Andy’s interest in problem-solving quickly grew from making games in Scratch to researching algorithms and programming languages. Currently, he’s working on his own compiler and creating problems for Australia’s IOI team. Andy occupies his mind with problems at all times and looks forward to sharing knowledge with other students. He shared thoughts on meta-abstraction, what led him to start creating his own compiler, and his favorite authors. Outside CS, he enjoys debates about ethics, reading philosophical sci-fi works and casual games of chess.

We caught up before he started university (interview edited for length and clarity):