Scott Laing

Introduction

Hello

My name is Scott Laing — welcome to my digital space where I'll share with you a little about me.

Interests

I'm a ritualistic coffee drinker and am originally from Fife, Scotland. Like many computer nerds, I enjoy playing computer games and have done since childhood; these days I'm more likely to be building a settlement in Medieval Dynasty than in an FPS. Someday I'd love a small holding—a bit of land to tend.

Career

My career as a professional software engineer (since 2014) has had a focus on front-end, mostly Android app/sdk development. I have a keen interest in keeping up-to-date with the latest relevant software patterns, especially those around reactive designs and declarative UI.

For personal projects, I've also dabbled with Google-backed Flutter cross-platform UI framework, including building this web portfolio.

Work

Software

Over the years I've worked on a number of software projects. Below I have a list of projects that I'd like to share with you.

  • Question Formulation Technique

    A tool to help guide people through the process of The Question Formulation Technique, helping to unlock thoughts.

    • JS
    • Tailwind
    • Netlify
    • Horizons
    Try It

  • Productivity

    A tool I'm building to help manage tasks, project, and objectives.

    • JS
    • Tailwind
    • Supabase
    • Netlify
    • Horizons
    Work In Progress

  • Portfolio

    A project used to take a deeper dive into Flutter, built for the web.

    • Flutter
    • Supabase
    • Netlify

  • Sleep

    A tool to help me plan my sleep schedule better!

    • Flutter
    Try It

  • Names in a Hat

    My first ever personal software project, which helped develop my skills to kick-start my mobile development career.

    • Android
    • Open Source
    Code

  • YouTube Music Data Analysis

    Data analysis project for YouTube Music.

    • Data Analysis

  • Dice

    A simple dice and random selection tool.

    • Android

Life

Life Experience

A place not to list just career accomplishments but life accomplishments and events that I'm proud of.

  1. Nov 1989 – present home

    Born and raised

    Leven, Fife

    The core of what makes me me.

  2. Jun 2006 – May 2008 work

    First real job: MGt

    Kirkcaldy, Fife

    The paper route definitely doesn't count as a job (sorry dad). Working in a customer contact centre for major clients such as Sky, Freeview, and TopUp TV, where communication is key, helped me develop the great communication skills that I have today - and not just in the workplace.

  3. Sep 2007 – May 2010 studies

    Studies begin: Edinburgh Napier University

    Edinburgh

    Few years of full time study built some of the foundations for my software engineering career. Started on a multimedia technology degree but switched to Software Engineering. Two years of study leaving with the equivalent of a DipHE.

  4. Sep 2007 – present home

    Away from home

    Edinburgh

    I moved to Edinburgh to pursue my career, although I really wasn't sure what it was exactly... thankfully I've found my feet.

  5. May 2009 – Jun 2014 work

    Edinburgh Zoo

    Edinburgh

    Met a lot of great people here while working with Visitor Services team. Great team dynamics made for great shenanigans!

  6. Jan 2014 – May 2018 studies

    Studies resume: BSc (Hon) Open: The Open University

    Edinburgh (distance learning)

    Continued formal study whilst continuing with internship and full-time work. Studied an Open degree, allowing for free selection of modules, choosing modules to further my software engineering career.

    The modules selected were titled Software Development with Java, Software Engineering, Fundamentals of Interaction Design, Developing Concurrent Distributed Systems, and Data Management and Analysis.

  7. Jun 2014 – Aug 2015 work

    Career begins: Kotikan Software Engineer (Android)

    Edinburgh

    Starting with a 12 week mobile app development summer internship where I truly learned some of the fundamentals of software development, this is where my career as a software engineer began.

    In the little over a year I spent at Kotikan, spent on the Android development teams for their two major clients: Skyscanner and FanDuel, I learned so much from my colleagues about both the technical and non-technical aspects of software engineering, before Kotikan's acquisition by FanDuel. Without the Kotikan team's kind nature and devotion to helping everyone develop I would not be where I am today. Thank you all!

  8. Aug 2015 – present work

    Career develops: FanDuel Software Engineer

    Edinburgh

    I've spent over 9 years working with FanDuel now on the development teams for our Android Daily Fantasy app, web app (a little), Sportsbook Android app, and now internal SDKs. FanDuel is a great place to work with a rich culture and supportive colleagues, so I expect to be here for the foreseeable future.

Writing

Blog

Coming soon.