Office and People Directory

Syed Ali

Biography

Mr. Syed Noaman Ali serves as an Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity. He brings 18 years of extensive experience from the IT industry to his academic role. His expertise includes implementing robust IT solutions and a deep understanding of business operations. Known for his goal-driven approach and resilience, Mr. Ali excels in both solo and team settings, always focusing sharply on details.

His skills cover IT strategy, technology deployment, and the management of enterprise applications, Windows servers, data centers, and storage systems. Mr. Ali’s proficiency in recruitment, procurement, and customer service has notably improved IT operational efficiencies across various organizations.

An acknowledged expert in technology deployment, Mr. Ali possesses robust prioritization abilities and a keen analytical mindset, leading to consistent success. His contributions are marked by pioneering new technologies, developing advanced systems, enhancing revenue, and strengthening support for critical applications.

Academically, Mr. Ali is committed to leveraging his substantial industry experience to educate and inspire upcoming cybersecurity experts. His primary aim is to become a vital asset to his institution, significantly advancing its mission and cultivating strong, productive relationships in both industrial and academic circles.

Distinctions & Awards

Excellence in Teaching Award 2020, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Favorite Quote

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
― Socrates

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Scott Barrett

Biography

Scott Barrett is an alumnus of Champlain College who is delighted to be pursuing his passion of teaching. He worked at Ubisoft Montréal for 5 years in a variety of roles, including as a network programmer, as a gameplay programmer, and as a tools programmer. He has worked on teams as small as under a dozen people to as large as several hundred people. He has experience with both Unity and with proprietary game engines.

Scott’s teaching philosophy centers around helping students achieve their goals by working with them collaboratively and with honesty. He teaches physics, networking, and game engine courses, and he has a particular interest in low-level and systems programming. He is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Computer Science at the University of Vermont part-time while teaching at Champlain College full-time.

Distinctions & Awards

Awarded a gift grant by Activision for educational work at Champlain

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

Practical Creativity by Raph Koster

An excellent talk for game developers of any kind, and for anyone working in any creative field. Includes practical advice on how to be creative, and also includes a different way of looking at what it means for different works to share a genre.

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Sarah Beno

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Melanie Brown

Biography

Dr. Melanie Brown is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and has been teaching at Champlain College since 2013. She is also the Program Director for Mathematics and oversees not only the major in Applied Mathematics and the minor in Mathematics, but also the collection of math courses that meet the needs of each of Champlain’s majors. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she graduated from Converse University with both a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. She then pursued graduate studies in mathematics, earning a Master of Arts in Mathematics from Western Michigan University and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences from the University of Vermont.

While her earliest research interests were in topological graph theory and combinatorial design theory, teaching at Champlain has given her the opportunity to explore applications of mathematics across a variety of disciplines. She is now especially interested in the mathematics of cybersecurity and regularly teaches a course in the mathematics of Cryptography. She also teaches more traditional math courses like Calculus I, Calculus II, and Linear Algebra, but she enjoys infusing each course with examples that demonstrate how the theoretical ideas help solve problems in “the real world.”

In addition to her teaching and administrative roles, Dr. Brown serves her faculty colleagues as the Chair of the Faculty Senate Welfare Committee. She is also a champion for gender diversity in STEAM and advises Champlain’s Womxn in Technology Club and Champlain’s Women in Cybersecurity Student Chapter. Additionally, she is a facilitator with the Champ 101 program.

In her free time, Dr. Brown is an active musician and plays clarinet with several Burlington-area ensembles.

Professional & Scholastic Affiliations

• Mathematical Association of America
• Women in Cybersecurity

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Daniel Buckstein

Biography

Originally from the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, Daniel Buckstein holds degrees in Computer Science and in Game Development & Entrepreneurship. He has a keen interest various areas of mathematics, including calculus and linear algebra, which carry over to computer animation algorithms and graphics programming. His other development interests include low-level game engine and tool design, virtual reality, and augmented reality; these have been demonstrated in both industry and academic contexts. His passion for programming intertwines with his passion for teaching and he is always looking for innovative and fun ways to deliver course content.

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

Ray Tracing in One Weekend

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Tomas Castrejon

Biography

Tomas currently works for a large Financial Institution, where he has held several leadership roles in Incident Management, Digital Forensics, Security Operations, Privacy, Cybercrime, and Identity and Access Management. Tomas also served as the Minneapolis Cybersecurity leader for PwC and as the National Digital Forensics Practice Leader for Deloitte. Tomas earned an MS degree in Digital Forensics Management and an MS in Legal Studies, with a concentration in cybersecurity, compliance, and privacy.

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Wei Kian Chen

Biography

Wei Kian Chen received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1996, 1998, and 2005, respectively.

His research interests are Association Mining, Classification, Data Mining, Database, Machine Learning, Pattern Recognition, Software Engineering and others.

He is an active member of ACM, IEEE, SIGCSE and CCSC. In addition, he is also a member of the International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Disciplines (Upsilon Phi Epsilon) and the Honor Society for International Scholars (Phi Beta Delta).

Distinctions & Awards

2020 Edward R. Lyman Professorship

Publications & Abstracts

• Predictive high-level feature representation based on dictionary learning
• Applying software engineering in CS1

Professional & Academic Affiliations

• Association for Computing Machinery
• Special Interest Group Computer Science Education
• Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers
• Upsilon Pi Epsilon International Honor Society for the Computing & Information Disciplines
  
• Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars

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Christopher DeGuise

Biography

Christopher DeGuise is a professor at Champlain College and the founder and game developer at Instance Entertainment. DeGuise is an entrepreneur and a technologist with more than 20 years of experience working as an IT professional. DeGuise has an equal interest in the technology and business sides of his field, and believes technology has the ability to automate and simplify our lives.

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Joe Eastman

Biography

Joe is a passionate and experienced technical teacher with a diverse range of interests spanning a large spectrum of technical and non-technical disciplines. He is also dedicated to numerous outreach initiatives, business development, cultivating opportunities for students, and helping others most any way he can.

In his classroom, Joe strives to provide every student with an equal opportunity to succeed. He achieves this by using divergent teaching methods that cater to a wide range of learning styles, and by removing barriers that may stand in the way of his students’ success.

In addition to his teaching, Joe is available for program, technical, research, career, and general life advice. He offers earnest moral support and guidance to anyone who needs it, both inside and outside of the classroom.

With his years of academic and industry focus, Joe is repeatedly described as a valuable asset to Champlain’s community, as well as the Northeast region supporting hundreds of students every year. He is passionate about helping others succeed, and is dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to the tools and resources they need to achieve their goals. If you bring the hustle, then he will help you develop your best cyber self.

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Jessica Fischer

Biography

Jessica Fischer teaches a section of Biology of Nutrition & Fitness. She attended University of Rhode Island for Nutrition & Dietetics with a focus on Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems. She then attended UVM to complete her graduate studies in Dietetics. She is also a Clinical Dietitian at UVM Medical Center where she counsels a variety of adult populations with chronic diseases. She is passionate about nutrition and overall wellness through movement and time spent connecting with nature. In her free time she is an avid gardener, skier, and trail walker accompanied by her dog.

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Tegan Garon

Biography

Tegan Garon is a Vermont native who is a full-time high school math teacher, in addition to teaching part-time mathematics courses at Champlain.

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

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Adam Goldstein

Biography

Adam Goldstein is an Associate Professor and an Academic Program Director in Cybersecurity at Champlain College. He also serves as Academic Director of the Leahy Center for Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity at Champlain where he helps oversee undergraduate students working on a wide range of projects. Adam has vast industry experience as an information security officer having previously established cybersecurity operation programs at Dartmouth College and Villanova University. With over 20 years’ experience in information security at institutions of higher education and a background in systems and network engineering, he has a thorough understanding of the unique security challenges in the modern enterprise. Adam received his BA from Rutgers University, a Master of Science in Information Assurance from Norwich University, and a Graduate Certificate in Digital Forensic Science from Champlain College. He is a Certified Information System Auditor (CISA), and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Outside of work, Adam is an avid distance runner and greatly enjoys living and exploring the Green Mountains of Vermont with his family.

Distinctions & Awards

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Certified Information Security Auditor (CISA)
RRCA – Road Runners Club of America: Certified Distance Running Coach

Curriculum Vitae

READ MY CV

Favorite Quote

“Cybersecurity is not just about protecting your data, it’s about protecting your freedom.”

—Laura Galante

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Murat Gungor

Biography

Dr. Gungor holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Computer and Information Science, which he obtained in 2006 and 2001 respectively, from Syracuse University in New York. He also holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Sakarya University in Turkey, which he completed in 1997.

Dr. Gungor brings a wealth of experience to his current position at Champlain College, having previously taught Software Engineering courses at both Bilkent University and TOBB University in Ankara, Turkey. In addition to his academic background, he has also held various positions in the industry, ranging from researcher and software engineer to project manager and director.

His primary areas of expertise include object-oriented programming, software architecture, design and development, structural analysis, and quality improvement.

Favorite Quote

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”

—Rumi

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Ali Hadi

Biography

Ali Hadi, an accomplished and experienced Senior Cybersecurity Specialist, possesses over 14 years of professional experience in Information Technology and Cybersecurity. Currently, he holds the position of Associate Professor and serves as the Computer and Digital Forensics Program Director at Champlain College in Vermont, USA. Ali is also the Research Director at the Leahy Center, where he leads all research activities. Additionally, he is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Cyber 5W. Ali holds a PhD and MSc degree in Computer Information Systems, along with a BSc degree in Computer Science. Throughout his career, he has obtained more than 20 professional certifications, making him highly qualified in the field of cybersecurity. With expertise in digital forensics, incident response, adversary simulation, offensive security, and malware analysis, Ali is in high demand as a cybersecurity consultant. He is also recognized as an accomplished author, speaker, and freelance instructor, providing technical training to government agencies, private firms, and other organizations. Ali remains a prominent figure in the digital forensics community and is committed to advancing forensics education and research.

Distinctions & Awards

Hard to list everything here, but the last was an acknowledged by the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) for the IoT Research we are working on at the Leahy Center.

Publications & Abstracts

• • Publications
  • Linux DFIR Research Publications

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

“Reflections on Trusting Trust,” Ken Thompson’s ACM Turing Award 1984

Curriculum Vitae

READ MY CV

Favorite Quote

“Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last.”

—Sherlock Holmes

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Brian Hall

Biography

By education and trade, he is a programmer and engineer. His academic interests are interdisciplinary. He is a technologist who chooses to think critically about technology and encourages others to do the same.

Publications & Abstracts

You can read more about my work at https://www.brianrhall.com.

You can find my code projects at https://github.com/brianrhall.

Curriculum Vitae

READ MY CV

Favorite Quote

“If you want to increase your success rate”¦double your failure rate.”

—T.J. Watson

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