Meet the Team: Jackie Tan
Meet the Team is a series of light-hearted interviews to shine the spotlight on the people working in UpCode Academy.
Who are you and what do you do in UpCode Academy?
I am Jackie Tan (my parents were big fans of Jackie Chan) and I am the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) of UpCode Academy.
What led you to this point in your career?
Since I was in primary school, I wanted to be a scientist. If my friends were to describe me, “curious” and “jack-of-all-trades” would be the terms that are frequently used.
I majored in Life Sciences and was part of the University Scholars Program (multidisciplinary program) in the National University of Singapore. During my undergraduate days, I worked in 11 labs across 3 countries (excluding Singapore) on all kinds of research, from cancer to organometallic chemistry to quantum physics. By the time I graduated, I had four research papers to my name (one is still cited on Wikipedia!)
After graduation, I continued working in labs as a research assistant. It was then when I saw how my collaborators used Python to derive intriguing insights from messy genomic sequencing data. Naturally, I picked up Python myself and the coding bug bit me, so I took it to the next level and learnt Android programming next.
After three years of working, I decided to do a PhD in Biology at Nanyang Technological University. While I was doing my PhD, I took part in a hackathon to practise my programming skills. A few months after the hackathon, my then-cofounder and I founded an insurtech startup called fundMyLife, after the prototype we developed at the hackathon was featured by the media.
I spent the next few years juggling life as a student entrepreneur; researcher by day and working on my startup with any remaining spare time. My company eventually got acquired by another fintech company, and during the final stages of the acquisition, I was introduced to ZP, the CEO of UpCode Academy, through a mutual friend. From there, I started off as an instructor for Python and Data Science, and eventually, he offered the opportunity for me to take on the role of CAO when the position opened up.
Greatest achievement in life?
Being in the Forbes 30-Under-30 Asia list in recognition for my work in the area of financial tech is my greatest achievement in life so far. Getting my company acquired is a close second.
How is your typical day at work like?
There’s no typical day at work for me, given the fast paced environment at UpCode Academy. In line with my Jackie-of-all-trades nature, I work with members from various teams, be it with Duncan and Marco for instructor onboarding, or with members of the product team to make sure the site copywriting looks exciting to potential students.
I also spend my time instructing students; it is very satisfying to help them with their journey in coding, and watch their eyes light up as they run their code to tackle problems successfully. I am also guiding student teams on our latest initiative — Projects of UpCode — where graduates team up to work on interesting projects and put their new skills into practice. It is not unlike building a product in a startup and I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
What are some of your hobbies and side hustles?
When I am not at work, I run a meme group on Telegram named Memes n Dreams. It’s been growing organically since it has started, and we’re currently 14.5k members strong. Community management is tough work and it has stretched me in ways that I never knew! It’s very gratifying when members tell me they enjoy themselves in the group and thank the admin team for fostering a great community.
I also enjoy hackathons and have slowly transitioned from being a participant to a judge and mentor (it’s fun to be on the other side of the table for once). I also mentor aspiring startup founders under the NEXT50 Mentorship programme.
In my remaining free time, I spend it with my cat Char Siew Mao, whom I love very dearly. He is a calming presence in my otherwise hectic life. Also, if I could start a band, I’d call it CAO and Mao.
Favourite apps / tools / games?
My favorite app at the moment is Trello because it helps me get tasks execute on time. I enjoy using Google Calendar too.
As for tools, I’d choose my 5-year-old laptop as my favorite tool. It has followed me to ten countries now, and has outlived my startup.
As for games, I enjoy whatever my Humble Bundle Monthly subscription throws at me, but I love two particular genres in general: point-and-click turn-based strategy games, and puzzle games! Point-and-click games tend to have great plots, and I love taking my time to strategise without the pressure of real-time action strategy games. Puzzle games, on the other hand, give my brain a workout. If I could choose a game that I can play for the rest of my life, it’d be Tetris (Game Boy version).
We love what we do. Find out more about what we do here.
Read more about our team:
Meet the Team: Dr. Marco Gutiérrez
Meet the Team: Duncan Reid
