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 center services for Canadian businesses.

He is currently a partner in Provision Data Systems, providing data center, 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

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.