I am an experienced enterprise IT professional with skills in Mainframe, Windows, and Linux technology.
My work experience includes working as an IT Operations Analyst at Progressive Insurance where I continue to improve processes, continue to troubleshoot, and correct development and production issues. Other experience comes from working at the University of Akron Support Desk for several years.
I also work part-time as IT contractor for Ledgemont School District that has no full-time IT department.
On the side, I help friends, family, and others with their computer issues.
A summary of my computer history
I have always had an interest in computers. My interested began when I was four years old. Our family owned a Commodore 64. I like most kids liked playing games on it, but soon I became fascinated how it worked. Others realized that I was able to quickly learn and understand technology.
Around the age of 14, I was given a IBM PC compatible computer with a 80286 processor. A year after receiving that PC, I was soon building my own PCs and repairing old computers that friends and relatives gave me. I then started learning about network technology and regularly checked the library for new technology books. The 286 exposed me to DOS and Windows 3.X. I was limited to older versions of software, which forced and helped me learn the internals of DOS and Windows. Friends and family knew who to bring their questions to regarding their computers.
In 2000, I was introduced to Linux and was amazed how this software was developed. I began to love experimenting with new things such as webservers like Apache and databases such as MySQL. This interest in Linux and Open Source progressed into college and beyond.
I earned the Eagle Scout Rank and the Computer Merit Badge.
At Louisville High School, I became president of the Science / Technology Club.
I graduated college in 2007 from the University of Akron with a Bachelors in Information System Management and E-Business Management, I started my full-time career in mainframe technology. In less than six months, I was alone in the evening troubleshooting issues in CICS, DB2, MQ, VTAM, z/VM, and z/OS. I self-taught myself Rexx in order to automate some procedures such as verification and incident response. I continue to seek and script new opportunities. I earned the System z Associate Certificate and System z Professional Certificate. from Marist College. I am currently working on the next level certificate.
I currently run web servers and sites, for different groups and functions for example like a family tree web application and another is running Mono for my brother's site. I am active in the OpenNIC project and donate time and resources to its operation which involves Apache and BIND.
My future goals
I want to progress and learn how to become a successful systems engineer in the realm of Linux and/or Mainframes.