus. During intensive training, I developed intermediate mastery of traditional skills including Vajra Iron Palm (Da Li Jin Gang Zhang for brick and walnut breaking), Cotton Belly (Mian Hua Du for core abdominal control), and sound-localization reflexes. Though long-term absence from active conditioning has reduced these physical techniques, the elevated hand bone density and, more importantly, the psychological composure under extreme pressure remain intact.
3. Physical Feedback
Physical engineering has immediate, non-negotiable feedback loops—a gas leak or a plumbing drip is instantly visible. I bring this standard of strict quality assurance and rigorous edge-case testing back to my software systems.