William Osei-Hwere

About

I’m a junior at Dakota State University studying Computer Science with a focus in Cybersecurity and Software Engineering. I enjoy stepping outside my comfort zone and tackling things most people wouldn’t typically try.
This portfolio is my attempt to learn HTML/CSS/JS through hands-on design and development. I’m naturally curious, so I ask a lot of questions when I’m exploring something new. Outside of tech, I love playing basketball, soccer, and piano. I’m also really into graphic design, as I am really fascinated about creative processes.
In my downtime, you’ll find me reading or gaming. And most importantly, my faith is a big part of who I am. As a devout Christian,I try to lead by example in everything I do.

Projects

Summer 2025 - Online Portfolio

Language: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Purpose: My goal with this project was to see if I could apply what I learned over the summer about web development. I took a course online to understand how websites are built, and I wanted to use this as a chance to showcase both my work and my identity. It includes some cool features that took a lot of time to think through and implement. I built it to test my creative boundaries with animation, interactivity, and styling.
Still refining and improving based on user feedback and design best practices.

Spring 2025
Flight Finder & Tracker

Language: C++
Purpose:This project involved parsing and processing two large datasets: one containing airport information (city, state, name, etc.), and another detailing flights between those airports (distance, cost, flight numbers, etc.). I developed a system capable of extracting routes, calculating costs, and determining optimal paths using graph-based algorithms. The entire system was designed to handle real-world complexity and took roughly a month to complete.
Thought Process: Uses BFS, DFS, and Dijkstra to find routes and cheapest paths. Used structs and classes to store similar things about an airport or a flight path. Used 3D vectors to store flights and unordered maps for storing airport indexes for easy finding.

Spring 2024
Shopping Menu & Cart

Language: C++
Purpose: Built a real-time shopping cart. I was playing around with how best I can present a shopping cart and print out a nice receipt. This project was much more centered on making a very friendly and interactive user interface. I experimented with how much flexibility I could give my code so that adding new items, changing prices, or modifying the receipt format would require minimal changes to the core logic.
Thought Process: I used structs to define product templates, vectors to handle dynamic cart entries, and functions to manage cart operations like add, remove, and checkout. The final output was a cleanly formatted terminal-based receipt using tools like `setw`, `left`, and `setprecision`.

Fall 2024
Tries VS Hashing VS Sequential

Language: C++
Purpose:To experimentally compare data retrieval methods, I implemented three key search techniques — sequential search, hashing, and tries — on two large datasets with over 500,000 keys. I built a custom hash function and tested both linear probing and chaining for collision resolution. While collisions were minimal, the project offered valuable insights into trade-offs between simplicity, speed, and memory efficiency across the different methods. Results Screenshot

Skills & Proficiencies

Calculus
Used in: Algorithms & data visualisation

Linear Algebra
Used in: 3D graphics, matrix operations, and ML basics

Discrete Math
Used in: Graph algorithms, understanding encryption and decryption.

Statistics
Used in: Data analysis and presentation

Assembly Language
Studied x86 and x64 instruction sets; explored memory layout, registers, and calling conventions.

Networking
Hands-on with OSI model, wireshark, networks, wiring.

Software Security
Explored many different vulnerabilities and their fixes.

Data Structures
Core topics in CS I & II: Linked lists, trees, stacks, heaps.

Advanced Data Structures
Queues, tries, and disjoint sets, unordered maps and sets.

Computer Science I & II
Built foundational C++ apps with object-oriented logic

Web Development
Self taught, created portfolio with HTML, CSS, JS, and animations

Python
Used for scripting automation and data scraping tasks

Reflections - Behind the Code🎯

🧩 What I’m Still Figuring Out

July 2025

I’m still exploring my niche within tech. While I have a strong interest in software engineering and development, I’ve become increasingly drawn to cybersecurity. I’m especially excited by the possibilities that lie at the intersection of both disciplines. This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at an organization that gave me the freedom to rotate through multiple IT departments. That hands-on exposure deepened my understanding of both the technical and strategic aspects of the field. More importantly, it fueled my curiosity and made me even more eager to expand my skill set across development, security, and systems. I’m committed to becoming a versatile engineer who can build, secure, and innovate.

🌍 Summer is What You Make of It

July 2025

Coming into this summer, I had no crazy expectations. I’d made a last-minute decision to return to Ghana, hoping to handle a few personal matters, and maybe gain some experience while I was here. Somewhere along the way, I found purpose. I set a few goals: build my personal website (which you’re now seeing), sharpen my coding skills, and hit 200 LinkedIn connections by the end of summer. I also set personal targets that helped give shape to my days. That structure made a real difference. Even with a packed schedule, having clear intentions gave me a sense of urgency and direction. And while I didn’t complete every goal, I’ve made solid progress. I wrapped up my internship, built this site, learned HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and I’m still learning and growing; both technically and personally. I realise that I didn’t need the “perfect” plan to grow, I just needed to start.

Contact

Let's connect if you’re interested in my work or collaboration!

Email: william.osei-hwere@trojans.dsu.edu

Hello! I am William Osei-Hwere.