Kia ora, I'm
Hamish
Lester
I build web apps, fly small planes, and love turning ideas into things people actually use.
I'm a software engineering student in Wellington who's been teaching himself to code for over ten years, and who earned his Private Pilot Licence this year. Have a look around.
- Building
- KiwiCart, live at kiwicart.app
- Studying
- Software Engineering (Hons), Victoria University of Wellington
- Flying
- Private pilot, now studying towards a Commercial licence
About me
I'm a third-year Software Engineering student at Victoria University of Wellington. I started a coding club at my primary school in 2016, aged ten, and I've been building things ever since.
Away from the keyboard you'll usually find me near an airfield: flying with the Kapiti Aero Club, helping out with the cadets at No. 49 Squadron, or glued to a Formula 1 race.
I learn best by diving in deep, and I'm happiest working on things that real people end up using. If that sounds like a project you're working on, I'd love to hear about it.
years teaching myself to code
2026
the year I earned my pilot licence
University of Waikato scholarships
in New Zealand at GeoGuessr
Projects
A university team project, a community Minecraft server and some tech for my cadet squadron. Here's a bit about each.
KiwiCart
LiveA grocery planning app that compares prices across New Zealand supermarkets and plans the shopping route between stores.
KiwiCart began as a university team project, and the plan from day one was to launch it as a working grocery planning app. I work across the stack: a FastAPI backend that serves catalogue data from PostgreSQL and per-store prices from Parquet files through DuckDB, and a Next.js front end with a step-by-step trip flow, live address autocomplete, touch gestures on mobile and a weekly email newsletter sent from an authenticated domain.
- Next.js
- FastAPI
- PostgreSQL
- SQLAlchemy
- DuckDB
- Parquet
- Azure
- Cloudflare
- Vercel
CtrlAltSMP
LiveA Minecraft server I built for the Twitch streamer CtrlAltSally and her viewers, open to Java and Bedrock players. It has also brought in some revenue.
I run the infrastructure behind it: a Velocity proxy in front of Paper and Geyser servers, managed through a Pelican panel with Docker, Cloudflare Tunnels, DNS and monitoring. On the game side I handle plugin configuration, custom items and performance tuning. I also built a Cloudflare Worker that reverse-proxies the project's ClickUp development board and wraps it in an iframe page.
Server address
play.ctrlaltsmp.netChecking the server…- Velocity
- Paper
- Geyser
- Pelican
- Docker
- Cloudflare
- Cloudflare Workers
- ClickUp
No. 49 Squadron tech
NCO app: demo liveWebsite: in progressTech work for No. 49 Squadron, the Air Training Corps unit I serve in: an app for the squadron's NCOs and a trial website for the unit.
The NCO app uses Python and FastAPI to replace repetitive administration in cadet unit operations, and a demo is live. The trial website is built with Next.js, React and TypeScript. It already has a staff page, photo gallery, contact form and about page, and is still a work in progress.
- Python
- FastAPI
- Next.js
- React
- TypeScript
Up in the air
I earned my Private Pilot Licence in 2026, just before turning 20, and I'm now studying for my Commercial licence.
I fly with the Kapiti Aero Club, where I made my first solo flight on my 16th birthday. That milestone was covered by the NZ Herald.
I'm also part of the NZ Cadet Forces, serving with the Air Training Corps at No. 49 Squadron. My current rank is Officer Cadet, and I'm in the process of commissioning. I help the officers run activities and look after the cadets, and I enjoy courses and stays at RNZAF Base Ohakea and other Defence Force bases. I also do the squadron's tech work: an NCO app and a trial website.
The weather panel at the top of the page decodes the latest Wellington Airport METAR, the same report a pilot reads during pre-flight planning.
| Qualification | Status |
|---|---|
| Private Pilot LicenceObtained 5 March 2026 | Held |
| Cessna 152 rating | Held |
| Cessna 172 rating | In progress |
| Commercial Pilot LicenceStudy and exams since 2026 | In progress |
Photos
A few moments from the cockpit, the grandstand and my Scouting days.
Skills and study
The practical side: where I've worked, what I know, and what I've studied. I also did COMPX102 remotely with the University of Waikato in my last year of high school.
Experience
Software Engineer
DataAnnotation, 2026 to present
Training AI models to give better responses across conversation and programming.
Inflatable Assistant
Kapiti Castles, 2020 to present
Customer-facing work setting up and running bouncy castles and entertainment equipment hire for families and events.
Skills
- Languages
- Python (strongest), TypeScript, Java, C#, C and C++, Lua, SQL, Bash
- Web
- Next.js, React, Tailwind CSS, FastAPI, REST APIs, Authentication and integrations
- Data
- PostgreSQL, DuckDB, Parquet, Data pipelines
- Infrastructure
- Docker, Cloudflare, Vercel, Git and CI pipelines, VMs, Linux and Windows, DNS, VPS hosting
- Also
- Object-oriented design, Machine learning, Networking, Cybersecurity, PC hardware
Coursework highlights
Safety-critical systems
An automatic emergency braking system in Java using triple modular redundancy, backed by hazard analysis, fault tree analysis and a traceability matrix.
Deep learning
CNN and Vision Transformer models built from scratch to classify Oxford-IIIT Pets, comparing normalisation, depth, residual connections, patch size and attention heads.
UX engineering
Field research at Wellington Airport, leading to personas, task analysis, wireframes and user flows.
Education and awards
- 2023University of Waikato Ko Te Tangata Scholarship
- 2023University of Waikato Computer Science Undergraduate Scholarship
- 2023NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance, with Excellence in Digital Technology
- 2020Chief Scout Award, the highest Scout achievement NZ Herald story
- 2018Most Promising Player, Kapiti Chess Club
- 2017Otago Problem Solving in Maths
Also: Scouting since age five, including two Jamborees and the National Aviation School.
Outside work
I follow Formula 1 and went to the 2025 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. In 2026 I crowd-marshalled at the Taupo Super 440 through the Cadet Forces. I regularly place in the top 10% of New Zealand at GeoGuessr, and I stream Minecraft, GeoGuessr and the occasional live coding session on Twitch and YouTube.
Say hello
I'd love to hear from you, whether it's a project, a role, or just a chat about code and planes. Email is the quickest way to reach me.