Federico Pugnaloni, the homebrewer who learns, teaches and lives a coded life
For each portrait I write, I ask the same four broad questions, and request photos and links that I can use. Federico, our full-stack developer who’s portrayed today, wrote “I don’t like to leave many footprints on the net, so there isn’t much information or many photos or links about me online to give you.” Obviously, what Federico didn’t know is that I’d take that as a challenge to find the most improbable pictures or links related to him online. I’m no hacker and actually have work to do, so my findings were limited. But at least this portrait will be illustrated with more than just stock images :)
Federico is a member of our Brilliant Tech Team (BTT) and has worn many hats during his time with us. A full-stack developer, he’s now in charge of the StreetLib Print app, the central StreetLib Dashboard and StreetLib BILL, the internal system allowing us to manage payments to thousands of StreetLibers all over the planet, with their own taxes, currencies, payment methods and conditions. That is a rather essential part of our business; and no simple task either! According to his LinkedIn profile, Federico joined the StreetLib adventure (Simplicissimus at the time) in October 2010.
“What led me to StreetLib? The ecstatic stories of Michele about Simplicissimus and this wonderful tribe.”
If you’ve been reading those portraits for a while, you may think I’ve been exaggerating the team spirit and general atmosphere within our tribe. I’d like to point out that the sentence above is a direct quote. I haven’t changed it or left any context out that might dampen the enthusiasm expressed. We do love working together and being part of the StreetLib adventure. And those who have left along the way are still very much part of the family.
Anyway, back to Federico, who certainly isn’t leaving and whose coding life extends way beyond our head offices in Loreto. See, for Federico, coding is all about education: he takes every chance he gets to learn new things about Blockchain, smart contracts and distributed applications. And that’s just for this year; before it was AI, Arduino, iOS and Android app development, etc. I love how I’m learning new words everytime I write a BTT member’s portrait (never heard of Arduino before). I felt I needed a full dictionary for Federico’s Tumblr, which he used to fill with numerous tips and fixes on a lot of dev topics. Federico has now gone from educating his peers online with blog posts to thinking about the next generation and helping educate them in his area of expertise.
“I’m a dad and I think kids should learn to code to succeed in their lives, even if they then take different paths. The challenges of the next generation will go hand in hand with Artificial Intelligence. So I have become a mentor in the local CoderDojo. And maybe one day I’ll open a coding school for kids.”
Federico first dove into the Internet back in 1995, and quickly became “the man who whispered to modems”. However, his diving isn’t just intellectual, but also physical:
“I love the sea and diving, but I don’t have time to dive any more, I’m waiting patiently to have enough time to start flying in the deep again. It’s one of the best things in life. If you have not tried it at least once, it’s time to try.”
On top of tech-related activities, Federico also shares his time between playing sports (currently beach tennis — I had to google that too- but, before that, it was tennis, swimming, capoeira, taekwondo, squash, athletics and even basketball), growing his own vegetables and — mainly — brewing his own beer.
A homebrewer for 15 years and a beer connoisseur, he’s “waiting patiently for [his] beer to age in the oak barrel. It should be ready in a month or two.” He can’t wait, and I hope he’ll also wait for me so I can have a sip!
He’s now “waiting for [his] kids to grow up, so I can retire and move to a desert island with my wife.” Well, that’ll be a great opportunity to take up diving again! :)
