Jonah Kowal
Hey there! I’m Jonah, a second-year computer science student at the University of Washington in Seattle.I’m interested in a wide variety of things in computer science, but right now I’m most interested in creating software that is first and foremost fun to use, and that connects people to the world around them. I like to excite and draw people out of routine to try something new.
I attempted this aspiration with my 15th Avenue Photobooth project, which repurposed traffic cameras into a quirky photobooth available to all. Try it out on your phone!
Currently, I am collaborating on a project to reimagine your browser’s new tab. We’re developing an extension that replaces that familiar page with a dashboard compiling all things you need to know. It includes content such as your assignments due soon, weather, what’s on your calendar, and more, and it’s all customizable! Look for that releasing sometime soon in the future.
Outside of CS, I like to bike, hike, and explore the city. I’m very interested in city planning, and I’m looking to minor in Urban Planning (as well as Mathematics) at UW.
On this website you can find my resume, my contact information, as well as my various thoughts on urban planning, computer science, and whatever else interests me.
My blog
- My recent posts
- My computer science posts
- My urban planning posts
- 2025-06-03 19:46:00 +0000 quality vs. affordability: a case study
- 2025-05-05 21:16:00 +0000 notes on my hometown
- Other posts
- archive
- rss
My resume
Education
University of Washington
Seattle, WA | Sep. 2024 - Jun. 2027Bachelor of Science in Computer Science; GPA: 3.91
Sammamish High School
Bellevue, WA | Sep. 2020 - Jun. 2024High School Diploma; GPA: 4.0
Experience
Teaching Assistant (TA)
University of Washington
Seattle, WA | Sep. 2025 - Present- Undergraduate TA for Computer Science introductory class
- Teaching a 20+ person quiz section the fundamentals of Computer Science and Java
- Leading students in debugging code and guiding them towards solutions
Instructional Assistant
University of Washington Youth and Teen Programs
Seattle, WA | Jun. 2025 - Aug. 2025- Assisted in three classes teaching the next generation of students Java
- Boosted learning by eagerly answering questions as they arose
- Guided students with their own projects as they explored programming topics that engaged them.
- Presented and gave advice on navigating AI in our current world
Administrative Intern
St. James Cathedral
Seattle, WA | Jun. 2024 - Sep. 2025- St. James Cathedral is a Seattle landmark and mother church of the Archdiocese of Seattle. In addition to regular religious services, it provides immigration assistance, mental health services, and assistance to the homeless.
- Boosted Children’s program efficiency by supporting transition from paper tracking to a full online system.
Projects
Ubiquifi Newtab
May 2025 - Present | Svelte, Typescript, Figma- In-development browser extension that replaces the default browser new tab with a customizable dashboard
- Pulls data from several sources including Google Calendar, Open-Meteo Weather, Github, Gradescope, Canvas, and more to provide users with a broad overview of what they need to know
- Designed in Figma with user documentation provided via a Jekyll-based doc. website
15th Avenue Photobooth
Jun. 2025 | Svelte, Typescript, Figma- Weekend project utilizing public traffic cameras and repurposing them into a public photobooth
- I saw an opportunity - a traffic camera facing a pedestrian overpass above a busy road - and transformed it into an entertaining service
Show and Tell
Oct. 2024 | Java Spring, React, Typescript, MongoDB, Auth0- Social media platform built in a weekend for Dubhacks Hackathon
- Connects users with others with similar interests, encouraging inspiration through cyclical sharing
- I built the backend with Java Spring, integrating MongoDB and Auth0, and assisted with the frontend.
Craigslist Tracker
Jun. 2024 - Aug. 2024 | React, Typescript, Python (Flask), MongoDB- A web app built with Typescript and Python
- Periodically crawls Craigslist for product prices to track and predict trends over time.
- I built the frontend with React, the backend with Flask, and stored data with MongoDB.
Skills
Languges: Java, Python, C/C++, SQL, JavaScript, HTML/CSSFrameworks: React, Node.js, Flask, JUnit, WordPress, Material-UI
Tools: Git, Docker, VS Code, Visual Studio, PyCharm, IntelliJ, Eclipse
Libraries: pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, date-fns, ical.js