Babur Kohy – George B. Vaughn Leadership Award

Babur is an accomplished cybersecurity educator, researcher, and speaker serving as an Adjunct Professor of Cyber at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). He teaches at the NOVA Loudoun Campus and Reston Technology Center. His passion resides in educating students on secure human behavior, cybersecurity and connecting through conferences, workshops, and networking events. Outside of his academic career, Babur serves as a Cyber Advisor to public/private sectors, volunteers with multiple non-profit organizations, and is the founder of CyTalks, a platform for members of academia, community, and industry to discuss cyber matters. His research includes secure human behaviors, dark web, emerging technologies, organizational cyber resilience, fake news and intelligence manipulation. He holds a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity, Bachelor’s Degree in Business, and is currently pursuing Doctoral Degree in cyber.

Babur is a recent recipient of the The George B. Vaughan Leadership Award for Outstanding Adjunct Faculty. Winners of this award demonstrate consistent superior teaching and a commitment to providing students with instruction of the highest quality; adapt readily to student needs, interests, and problems; provide outstanding support for the growth and development of individual students; and demonstrate the use of relevant, contemporary information from their discipline in their teaching.

Babur can be reached at bkohy@nvcc.edu

This month we turn the spotlight on 3 of our new IT faculty members: Michael Spiller, Ryan Ammons, and John McNally

Michael Spiller – IT Professor (Manassas)

 Michael Spiller has been a Business and Information Technology Professional since 1991.  He has worked in both the private and non profit sectors for over 25 years in a variety of Information Technology related positions with the last twelve years serving as the CIO and Vice President of Information Systems at The Heritage Foundation. He also owned a technology consulting business for over ten years helping small businesses set up hardware, software, database applications, training programs and implementing strategic plans to support their business needs.

During his career he has worked as a network engineer, Oracle database administrator, Help Desk Manager and software trainer.  He has managed projects to implement major software, hardware and security platforms as well as CRM and ERP implementations. These tasks have helped him have a good understanding of how technology works for any business environment.  He has served as an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University teaching a variety of Business and Information Technology classes.  Most recently he taught Business and Information Technology classes at Osbourn High School in Manassas before transitioning back to college teaching.

Professor Spiller entered the field of teaching high school through the Virginia Career Switcher Program. This program provides an option for career professionals to enter the Virginia classrooms. It was the perfect program for Professor Spiller because it recognizes life and work experiences and teaches the core competencies to enter the field of teaching.   In addition to his Virginia teaching certification from the University of Virginia, Professor Spiller holds a Masters in Information Systems and Telecommunications (MS Johns Hopkins University).  His Bachelors of Science is in Management Information Systems from the University of South Florida.

He will be teaching the following  courses:  ITN 106 – Microcomputer Operating Systems , ITE 115 – Introduction to Computer Applications and Concepts, ITE170 Multi Media Software, and ITD 256 – Advance Database Management.

In his spare time, Professor Spiller loves mountain biking, hiking, paddling boarding, running, scuba diving or skiing and being active outdoors.  He is also a high school wrestling coach at Osbourn high school. He is married to his wife Vanessa and they have two children.  His son Cole is a sophomore at The College of William and Mary and his daughter Courtney is a Senior at Centreville High School. He is also the proud owner of an English Springer Spaniel named “Beaver.”

Michael can be reached at mspiller@nvcc.edu

Ryan Ammons – IET Assistant Professor (Annandale)

Ryan is no stranger to NOVA. He was a part-time IT student at the Alexandria campus, where he volunteered to develop one of the first online student government polling systems. Ryan continued his connection to NOVA as an adjunct professor, prior to accepting a full-time position at Annandale.

He received a Bachelor’s in Chemistry (Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, UAB). Ryan also received a Juris Doctor (Univ. of Alabama School of Law) and a Master’s in Software Engineering (George Mason Univ.).

Ryan’s career has mainly focused on software development and IT. He has over 20 years of industry experience, beginning as a high school intern with GTE, and later, Verizon. Some of the systems he developed as an intern are still in production today.

Ryan was an NSF Fellow in the Science in Motion program at UAB for three years. He developed and implemented new learning models, integrating technology and peer-based learning. During law school, Ryan traveled to Germany and Austria to teach courses to students bound for U.S. exchange studies. He went on exchange to Germany himself in high school and later interned in Germany as a law student. He has lived in Münster and Berlin, and is fluent in German.

He has worked as an IT Consultant, Database/Desktop/Web/Mobile Developer, CTO, and has been the sole proprietor of an IT and development consulting service for over ten years. Through projects based on current industry practices, including the use of cloud-based platforms, he hopes to prepare NOVA students for challenges in the workforce of today and tomorrow.

Ryan’s interests include foreign language, remote-controlled model aircraft, DIY electronics, geopolitics, law, and current affairs. However, he is most passionate about all things electronics and infotech. Over the years, Ryan has volunteered his time as a math, science and IT tutor.

Ryan can be reached at rammons@nvcc.edu

John McNally – IET Assistant Professor (Annandale)

After multiple years as an adjunct for NVCC, John McNally comes to the Loudoun Campus as a full-time IET professor.  Previously, John had a successful career spanning more than twenty years as a senior technology executive for small to medium-sized companies.  A founding member of multiple technology start-ups, John has had the privilege to wear many hats including software developer, database administrator, network engineer and systems architect.

John holds a B.S. in Information Systems from Salisbury University and a M.S. in Computer Science from The George Washington University.

And, John is the primary author of Informix Unleashed (SAMS division of McMillan Publishing, July 1997), which covers all aspects of developing and managing databases using the Informix database management system.

Outside the classroom, John has a love for event experiences and enjoys spending time with his family and friends attending live sporting events and concerts.

email John at jmcnally@nvcc.edu

Congratulations to Professor Kwabena Konadu,who will become the Edward H. Bersoff Cybersecurity Endowed Professor starting in August.

Konadu is currently working for SE Solutions as a consultant for the Department of Homeland Security. He teaches Cybersecurity and Information Technology courses at the Woodbridge Campus. His primary focus includes System Monitoring, Infrastructure Protection, Malware Analysis and Reverse Engineering, CyberRobotics, and hardware development. He spent the first 12 years of his career building and testing space hardware applications for nuclear vulnerability/survivability assessment, and more than 10 years working as an Information Systems Security Engineer. Professor Konadu is also a Faculty Coach and the Director of Engineering for Cybersecurity Competitions at the Woodbridge Campus where he is responsible for providing virtualization platform infrastructure for offensive and defensive cybersecurity. He holds an M.S. in Telecommunications Network and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University.

Professor Konadu can be reached at kkonadu@nvcc.edu