Hi. My name is Thanadol Chomphoochan. I usually go by “Pleng.” I am from Thailand, though I currently reside in Cambridge, MA. I am currently a graduate student at MIT in Computer Science and Engineering. I will be working with Citadel’s Global Quantitative Strategies (GQS) team in Chicago, starting July 2025.

You can contact me at t.chomphoochan@gmail.com. If your email explicitly requires a response, it will receive one within three business days.

My Google Calendar is publicly available (embedded version, in Eastern Time).

My resume is available at tcpc.me/resume.

If I know you, feel free to add me on Facebook. You can also find me on GitHub.

To recognize me online, these are the four usernames I use regularly, depending on availability:

• tcpc
• t.chomphoochan
• tchomphoochan
• aquablitz11

Interests

My current work is in bridging the gap between software and hardware transactional memory (TM) by developing a convenient framework for evaluating TM implementations on various platforms. I am generally interested in enabling building robust software, either through programming language design or formal verification. I have also dabbled in some electronics and embedded programming. I also spend a lot of my time teaching or brainstorming changes to introductory computer science curricula.

Outside of academics, I do (or try to do) these things, in no particular order: play jazz piano; play Celeste; type fast; write blog posts; consume Thai tea and matcha; pick locks.

Name explanation

In Thailand, most people have two names they go by. One is the standard, legal first name, which is usually very long and based on Pali or Sanskrit. Another is their “nickname.”

In many other cultures, nicknames emerge naturally from their first name (e.g., as an abbreviation or as a term of endearment), but in Thai culture, parents assign their children “nicknames” at birth. Since most Thais do not speak English, they usually adopt cool-sounding English words as their children’s nicknames. You might also see nicknames that are just simple Thai words or concepts.

My name “Pleng” means song or music.

Teaching and Research

I had the following teaching positions:

• 6.191 Computation Structures
  • LA¹: Fall 2021
  • Graduate TA²: Fall 2024
• 6.190 Introduction to Low-level Programming in C and Assembly
  • LA: Spring 2022
  • Undergrad TA: Fall 2022
• 6.110 Computer Language Engineering
  • Undergrad TA: Spring 2024
• 6.205 Digital Systems Laboratory
  • LA: Fall 2023

I also taught an introductory programming class through MIT HSSP in Spring 2023.

I did a UROP³ with Adam Chlipala during IAP–Spring 2023. I made miscellaneous contributions to the Bedrock2 project and attempted to implement and formally verify crit-bit trees. I started doing an MEng thesis with him from Fall 2024 and will graduate in Spring 2025.

In the past, I have worked intensively with Chiang Mai University’s Department of Computer Science to train students for regional and national informatics olympiads. I have published a few popular resources for students preparing for those olympiads.

Career and Credentials

I am working on an MEng degree and will graduate in May 2025. I will be working with Citadel’s Global Quantitative Strategies (GQS) team starting July 2025.

I graduated from MIT with Course 6-3 (Computer Science and Engineering) in May 2024. Although, I’m really closer to Course 6-2 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) in spirit. I interned with Frictionless Systems in my freshman year, DRW in my sophomore year, Instabase in my junior year, and Jump Trading in my senior year.

I briefly attended Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School in 2019–2020 as part of Royal Thai Scholar program⁴. I did my primary and secondary education in my hometown, Lampang, Thailand.

Classes taken

Freshman Year

Term	Number	Subject Title
Fall 2020	6.854	Advanced Algorithms
	6.036	Introduction to Machine Learning
	21M.011	Introduction to Western Music
	3.091	Introduction to Solid-State Chemistry
IAP 2021	6.176	Pokerbots Competition
Spring 2021	18.600	Probability & Random Variables
	6.004	Computation Structures
	6.009	Fundamentals of Programming
	21M.301	Harmony and Counterpoint I
	7.014	Introductory Biology

Sophomore Year

Term	Number	Subject Title
Fall 2021	6.031	Elements of Software Construction
	6.840	Theory of Computation
	6.S081	Introduction to Operating Systems
IAP 2022	6.148	Web Lab: A Web Programming Class and Competition
Spring 2022	6.033	Computer Systems Engineering
	6.035	Computer Language Engineering
	6.822	Formal Reasoning about Programs
	CMS.587	Introduction to Education: Understanding and Evaluating Education

Junior Year

Term	Number	Subject Title
Fall 2022	6.2050	Digital Systems Laboratory (project)
	6.8370	Advanced Computational Photography
	21M.385	Interactive Music Systems
Spring 2023	6.1920	Constructive Computer Architecture
	6.2000	Electrical Circuits: Modeling and Design of Physical Systems
	6.5660	Computer Systems Security
	24.131	Ethics of Technology

Senior Year

Term	Number	Subject Title
Fall 2023	6.2220	Power Electronics Laboratory
	6.3102	Dynamical System Modeling and Control Design
	21M.080	Introduction to Music Technology
	21M.387	Fundamentals of Music Processing
IAP 2024	18.031	System Functions and the Laplace Transform
	6.S917	Tube and Early Transistor Circuits
Spring 2024	6.2060	Microcomputer Project Laboratory
	6.2080	Semiconductor Electronics Circuits
	6.5840	Distributed Computer Systems Engineering
	21M.383	Computational Music Theory

Graduate Year

Term	Number	Subject Title
Spring 2025	6.5950	Secure Hardware Design

Book recommendations

Here, I list all the books I genuinely believe to be worth your time. I have personally, closely read all of these.

These books have had outsized impact on my programming career and experience:

• Abelson and Sussman, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, 1984. (A “pure” perspective on what it means to program. I wrote a review here.)
• Pierce et al., Software Foundations, 2017. (For people interested in formal verification. Read and do the exercises.)
• John Ousterhout, A Philosophy of Software Design, 2018. (A good book on writing software in general.)

My teaching philosophy is best reflected by this book. I wish this was a mandatory reading for all serious educators:

• Greg Ashman, The Power of Explicit Teaching and Direct Instruction, 2021.

To understand more about the nature of therapy (and self-actualization in general), I recommend reading these two OG⁵ books:

• Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person: A Therapist’s View of Psychotherapy, 1961.
• David D. Burns, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, 1980.

If you’re into self-help at all, this book kept me sane:

• Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, 2021.

I haven’t read nearly enough fiction, but this one tickled my brain in all the right ways. It’s also really short:

• qntm, There Is No Antimemetics Division, 2020.

Music recommendations

Nier Monochrome by Feryquitous is the single, most beautiful piece of obscure music I’ve ever listened to.

If you want to listen to my curated playlist to understand my (very varied) musical taste better, knock yourself out: Click here for Spotify playlist.