Joe Cowman

Software Engineer

and 

Designer

Technical skill with a creative touch

I’m Joe Cowman, a full-stack software engineer, user interface designer, musician, and open-source enthusiast from Omaha, Nebraska.

I spend much of my time, as the legendary Fred Brooks put it, working “only slightly removed from pure thought stuff.” I'm fascinated by the art and craft of building software, and I love working with both sides of my brain to develop things that are not only functionally sound, but also creative and fun.

I’m especially passionate about using technology for education and other good-focused causes. I was a youth robotics coach for years, have been involved with several nonprofits, and briefly co-led an organization dedicated to reducing harmful textile waste. I’m inspired by industry leaders who have used their skills and blessings to change the world in positive ways. My dream is to have a similar impact through doing what I love—building neat software.

My journey started in Nebraska, but I’ve followed this dream to Silicon Valley, Seattle, and beyond. Whether I’m building animated menu components for a startup, reimagining Facebook features so they can work on basic platforms without JavaScript support, or designing an open-source library that lets you play games just by talking to them, I love every technical constraint and seek to push the boundaries of what can be achieved, discovering “things that never were nor could be.”

Skills

  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • React
  • C#
  • Mocha/Chai
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • Java
  • Python
  • ASP.NET
  • R
  • Hack
  • React Native
  • Git
  • Jest
  • Spring Framework
  • Sketch
  • Technical Writing
  • UI Design
  • Public Speaking
  • Teaching
  • Project Management

Work Experience

Facebook

Software Engineer Intern

  • Redesigned several Facebook Crisis Response tool features to function on older phones without JavaScript support, connecting roughly 1.5 million additional users per month to helpful information during widespread emergencies
  • Designed and launched a new product to help people in developing countries have easier access to Facebook’s services
  • Worked extensively with global, legal, and policy partners to approve product launch and established a monitoring plan to assess impact on driving company goals

Kodestarters

Software Engineer Intern

  • Led the design and development of a web dashboard for a local construction company, providing key features like inventory label printing and report generation
  • Overhauled a React Native mobile application, achieving the client’s vision by focusing on animation and better user experience
  • Created a library of adaptable, high-quality React Native components for the company to reuse in future projects

Microsoft

Explorer Intern

  • Served as a project manager and software engineer on a Microsoft Edge extension that enhanced the browsing experience of international users
  • Worked closely with accessibility and data analytics experts to design the extension’s user interface as intuitively as possible

Mutual of Omaha

Information Technology Intern

  • Led development on multiple RESTful web microservices using the Spring Framework as part of the company’s authentication service
  • Implemented a system that helped migrate legacy applications to the continuous integration pipeline

Design Portfolio

Music Video App Login Mockup

Soloblast

Music Video App Login

  • Mockup for a music video sharing mobile application's Login and Sign Up pages
  • The background image and primary button color is intented to change occasionally to create a more dynamic experience

Wikipedia Reimagined

Article Page Redesign

  • My design created for a "Wikipedia Redesign" challenge, which intended to make the Article page more engaging and cleaner than its current design
  • In this design, each article's primary photo becomes a splash image that fades seamlessly into the body of the article, accompanied by a key fact about the topic
Music Video App Login Mockup

Personal Projects

Regal Framework

Language-based Game Development Tools

  • Since 2018, I've been developing a collection of TypeScript libraries intended to allow developers to build games which can be played by talking to them
  • The main library of the framework, the Regal Game Library, provides a functional-programming-inspired approach to developing games. Using Regal Bundler and the Regal CLI, these Regal games can be deployed onto a variety of platforms, such as web, mobile, and even smart assistants
  • Check it out on GitHub

Indy

Automated Node Package Regression Tester

  • My ongoing project to develop a command line utility for Node package maintainers that automatically checks whether a potential code change would break any existing projects that depend on the package being tested
  • Developed with TypeScript and npm
  • Check it out on GitHub

Pupcycle

Sustainable Retail Startup

  • Co-founded a startup that sold pet products created from recycled materials in an effort to reduce textile waste
  • My specific responsibilities included partnering with local businesses to establish selling channels and developing a cloud-based bookkeeping application to track our product