David Appleby, Sinclair Community College
Data Analytics, Associate of Applied Science
Graduated May 2020 from Sinclair Community College with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Data Analytics. Prior to that, David had obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Purdue University. He worked for 16 years as a chemist, but ultimately resigned to follow his passion in IT. Although it was a sacrifice as a husband and father to leave a high-paying job and become a full-time college student, it proved beneficial to his work life and family life. This past January, David accepted a full-time position as a senior tool specialist at LexisNexis. As a result, he is now able to spend more time with his family and enjoy the kinds of opportunities for advancement at work that he did not have at his chemistry job.
Parker Brothers, Cleveland Community College
Information Technology - Systems Security, Associate of Arts and Sciences Degree
Graduated May 2021 from Cleveland Community College (CCC) with an Associate of Arts and Sciences degree in Information Technology - Systems Security with a 3.952 GPA. His journey wasn’t always easy though. At 18, he didn’t have a place to live and spent many cold nights being hungry and terrified. Four years after enrolling in CCC, Parker holds the keys to his own apartment and has a promising career through our Work-Based Learning program. Parker recently accepted a full-time job with Cleveland County as Office 365 Administrator.
Kenneth Coleman, Chattanooga State Community College
Computer Information Technology - Networking, Associate of Arts and Sciences Degree
Graduate from Chattanooga State Community College with an Associate of Arts and Sciences in Computer Information Technology – Networking. Kenneth participated in the first ethical hacking competition, Capture the Flag, in connection with the 8th Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC) and placed 5th in the competition. He has actively participated in the IT HUB Club activities and visits to Oak Ridge National Labs and has volunteered with the Cyber Seniors and Girl Scouts outreach programs. He is certified CCNA Routing and Switching, CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+ and Microsoft Certified Professional Certification. He was nominated for the outstanding student of E&IT division for 2019-2020 and is now a Contract Network Engineer in Chattanooga.
Jacquelyn DeHart, Lone Star College
Computer Science, Bachelor of Science Degree
Changed her major from a two-year degree in networking at Lone Star College-Montgomery to a bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a minor in mathematics. Jaquelyn recently graduated from the University of Houston-Downtown with the Latin Honors of Summa Cum Laude. She won third place in the GMiS (Great Minds in STEM) conference in the Conceptual Research category and attended the Girls Who Code inaugural conference where she networked with recruiters from Wells Fargo. Most recently, she applied for the Engineering Analyst position at Wells Fargo and got the job.
Pompidou Nsangou, Collin College
Computer Software Engineering, Associate of Science
Graduated May 2021 from Collin College with an Associate of Science degree. Pompidou, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, is an immigrant from Cameroon, Africa worked full-time to support himself while taking classes at Collin. To get a head-start in his career, Pompidou applied his classroom skills to build his portfolio of IT projects. After many employment rejections, he landed a position as the main product designer at a local startup. That job opened the door to more opportunities, including a product designer position at Citi Group and now his current role as Digital Product Designer at Dialexa. Pompidou enjoys the work he does and feels blessed to be able to design software for a living. In his spare time, he mentors minority students that are pursuing a career in tech, and anyone else looking to pivot to IT from a different industry.
Chidera Obinali, Georgia Southern University
Information Technology, Bachelor of Science Degree
Earned her Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Georgia Southern University, taking courses that included “Web App Design and Development” and “Web and Mobile Security Fundamentals.” Today, she works as an IT Consultant supporting various companies in addition to running her own private web design company, Codesignr, LLC. Chidera hopes to finish this year with a Scrum Master certification and continue practicing in effort to become a Full-Stack Developer.
Angelo Teoxon, Lone Star College
Computer of Science, Associate of Science Degree
Started his college career at Lone Star Community College , where he received an Associate of Science in Computer Science. While at Lone Star, he helped kick-start the college's Computer Science Club. After transferring from Lone Star to Sam Houston State University and receiving his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Angelo became the President of the local Association for Computing Machinery and helped with researching defenses against Sybil attacks on Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks. Post-graduation, Angelo works for The Woodlands Financial Group as a software developer and as a part-time teacher at “theCoderSchool.”
Ean Towne, Collin College
Information Systems Cybersecurity, Associates of Arts and Sciences Degree
Retired Army Veteran, a student at Collin College pursuing his Associate of Arts and Sciences in Information Systems Cybersecurity. In just the last three years, Ean has received the following certifications: Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA), Juniper Networks Certified Associate, Cloud (JNCIA-Cloud) and Juniper Networks Certified Design Associate (JNCDA). In 2018, Ean interned at McAfee as Technical Support. This year, he participated in the National Cyber League where he ranked 223rd out of 4180 competitors. His team ranked 63rd nationally, out of 922 competing teams.
HI-TEC Student Posters
Each summer, the National CTC arranges to bring successful IT students – from CTC grant partner colleges – to attend the annual High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HITEC) to participate in “poster sessions.” These sessions allow the students to showcase recent class projects and network with educators and employers.
2023 - Atlanta, GA
- Derek Moy and Davora Bowers, Collin College (Enterprise Cyber Security Planning)
- Gina Baker, Florida State College Jacksonville (Certain Chart Styles Can Exhibit Deficit Framing and Reinforce Bias)
- Dylan Schofield and John Yates, Sinclair Community College (Provisioning Network Devices)
2022 - Salt Lake City, UT
- Amy Tong, Collin College (Cisco OSPF Scaling Networks)
2019 - St Louis, MO
- Ean Towne, Collin College (Conceptual Design for a Single Channel Wireless Mesh)
- Amberly Hoffman, Sinclair Community College (Supplemental Instruction)
2018 - Miami, FL
- Cole Mason, Sinclair Community College (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities)
2017 - Salt Lake City, UT
- Michael Cyrus, Collin College (Securing the Present and the Future)
- Olivia Hughes, University of North Texas (“Local Nomads” Social Media Application)
2016 - Pittsburgh, PA
- Divya Tomar, El Centro College (Designing a Reliable & Effective Network for a Small Company)
- Comfort Benton, Collin College (CCG Enterprise Capstone)
2015 - Portland, OR
- Mauricio Aguilar, El Centro College (Live OSPF Network with Cisco VIRL Right Before Your Eyes)
- Edward Spagnoli, Collin College (Expanding a Network to Include Multiple Sites and Redesign of LAN)
2014 - Chicago, IL
- Chelsea Fitzgerald, Collin College (New Network Topology and Addressing Scheme)
- Tim Savala, El Centro College (Delivery of Enterprise Solutions to Branch Offices)
- Ramon Alvarez, Georgia Southern University (Using Cloud Based Labs)
