Rezhwan Kamal

About Me

Welcome to my website!

My name is Rezhwan (the 'zh' is like the 'si' in 'vision'), and I also go by Rez. I was born and raised in Kurdistan. At 17 I flew to Philadelphia to study at Swarthmore College, where I was always set on a double major in Computer Science and Engineering. Currently I am in the 3rd year of what has been a rigorous, but incredibly rewarding, journey.

I love programming as a means for solving interesting problems. To this end, I have worked on a variety of projects inside and outside of class, covering areas like embedded systems, computer architecture, optimization, and more. I have also worked full-time writing and debugging code as an undergraduate research assistant. Right now, I am learning about frontend web development and analog electronics. Scroll down to learn more!

Studying at a top liberal arts college has allowed me to explore non-technical fields, too. During my time in school, I've worked as a consultant for my school's Linguistics department and designed behavioral science experiments that were actually implemented in Nairobi. I think these experiences have given me some breadth that would make my perspective a good addition to any engineering team.

In my free time, I like to play chess, solve crossword puzzles and watch soccer. I'm a lifelong supporter of Real Madrid!

Projects

Computational Tools for Sorani Kurdish. This was a semester-long project for a Computational Linguistics course taught by Prof. Jonathan Washington, in which I was asked to develop tools for an under-resourced language via a platform called Apertium. I chose my native language (Kurdish), and I had a lot of fun implementing Kurdish grammar in various computational forms, including lexd and XHTML. I also became comfortable using Git and navigating a large software project with lots of moving parts and a ton of code that wasn't mine. My final portfolio included a uniquely-designed MacOS keyboard layout, a finite-state Kurdish transducer, a Kurdish-English bilingual translation package, and a working spellchecker. I also presented my deliverables at a poster session. GitHub Wiki

Ecommerce Algorithm Optimization. I received a grant in 2021 to work on a project under the guidance of an alum. The project was with Walden Local Meat Co, a meat packing startup near Boston. My supervisor, Nick Sohn, asked me to optimize the company's logistics algorithm, used to determine when to deliver to subscribed customers every month. The algorithm's purpose was to pick a cost-effective date for the next delivery to a given subscriber without disrupting the regularity in deliveries that they would expect.

I first used statistical tools to form hypotheses about the algorithm's weaknesses from a year of delivery data. I then created a C++ class with dynamic programming methods to simulate the algorithm's performance under different initial conditions. I exercised creativity in coming up with performance metrics for evaluating the algorithm. My final deliverable was a new algorithm which improved upon the existing one by 15%. GitHub