About Me

I am a senior at George Fox University pursuing a degree in electrical engineering, graduating in May 2026. With a strong foundation in both hardware and software, I am preparing to start a career where I can apply my skills in microwave engineering, embedded system design, or embedded software. Throughout my education I have gained hands on experience with VNA's, microwave circuit design, embedded system design using Altium, embedded programming, BJT's and transistor amplifiers, filter design, programming in C and C#, Matlab, and Verilog. My coursework provided extensive opportunities to apply my skills through projects including: designing and manufacturing a rat race coupler, developing a BJT audio amplifier, designing and manufacturing embedded systems, building and analyzing a heartbeat sensor, and programming games like Simon and Breakout on embedded systems.

Outside school, I am a curious learner, avid explorer, and creator. I enjoy hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, and camping. When not exploring, I love perusing personal projects in the realm of video game development, rocketry, and microcontrollers, where I can learn new skills and grow in technical knowledge. I thrive when faced with intricate problems, where logical solutions are required.

Classmates, professors and mentors know me as a personable leader, and logical thinker. Who works well on a team, and who brings a logical approach to complex problems. I value responsibility, teamwork, and honesty, I seek opportunities where I can contribute to teams that create impactful products for a better future. Upon completing my degree, I am eager to build on my technical foundation and contribute to high-impact teams working at the forefront of microwave engineering and embedded hardware/software development.

Projects

Engineering Keypad: (Personal Project)(In Progress!)

In summer of 2025, I decided to delve into the relm of keyboard making. This came about from my love and interest for embedded system design. Out of all the classes I've taken in college embedded system's was definitly my favorite, and I wanted to learn more about embedded systems, and microcontroller design. This took me down a path of learning how an arduino works, the purpose of each component, and how it interfaces with the microchip. I started this process by creating a test board for an Atmega 32U4 chip.

Desgin Details (To be updated as project progresses)

Atmega 32U4 to control 9 keys
Keys can be programmed as anything the user wants. (with intent to be used for engineering symbols for easier documentation)

Skills Learned (so far)

Microchip setup with 16 MHz oscillator
How to burn an arduino bootloader using an arduino uno as an ISP

The Next steps for this project are to take the knowledge I learned from the test board, and impliment it onto the the keyboard module. Once this step is complete I will be able to connect it to my computer and code in the functionality of the keys. What I am currently working on is the keyboard module. This module is a simple key matrix that will connect to the Atmega 32U4 micro.

Breakout Game: (ENGE 320 Project)

As a student taking microprocessor architecture, I coded, in C, the game Breakout on a school provided development board which used ARM architecture. Some functions of the program include: the base game of breakout with the ball bouncing off the paddle, and bricks breaking, different game modes, different ways to control the paddle (joystick and tilting the device), a home screen to select the game modes and control options as well as a high score menu.

Design Details

Bricks break when the ball hits them
Can control the padel with joystick or device tilt
2 different game modes: Limited padel movement (side/side), Unlimited padel movement (side/side and up/down)
Ball speeds up when all bricks have been broken
High score is tracked on main menu screen
Demo mode that plays the game for you

Skills Learned

Microchip Studio
C programming
Timers and interupts
Under the hood game design
Drivers for embedded systems

Video of final game!

3D Display: (ENGE 420 Project)

As a student taking embedded systems at George Fox University, I researched, designed, and produced a 3D Display. Using Altium Designer, I designed an embedded system to drive 48 LEDS and drive a 12V DC motor. This system was controlled using an ESP-32 and powered by a 12V DC wall plug. To achieve a 3D effect, the LEDS were spun around in a circle at a rate where the eye perceives multiple copies of LEDS.

Design Details

Controlled 2 LED driver chips, drving 48 LED's total
Converted 12 VDC into usable 5 VDC for ESP32 Micro
I2C Accelerator to lessen rise times

Skills Learned

Altium Designer
General process for creating embedded systems
Embedded system debugging
Datasheet reading

Overall, this project was a success in that the embedded system I designed drove 48 LEDS and drove the motor at acceptable speeds. Some flaws/failures I had during this project include, making the LED boards to large to fit on the solder paste printer (I had to solder them by hand), and choosing a motor that spun too fast (this ended up breaking my 3D printed mounts that hold the LED boards).

Video of Working Prototype!

Contact

Connect with Me on LinkedIn!

Email: ckowalski2002@outlook.com