Zach Clawson

About Me

I am a senior Applied Computing major at PennWest Edinboro with experience in software development, software engineering, game programming, creative writing, and web and database technologies. Throughout my time in college, I have taken on leadership, technical, and service roles that strengthened my collaboration and problem-solving skills. I pride myself on being creative, reliable, respectful, thoughtful, and hard-working.

Computer Science Club

Secretary → Vice President → President

COGS (Creation of Games Society)

Co-Founder & Treasurer

Programming Team

Member & Captain

Computer Science Tutor

Academic support in programming and core CS concepts

Community Assistant

Leadership & mentorship in campus housing

Catholic Scots

Active campus organization member

My Game Development Journey

Picnic Pocketers

A fun game about colleting food

Picnic Pocketers is a game I helped develop in Unreal Engine 4.7 as a part of a software engineering course. It is small game about collecting as much food as possible in the given time while avoiding different mobs and navigating different worlds.

Download (Windows)

AATTMF

Accident at the Time Machine Factory

AATTMF is a game I helped develop in Unreal Engine 5.3.2 as a part of a software engineering course. After a Time machine blows up at the factory players, traverse across 4 time periods: Prehistoric, Medieval, Western, and Future. They have collect parts to put the Time machine back together, reknit the time-stream, and save the world.

Download (Windows)

Contract Construction

Infiltrate and complete the mission

Contract Construction is the first 3D game project I helped develop. It is a spy-like game where the player must avoid detection, collect the right keys, and defeat the Ultimate Bossman.

Download (Windows)

Mitten's Great Adventure

Recover the Whole(y) Milk Jug

Mitten's Great Adventure was my first venture in to 2D Game Development and Game Development as a whole. It's a short and sweet platformer where you must collect coins, navigate the world, and get to the milk.

Download (Windows)

Yeti Run

Ski down the mountain, and stop the Lava People

This is the result of my second Game Jam that I did with a bunch of buddies. The theme was Momentum and the extra themes we applied were freeze and duplication. It was a fun figuring out how to make a line drawing game. We placed in the middle of the pack.

Play on Itch.io

Crazy Games

A venture into mobile app development

This is a project I have working in Android studio. It's an arcade style app where a player can register, log-in, and complete a series of arcade games. Currently there is a magic 8-ball that works off sensors and a Simon Says mini-game.

Download Zip

My Coding Journey

Artificial Intelligence

In this class I built basic algorithms that mimic intelligence and were able to solve A Sudoku (4x4) puzzle and implement a variety of searches to solve an 8-puzzle. I also learned the logical language Prolog which we used to navigate a dungeon (grid with obstacles). A zip file containg this work is below.

Download Zip

Object Orientened programming

In this class I learned about, user-defined types, information hiding, encapsulation, objected-oriented design, object-oriented programming basics, classes and objects, methods, inter-object communication, public vs private interface implementation, constructors and destructors, inheritance, operator overloading, polymorphism, and templates. The following Zip contains projects such as an implementation of The Simple Game System (TSGS) by Chris Gonnerman, a 2D array class, and an implementation of the game concentration.

Download Zip

Computer Graphics

Projects that include games, animations, and model manipulation

A collection of projects showcasing key concepts in computer graphics, including graphical display devices, graphics software primitives, and the representation, manipulation, and rendering of two- and three-dimensional objects. The work also highlights interactive graphics, user interface design, animation, and the application of matrix-based computations in coding.

View Projects

Data Structures and Algorithms

Projects that include exploration stacks, queues, priority queues, linked lists, etc. I also did a project where we create a menu that acted as a front-end for a game manager in the back end that could be used to organize a colletion of board games. Algorithm related projects include a program that solves the Stable matching problem and graph traversal using Breadth-First Search (BFS).

Download Zip

Portfolio Website

Personal Web Development Project

I designed and built a responsive portfolio using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Features include dynamic tabs, interactive game showcases, and clean UI design.

Kattis Solutions

Problem Solving & Algorithms

A collection of algorithmic solutions written in C++ covering graphs, dynamic programming, and data structures.

View Profile

Web Development

Projects that explore the various uses of javascript in web development

A collection of projects showcasing various uses of the java script language from dynamically adding elements to building a checkout menu to using cookies to track informtation. This class I also made a somewhat personalized website that could be used for information across the many leagues in League Of Legends esports.

View WebDev

Principles to Programming

This includes some projects of when I first started out on my coding journey. It includes an encyrption (Caesar) program, a High-Ho-Cherry-O simulation, and a simple songs database.

Download Zip

Introduction to Programming

These are my projects from when I first began to learn how to code in C++ It includes a madlib, a simulation of the public good games, a unit converter, and a guessing game between player and computer.

Download Zip

Hobbies and Intrests

Esports

Watching and following competitive gaming scenes.

Reading

Enjoying fiction and storytelling.

Video Games

My favorite games.

Board Games

Strategy and social competition.

Family and Pets

What could I do without them?

Travel

Exploring new places.

Sports

My sports Journy throughout the years.

Miscellaneous

Fun I've had through the years.

Writing

I love creating and building new worlds and stories.

Esports

My favorite Teams and Me

This is me repping my PennWest Edinboro esports freshman year.

My favourite League of Legends Team.

My favourite Valorant Team.

Video Games

My favorite Video games to play and Watch

League of Legends: My favorite champ is Kia'Sa.

Valorant: My favorite agent is Clove.

One of my first games on my first console.

My favorite RPG Series of all time.

My second favorite RPG series.

My favorite Mario game to watch. Go Moarf + Smant.

TFT: My favorite auto battler.

One of my favorite party/friend games.

One of my first competive Hero shooters. Childhood memories.

Reading

My favorite books and novels across different mediums

FAVORITE!! Brandon Sanderson the G.O.A.T.

Second favorite Cosmere series.

Favorite Cosmere hidden novel.

Another great series.

My favorite webtoon of all time.

A childhood series that hooked me deeper into reading.

Another childhood favorite.

My Shelf of Sanderson.

Second favorite Webtoon.

I've been a little more into cosy novels lately. Great book.

Board Games

Loads of fun with my family and friends

My current favorite board game. The expansions add so much fun.

Current favorite deduction game.

Classic game with the family.

Lots of laughs with friends and family.

Loved playing in highschool history class.

Family and Pets

Woderful Memories and Pictures

My callico cat Callie.

Shopping with my Grandparents.

My Chocolate Lab Max.

My Cousin's dog Gia.

Biking the boardwalk at OC, NJ.

Childhood dog Shiva and Callie.

Bella the cat.

Holly the dog.

My cousin and younger siblings built a snowman

Miscellaneous

Great Memories through life's journey

At SuperHero Themed Club Rush.

Movie with my friend Ron.

Parade Float for Res Life: Whimsical Themed.

Community Service at Thrifty Threads.

My favorite CA Bulletein Board I've done.

SkyDiving!!!

Splatter Board from CA All Hall where we won All Hall of the year.

Ice Pea shooter I sketched and colored making Cards for Kids.

Trees from WCU while at PACISE.

SEEK at Washinton D.C.

Cards for Kids #2.

Buffalo Wild Wings with the Catholic Scots.

Solving a Christmas themed Escape Room.

Poster Contest for CS Club.

Nice sunset in Edinboro.

My friend Russ's wedding.

Ballon animal at St.Patrick's day Feast.

Penn State Game.

Me at Puppy Palooza with a friend of mine.

A Haunted House I went through at Ghost Lake with friends.

Nice Christmas Tree in the Mall.

Cards for Kids #3.

Flag Football with Friends.

SuperBowl Party with Friends.

Cool 3D prints at Autumn Leaf Festival.

Sketch I did for Inktober.

Picture from the eclipse in 2024.

First Purchased Car.

Building my first PC.

Dragon from the Pittsburgh Zoo latern festival.

Claude Monet Lillies I saw during a French Field trip.

Younger me at Labor Day Market with some birds.

Travel

Adventures throughout the world

Picture of my by the 7 Colors Lagoon.

Kennedy Space Center.

Pretty Tree in the Caribbean.

Water Diving show on Wonder of the Sea Cruise.

Costa Maya.

Favorite Mini Golf place in Ocean City, NJ.

Pittsburgh Skyline from PNC Park.

Board Walk Sunset from OC, NJ #1.

Mayan Temples in Mexico.

Cabin in Tennesse.

Trail in the Pocono Mountains.

Steve the Seagull.

Photo of me in a life guard booth at OC, NJ.

Mini Golf with my Pap.

Sunset in Florida.

Dragon at Universal.

Avatar at Disney.

Standing on a Glacier.

Inside a Church at Washington D.C.

Beautiful lake in Canada.

Breathtaking Canadian Mountain.

Lake and Mountain Combo in Canada.

Sunrise in New Jersey.

Sports

Journey throughout school

Pitching in Little League.

Warming up for an at bat in HS.

Soccor.

Playing Defense on the Perimeter.

My twin and I in uniform for HS Basketball.