Matthew Chambers

Instructor and Technical Services Manager

Having been raised in a family where 12 computers in the basement were normality, Matt’s passion for technical things started early. Of his generation, not many can say their Dad taught them computers. In his case, it’s true. Taking a different route than his father, choosing the service side of computing he has focused on helping others through his talents with a PC. Spending over 10 years as a Unix/Linux admin in the “ISP” sector being in various roles, he always returned to his passion, helping people. Whether as Lead Tech, or Support Manager Matt’s ability to speak to the customer could arguably be his greatest talent. Bringing this to the classroom has allowed the students to benefit from years of experience and patience while bringing the technical jargon from scary to everyday language for them. In his role at the Centre as the Technical Services Manager, he oversees all of the technology needs of the school as well as bringing forward fresh ideas, positive changes, and above all accessible technical services that people are happy to engage with.

Ian McLaughlin

Instructor

Ian’s interest in electronics led to him building his first computer from scratch in 1979. His hobby of bulletin board systems and ARPAnet led to an opportunity in 1994 to open the first independent dial-up ISP in the BC Interior by forming Okanagan Internet Junction. He sold the business after expanding to serving 14 communities in three provinces and transitioned to providing co-location and data centre services for Canadian businesses.

He is currently a partner in Provision Data Systems, providing data centre, co-location, ISP, fiber, wireless, and consulting services to Kelowna and Western Canada.

His hobbies include amateur radio, and collecting and restoring antique computers.

Bill Xu

Instructor

Bill Xu is a doctoral research fellow at Simon Fraser University, Department of Computer Science. He received his MCP, MCSA, and CCNA designations in 2014, and started the IEEE research fellow in 2016. He received Bachelor’s Degree in English from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China in 2010, and a Bachelor of Technology in computer systems from BCIT in 2014. He received a Master of Science in computer science from Simon Fraser University, in 2016. His research interests include Internet-of-Things, big data, and deep learning. He enjoys the process of bridging the gap between theory and practice, and of bringing theoretical results to practical implementations.

Jason Cui

Instructor

Jason Cui is a Ph.D. candidate at Simon Fraser University, School of Computing Science. He received his Electrical Engineering Bachelor Degree with Distinction from the University of British Columbia and his Computing Science Master’s Degree from Simon Fraser. During his study, he received many scholarships from both universities and the government. His research interests include, but are not limited to, the architecture of general-purpose GPUs and energy-efficient computing including most recently, accelerators for machine learning.  He is a member of the IEEE (Advancing Technology for Humanity) Association.  Along the way, Jason has worked for UBC, SFU, and ETH Zurich Swiss.  Jason is passionate about education and computer science and brings that to the classroom of the Centre for Arts and Technology.

Asen Georgiev

Instructor

Asen is a passionate and energetic dreamer with 20 years of diversified IT and Telecom experience across 11 countries. He started his career journey by maintaining PCs in a game club after school at the age of 15, went through building his own last-mile ISP, and transforming GSM/UMTS/LTE/WiMAX/WiFi networks around the globe. Asen attained two master’s degrees and a number of industry certifications. He now shapes the future of tomorrow at CAT.

Hobby – exploring the unknown. ‘Don’t hesitate to call if you have any shenanigans in mind’ 🙂
So far he has enjoyed more than once or twice: backpacking, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, waterskiing and wakeboarding, sailing, scuba diving, swimming, paragliding, hunting, shooting, off-road, motorcycling, chess, go-karting.

Gerald (Jerry) Szakal

Instructor

Jerry got into the computer business as a board level repair technician for the Xerox Service Centers.  He diligently worked up from bench tech to primary Network Engineer, responsible for all aspects of network design, management, installations, troubleshooting and end user training.  Jerry took great pride in training other technicians in networking technology bringing them up to certifications while also teaching communications technology night school courses at BCIT.

In the late 1990s, Jerry joined a number of ex-Xerox employees to start Advanced Computer Networking Services, providing network and peripheral design, installation, troubleshooting, training, and contracted management.  It was with ACNS that he developed advanced skills in Virus and Malware detection and mitigation, as well as other aspects of security management including email, web and firewall systems.

Jerry’s latest role as IT Manager comprises supporting Users, peripherals, servers, network infrastructure, firewall, phone systems, building security and camera systems.

Jerry is certified in every version of Novell Netware Operating System, Windows from Windows 95 to Servers,  SCO Unix, TCP/IP, Sophos Firewall and management systems as well many related hardware and software technologies.

Jerry pursues further knowledge with constant self-study with particular interest in cybersecurity

MCNE, CNE, MCSE, MCP, A+, Citrix CCA

Dr. Zulfikar Kassam

Instructor

Zulfikar Kassam started university studies in Engineering at Queen Mary College, University of London. After one year, he moved to the University of Toronto and finished his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science. He then completed his Master’s degree and PhD degree in Engineering at the University of Toronto. While at the University, he worked as a Network Administrator. He then moved to Vancouver and worked for Best Buy Head Office for 7.5 years and was a Senior Technical Analyst. Thereafter he has been working as a Senior Consultant for 17 years at Compugen and been outsourced to 70+ companies in the process, ranging from global private companies to public companies as well as government entities. He has 23+ year experience in Citrix, 20 years in VMware, and 20+ years in Networking. He received his CCNA in 2001 and has held Citrix Certified Expert in Virtualization and Citrix Certified Professional in Networking for 10+ years. He has architected and deployed several highly available Citrix implementations for large companies.

He has been previously a lecturer in Engineering at the University of Toronto, and a lecturer in Information Technology at the University of Phoenix.

He loves soccer, cricket, and volleyball. He also loves hiking and is a father of 3 daughters and loves spending time with his daughters.

B.A.Sc, M.A.Sc. Ph.D., CCE-V, CCP-N, CCNA, MCP, VCP

Nataliya Maksymova

Instructor

Nataliya has over two decades’ experience working in the IT industry.  She holds an honors degree in Radio and Electronics Engineering with a specialization in Production and Maintenance of Radio and Electronics Medical Equipment, as well as a Master’s Degree in Computer Sciences.

Her interest in technology began in childhood and has since driven her to stay up-to-date with the latest market trends and advancements, allowing her to provide valuable advice to clients of all levels.  As an IT professional, Nataliya has a diverse range of responsibilities and skills. She has experience in various aspects of IT, including consulting, project management, cybersecurity, and training. Through managing and delivering reliable IT infrastructure, she has gained expertise in areas such as network design, hardware and software procurement, and IT service management. She has implemented best practices such as ITIL to ensure effective and efficient delivery of IT services.

Nataliya’s passion for learning and expanding her knowledge is evident in her focus on cybersecurity policies and practices. Disaster recovery planning is also crucial for her to ensure the speedy restoration of IT systems in case of an emergency or outage.

Nataliya is a lifelong learner who continually strives to improve her technical knowledge and skills.

In addition to her professional pursuits, she enjoys hobbies such as photography, sailing, scuba diving, downhill skiing, and traveling.