Zackary Lown

Computer Engineering Student

Computer Engineering student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with experience in technical troubleshooting, robotics instruction, and self-hosted infrastructure.


Interests: Scuba Diving, Camping, Travel, Hiking, Photography


Projects

Socially Responsible Computing Curriculum builder 2026

I worked with a team developing a curriculum builder in collaboration with Brown Univerity's SRCH program

Full Stack Vercel PostgreSQL Pisma Collaboration

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Home Server 2026

I'm working on a full-stack website as well and self-hosting a number of projects on a dedicated server

Linux Web Design Docker DNS Nginx Networking

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Flight Tracker 2026

I deployed a real-time flight tracking site receiving data from my own SDR

Hardware Self-Hosted Networking

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AIAA Fixed Wing Drone Junior Project 2025

Lead software developer for the AIAA Fixed wing drong pilot x96 project

Ardupilot Hardware Wireless Communication

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See all 5 projects

Essays

Reflecting on using AI

11 May 2026

Artificial intelligence has become a major part of education, especially in technical fields like Software Engineering. AI tools can help students learn concepts faster, debug code, understand documentation, and practice problem solving in a more interactive way. Instead of only...

AI Learning

Reflect on Software Engineering

08 May 2026

One thing I learned from this class is that software engineering is much broader than just building websites. Even though we used web technologies throughout the semester, the main focus was really on learning how to work on larger projects...

Reflection Learning

Reflection on Effort Estimation

04 May 2026

Where did the time go? My effort estimates were mostly based on how hard I thought each task would be and whether I had done something similar before. For simpler things like UI pages, the estimates were usually closer, but...

Estimating Time Management Learning

Reflection of Design Patterns

29 Apr 2026

deja-vu isn’t always a bad thing When people ask about design patterns, I think of them like how kitchens are organized. Plates are usually near the silverware, not because there is a rule, but because it makes sense after enough...

Patterns Design Learning

Reflection of UI frameworks

25 Feb 2026

Managing Complexity in Modern Web Design Through UI Frameworks User interface frameworks are often underestimated by beginners who see them as a cosmetic layer placed on top of HTML and CSS. In practice, they introduce an abstraction layer that reshapes...

UI HTML Learning

Reflect on Coding Standards

11 Feb 2026

Coding standards are often dismissed as superficial formatting rules, but I see them as one of the most effective tools for improving software quality. Strong standards create consistency, reduce ambiguity, and make large codebases easier to read and maintain. I...

Reflection Learning

See all 9 essays