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Myriam Batista is a highly accomplished technology professional with over 25 years of experience. She has held technical and leadership roles at several organizations, including Fidelity Investments, State Street Global Markets, and Reef Systems, where she currently serves as the Chief Information and Compliance Officer. Myriam's extensive technical background and leadership skills have been instrumental in driving success and delivering innovative solutions for clients. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a Master of Science in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.
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Douglas Boynton is an accomplished IT professional with a range of certifications and expertise in areas such as Windows Server administration, network security, and database management. He holds various certifications, including Microsoft Technology Associate and CompTIA certifications, and has experience supporting the IT infrastructure for different organizations.
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Xerxes Cama is a highly skilled Business Technology Management professional with a unique ability to identify, develop and execute business and technology solutions that generate new revenue streams. Xerxes can problem solve, provide strategic direction, and communicate up to CxO. His approach to technology learning is via step-by-step checklists which automatically translate to knowing what to do when learners see similar problem patterns. Xerxes also can provide clear direction to learners that inspires confidence. He has a reputation for consistently performing the "impossible” and is recognized for leadership by peers. His technical skills include Data Lake Design & Build Data Lake, Visualization of Data Lake, Design Implementation of Data Lake for Cloud Migration.
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Bobby Clifton brings a varied experience to students. He started in the music manufacturing industry, learned technology, and now build cloud-based systems. His strong communications and ability to makes learning simpler by looking beyond content help learners focus on usability. He can go seamlessly between topics by offering deep technical knowledge where required in Microsoft technologies. This includes many Azure products, C#, and SQL Server. Bo also coaches and mentors those that want to enter technical consulting roles.
Michael Dombrowski is an experienced DevSecOps engineer and cloud administrator with a passion for integrating new technologies and processes into business to enhance security and integrity. He has over 8 years of experience in secure cloud solutions, Linux systems administration, and cybersecurity. Michael holds a Bachelor's degree in Organizational Security and Management and has a range of industry certifications, including Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals and several GIAC and CompTIA certifications.
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Eric Decker teaches the Modeling for Insights module of Data Science Immersive. Within that module, he delivers Business Context and Microsoft Excel. Eric's role as an accomplished technology and people leader helps set up the context for analytics well for learners. On top of that, his experiences in Software Development, Application Portfolio Management, Enterprise Architecture, and Scrum is a boon for learners who receive an end-to-end objective for enterprise projects.
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Ekzhin Ear is a Cybersecurity Penetration Testing expert. He has over 19 years of military experience in leadership in addition to technical expertise within the cyber domain. His 11+ certifications in the Cybersecurity domain speak for themselves. On top of the noted accomplishments, Ekzhin also designed a Divergence Academy's first Professional Hacker Divergence Challenge to help learners prepare for Industry recognized Offensive Security Certified Professional certification. His motivational and high-energy hands-on delivery of the Security & Pentesting module helps learners walk away with an interest and curiosity to continue in the Cybersecurity pathway. Ekzhin has received 12 awards for his military service from 2203-2020.
Roger Fleming is Cybersecurity Team Leader for Americas at Microsoft. Roger's 20+ years of experience with many of the top Industry Certifications, and Degrees in Information Technologies and Information Security makes him an expert. His certifications include CISSP, MCSE, MCP, MCP+I, CCSA, CCSE, CCSE+E, CCNA, CCAI, CCSI, CWP, CCFE, CEH, CHFI, ITIL v3.0. His hands-on experience with tools includes Check Point Firewalls, Microsoft Active Directory, Computer Associates Single SignOn, and Scripting Languages. Roger also has the skills to assess the technical capabilities of support engineers and develop technical development plans to address identified gaps. This helps Divergence Academy's learners too with more specific learning plans. Roger also provides coaching when necessary to learners to own and resolve their own technical challenges.
Eric Foulkrod’s expertise is in delivering CompTIA instruction to underemployed and disadvantaged students. These courses include Network+, Security+, Cloud+, and Windows Server. He has many recognitions including NHLS Tech Instructor of the Year 2017 Nominee, Three-time Top Instructor in the World. Eric also has a unique ability to bring deliver blended remove live with on-demand lab learning using Microsoft Teams.
Durga Gadiraju graduated from P.B. Siddhartha College with a master’s degree in computer applications; 18+ years of experience in the field of Computer Science including the last 10 years in Data Engineering and Data Analytics working for various large enterprise companies such as IBM, Congnizant and Symphony Teleca.
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Moises Garcia's expertise is in deploying monitoring and implementing cybersecurity operations using various forms of virtualization to multiple cloud platforms. His expertise includes Security and Pentesting at the Security Operations Center (SOC) and making posture recommendations in near real-time of the event. Connecting to learners about security monitoring, incident triage, creating watchlists for proactive security protections makes him an expert in the field.
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Ross Ghiasi is an expert at developing solution strategies at Microsoft to support customer digital transformations. This helps with instruction at Divergence where learners understand various problem sets that exist across industries (ex. Toyota Connected) related to Process Automation. His teaching methods help learners with mock interview preparations, hands-on Proof-of-concept & Prototype Minimum Viable Product (MVP) implementations. Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft Teams, and O365 Cloud usage are his strengths. Ross is active in the pre-sale community, shares his best practices, supports peers to broaden community impact through Power Platform adoption. The multiple efforts listed here make him an expert in the Business Intelligence and Data Analytics field.
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Carlos Gonzalez is a BI Consultant and a Data Architect. Carlos brings his hands-on consulting experience specific to creating Enterprise Data Platforms and transferring the work products developed to internal teams to help learners understand the knowledge transfer issues. Carlos is good with standards of data ingestion. His technology expertise includes Azure DevOps CI/CD, Azure Data Factory / Mapping Data Flows, Data Modeling, SQL Server, Power Pivot, Power Query, and Power BI Dashboards.
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Bret Harder is Network and Security Operations Lead at Divergence Academy. He is also a lead for Divergence's Managed Services Provider (MSP) for Security and Analytics practice. The dual role gives him a vantage point to bring out the best of learner's Knowledge, skills, and Abilities for the entry-level careers in Help Desk, Tech Support, Engineering services support. Bret is also aware of the Cyber Operations Technician Apprenticeship requirements. His Microsoft technical support experience managing challenging customers makes him an expert.
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Logan Hillard’s experience of working at Microsoft as Tech Lead for Tier3 Network support group gives him a unique vantage point to connect with early-career learners. Most learners coming of Cybersecurity program look for early-career work in the fields of Tech Support which include Cloud and Network Engineering Support, Incident Management, and Help Desk. Logan's expertise also includes building and upgrading the network infrastructures for Fortune 500 companies. Learning beyond content at Divergence includes hands-on work and the ability to explain the problems using network traces and Microsoft network diagnostics to pinpoint network problems and create action plans. Logan can provide the level of instruction by integrating all these facets.
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With a strong educational background in Aerospace Engineering, Ankit Jariwala has amassed over 12 years of experience in the technology industry, specializing in a broad range of areas which include AWS and GCP, big data technologies, containerization, Git, programming languages, web services, relational databases, BI visualization tools, and ETL tools. Throughout his career, Ankit has held several positions, including Advisor Architect, Data Architect, Principal Data Engineer, and Senior Technical Consultant. In his free time, he enjoys scuba diving and piloting airplanes.
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Ralph Lloren is a cybersecurity expert with a Master of Science in Cybersecurity and Information Awareness. He served in the United States Air Force for 6 years, where he was a Security Operations Center Supervisor and a Security Incident Response Lead/Project Manager. Ralph holds numerous certifications, including CISM, CISSP, and AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate. With a diverse background in nursing and IT, Ralph has expertise in security incident response, project management, and IT policy development.
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Lawrence Lachman is a Data Scientist and Senior Machine Learning Engineer with extensive development and leadership experience. Larry has the skills to assess a company’s infrastructural needs, provision their systems, and help them take their AI and machine learning models from conception to production on-premises and in the Microsoft Azure Cloud. Larry is also experienced in applying statistical programming and exploratory data analysis techniques and building machine learning and AI predictive models in behavioral marketing, HR management, natural language processing, and oil and gas domains. In addition to the emerging technologies of AI and machine learning, Larry's experience runs from the complex shader programming to the engineering rigor of manned flight simulators to the intricacies of web and cloud-based development. Larry is also adept at leading multi-functional development teams during all phases of the project lifecycle from inception to release, utilizing Agile or traditional methodologies. He has shipped 11 commercial quality software products, holds nine patents, and has four patents pending. His areas of expertise include CloudBased Enterprise Software Architecture & Development, CI/CD DevOps, Embedded Systems, and Process Improvement.
Roger Le's experience as a Web Development and Data Analytics instructor for the continuing education departments of universities for a period of 12-24 weeks include the University of Texas at Austin, Southern Methodist University, University of Minnesota, George Washington University, UC Berkeley, Ohio State University, and Northwestern University. His varied experience across Cyber and Data domains makes him an expert. The IT domains range from HTML, CSS, JavaScript, APIs, MySQL, MongoDB, Python, Tableau, Pandas, SQLAlchemy, D3.js, Plotly, Data Analysis, Machine Learning, and Neural Networks. His ability to bring a solution development perspective and assist early career learners find a pathway to a job makes him an expert.
Jerrod Loyless is an Air Force officer with over 23 years of experience in Information Technology and Information Security. His expertise is with delivering various security implementations. Strengths include architecting answers to complex technical problems, leading teams, presenting solutions for all levels from peers to C-level executives, and implementing Information Security strategies. His experiences across the spectrum of IT and Security gives Jerrod the ability to communicate with various audiences.
Cory Matt is an expert in tools and technologies related to Information Systems security. His communications skills and ability to translate technology into simple concepts help learners pick up planning and deployment of tech. He leads study sessions, works on his personal projects from Linux shell scripts to log analysis and troubleshooting. In the current ransomware environment, Cory's expertise to use multiple tools and technologies from Windows to Linux (various distributions) and others like Atlassian Jira, VMWare vSphere, Bitdefender Gravity Zone (cloud and on-premises solutions) makes him an expert.
Joseph Meyer is an Analytics and Optimization expert. Joseph's experience includes the application of analytics towards audience segmentation & performance, and online A/B or multivariate tests. The direct application of Business Analytics towards marketing is valuable for learners getting into the world of Business and Data Analytics. Joseph's prior experience as a teacher allows him to shape content in unique ways - ex. integrate existing MarTech stack for improved efficiencies and scale, automate data processing & reporting efforts, and expand the reach of insights by procuring new tools. Joseph’s experience with communicating results of analytics via reviews and reports is also applicable to Cyber Incident management & Threat Analytics reports
Drew Minkin is an experienced working professional. For the Data Science Immersive program, he brings his Microsoft Premier Field Engineering SQL/Data background and real-world case studies, hands-on troubleshooting that fixed many challenging problems. His latest experiences on Big Data with Spark SQL, Machine Learning on Azure & Databricks make him a career coach, a mentor, and a sought-after resource by many companies in the IT industry.
Michael Kyne is a senior network security architect/consultant with over 20 years of experience. He has worked for reputable companies, including IBM, and held various senior leadership roles. Michael has managed technology teams, developed and implemented enterprise architecture and security solutions, and provided strategic leadership on data-loss assessments. He has also developed disaster recovery plans, trained senior executives and managers on information security, and conducted comprehensive business and technology analysis.
Vijay Koju is an experienced Data Scientist with a demonstrated history of working in hospitals & health care, and oil & gas/retail industry. He is passionate about applying computer science and data science tools (Python, R, Pyspark, SQL, Power BI, QlikSense, SAP HANA, etc) and techniques (Machine learning, data mining, statistics, deep learning, AI) in solving real world business problems. Vijay earned his Ph.D. in Computational Science for MTSU in 2017.
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Thor Munoz is an expert in planning and managing the delivery of two Cyber Protection Teams which requires work efforts around cybersecurity and defensive cyberspace operations. As a Cyber Network Defense Manager, Thor led Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO) Hunt team. Above and beyond his technical abilities, Thor also has management abilities which he demonstrated through his Senior Cyber Manager role at NSA-G as an Offensive Cyber Operations Planner. Thor can connect with learners from many different perspectives to bring concepts of both Security and Pentesting. His commentary/summary at the end of the daylong session brings learning to life.
Jeremy Nathan holds expertise in data analysis and visualization tools, including Microsoft Excel, Power BI, and Tableau. He has authored and instructed courses on Azure, Sentinel, Defender, Purview, Power BI, Power Apps, PL-300, and PL-900 for O'Reilly Media and Learning Tree International. With a Master of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance, Nathan has also consulted with companies to improve their information technology
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Rajganesh Pandurangan is a Cybersecurity leader with 20+ years of experience in Security, Technical Sales, and Solutions Architecture. He is AWS Solutions Architect and Security Specialty certified in addition to the CISSP and OSCP credentials. His experience with Fortune 500 includes stints at Unisys, VeriSign, Tanium, IBM, Cylance, and AT&T. He has Masters’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma State University.
Shrinath Parikh has a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Dallas and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Information Technology from L.D. College of Engineering. He is also a university topper from the Maharaja Sayajirap University of Baroda where he got a diploma in Information Technology. His hands-on experience includes working as a Senior Data Architect for Amazon Web Services for 3 years, Couse developer for Udacity for almost 2 years, and Senior Application Developer at AT&T.
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Viswanath Puttagunta's experience comes from working at AT&T, Texas Instruments, Samsung, and Divergence AI. His expertise is in incubating Data Science teams for small to medium organizations centered around Farm-to-Fork - Marketing, Packaging, and Logistics. Vish understands continuous delivery of Data Products and actionable insights at scale both on-prem and cloud. This strength of Vish helps learners start with the end in mind i.e., Capstone Projects. In addition, Vish can cross-train customers’ domain experts (e.g., Business/BI/DW developers) in Data Science. His approach is teaching is doing small things well consistently. The checklists that he provides to learners are practical - used on realworld projects, certifications, and Capstone Projects.
Derrick Qu instructs both on Campus immersive programs and corporate training short courses. He navigates varied learner audiences seamlessly. His continued experience with PepsiCo helps him bring realworld experience related to large-scale and complex logistics to learners. Dao can make the business process connections with technology - ex. Business Intelligence, Advanced Data Analytics, Machine Learning - and integration of all into Websites and Mobile Application Development. His proficiency includes Tableau, MS SQL Server, Hadoop, Business Objects, Talend, Alteryx, and H2O.
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Lucky Rabago's experience comes from supporting VA's vast IT infrastructure by delivering secure layer 7 applications solutions and safe transport through layer-3 and layer-4 inbound/outbound. Lucky's experience in gateways, network IPS/IDS, and perimeter security, and supporting the development/deployment of Cloud solutions is valuable in relating book learning to real-world scenarios. Lucky's experience has helped Divergence design a Cyber program to support LINUX and Network courses better. His skills and abilities also include Security & Pentesting related to malicious code analysis. The 7+ years of contracted support for Federal agencies and 15 years in the government makes him an expert.
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Juan Reyes is a member of the United States Air Force. His hands-on work experiences with monitoring outputs from Firewall, Web Application Firewalls, Intrusion Detection, SIEM, and network forensics at companies like CISCO, HP, and AT&T make him an expert in the field of Security. Juan is also active in the academic sector - teaching eDiscovery, Digital Forensics, and technical risk Assessment methods.
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In addition to teaching,Rachael Ridenour is the Chief of Innovation and Product Development at Divergence Academy, where she leads the development and implementation of new and innovative solutions. Prior to her current role, Rachael served as a Product Manager and Lead Business Intelligence Analyst with a focus on machine learning and process automation. She is an ideator, technologist, and solutions architect with expertise in SQL Server Management Studio, Azure Data Factory, Microsoft Power BI, data visualization, and PowerAutomate. Rachael also has experience in agile methodologies, Scrum, and product management, as well as being a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and a Microsoft Certified Power BI Data Analyst Associate. Before transitioning to the tech industry, Rachael served as a Battalion Command Sergeant Major in the US Army, and she holds a ITIL Foundation Level certification from AXELOS Global Best Practice.
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Marcel Samuel is a Cloud Data Engineer and Data Science Consultant with 15+ years of experience. His expertise is in building Data Pipeline infrastructure and analytics tools for actionable insights. His extended expertise includes building highly performant relational database solutions, designing and implementing solutions for cleaning data, build and maintaining databases. Marcel's innate ability to develop curriculum and teach adult learners simply through hands-on approaches makes him an expert.
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Naveen Kumar Bannagani Venkata has a master’s degree in Data Analytics from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. His 15+ years of experience in Cloud, Data Engineering, Analytics with AI, and ML with companies like John Deere and Wells Fargo allows him to provide varied insights to students attending IoT, Cloud, and Data science immersive programs. Naveen is also an AWS Certified Solutions Architect.
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Shane Walker's experience at HP and RealPage delivering over 300+ customer installations over a 2-year period makes him an on-field systems deployment expert. His experience is valuable for learners who are considering Device Management which includes OS deployment, WiFi connectivity, and Security via Identity & Access Management. Shane Walker can motivate and mentor learners by making the learning real. Shane has been able to bring students to Divergence's Data Center, when possible, for practical demonstration of components that make up the network rack.
Shawn Zolla is an experienced Cloud Engineer with a focus on Microsoft technologies. He has 15 years of experience in the field of IT specializing in providing Cloud and Infrastructure consulting services to medium to large scale environments. His expertise includes Azure, AWS, Terraform, PowerShell, Windows Active Directory, Certificate Services, and Identity Management. Shawn also has extensive experience with Windows infrastructure, architecture, and design.
Trevor Bowman’s experience in supporting Network and Security teams makes him an expert instructor. His experience includes interacting with clients, determining requirements, suggesting technological solutions, and communicating results. This is the kind of work every learner new or experienced is going to partake in after the jobs in IT - specifically, Datacenter migrations. Trevor has been sharing his knowledge and connecting with learners around Security device policy implementation, configuring cloud-hosted security solutions, protecting company data assets and communications. His experience at ATOS as a consulting engineer and an SME for the North American division is highly valuable for learners.
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Jim Anderson is an AWS and Google Cloud Certified Solutions Architect - Professional with over 20 years of IT experience. Jim is very detailed oriented and plans his training deliveries to ensure multi-cloud coverage where possible based on audience interests. Having been part of Sabre and the travel industry, he is able to connect to learners with a different perspective. He brings his expertise in the context of Enterprise Architecture – establishing and advocating best practices and patterns, eliminating bottlenecks and waste, align business, development, and operational goals. His experience with travel solutions platform development with AWS/Google/Azure Cloud and OpenShift ensures that our learners understand Cloud from all perspectives - Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS).
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We believe that hands-on experience is the key to unlocking a successful career in Emerging Tech. That's why we've assembled a world-class faculty of instructors who are experts in their respective fields and have the practical know-how to make a real impact on your education.
Our instructors are dedicated to providing a comprehensive and engaging learning experience designed to give you the skills and confidence necessary to succeed in the fast-paced world of Emerging Tech. Whether you're just starting your career or looking to take your skills to the next level, our instructors have the expertise and passion to guide you every step of the way.
Each of our instructors is approved by the Texas Workforce Commission and meets the strict VET TEC Preferred Provider Expert Credentials required by the Department of Veterans Affairs, ensuring that you receive top-quality instruction from the best in the business. In addition, most of our instructors are working professionals in the industry, bringing the latest trends, technologies, and best practices directly to the classroom.
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