Information Technology
Free
Online
Thursday, 17 July, 2025
12
–
1
pm
EDT
The minds behind the magic: Meet our IT and cyber instructors
About This Event
If you’re a tech newbie hoping to break into a technical field or looking to accelerate your existing IT career into a cyber focus, this panel is for you. Our IT and cyber instructors will walk you through one of our newest disciplines, the GA classroom experience, and how their expertise fuels our curriculum. You’ll also hear about the hottest trends in fueling the IT and cyber world.
Takeaways
Get an understanding of what makes our instructors special.
Learn about the GA classroom experience.
Understand what you can expect to gain from learning hot skills.
About the Instructor
Daniel Scott
Software Engineering Immersive Instructor, General Assembly
From Dallas, TX with a Bachelor's in Business Science and a ten-year background in the financial services industry. Upon realizing his job would eventually be replaced by automation software, Daniel taught himself to code for two years before separating from the finance industry. He then accelerated his learning of web technologies by joining a coding bootcamp and became a full-stack freelance web-developer. After proving his success as web-developer entrepreneur, Daniel became an instructor for General Assembly's Web Development Immersive program.
In recognition of his exemplary service in the classroom, Daniel has been selected as a member of General Assembly's Distinguished Faculty program.
Alexandria Engen
IT Bootcamp Instructor Lead
Alexandria is a technology and security enthusiast who happens to call the beautiful mountains of Steamboat Springs, Colorado home. Alexandria works to bridge the worlds of cybersecurity, technology, and education with equal parts expertise and enthusiasm.
She proudly holds both an MBA and an MS in Information Systems (with a cybersecurity focus) plus multiple other professional certifications, making her the rare security professional who speaks both business and tech fluently. Her toolkit includes AWS, GCP, Python, Golang, Terraform, and Kubernetes—though she's constantly adding new technologies to her repertoire through client work, personal projects, and continuous learning.
Alexandria believes technology and security shouldn't be scary—just understood—and she's on a mission to help others see what’s out there not as an intimidating mass of technology, but as an exciting frontier of possibilities (that can also be properly secured!).
She approaches her work with genuine curiosity and a commitment to making security accessible. Her superpower? Translating complex security and technology concepts into language that even your non-technical friends could understand over coffee.
IN CONVERSATION WITH ALEXANDRIA:
What is your favorite technical skill to work with on your own projects and why?
I absolutely love working with infrastructure-as-code - especially Terraform! There's something deeply satisfying about transforming what used to be weeks of tedious manual setup into elegant code that creates entire environments in minutes.
What is your favorite technical skill to teach to students and why?
I get genuinely excited teaching networking fundamentals! Nothing beats watching students' faces light up when they successfully build their first properly segmented network or troubleshoot a complex routing issue.
What is most important to you about teaching technical skills at General Assembly?
For me, it's creating that sweet spot between concept and application. I want you to understand not just the "what" but the "why" behind everything we do. When I see you confidently tackling hands-on labs, breaking things (on purpose!), then fixing them with understanding rather than memorization – that's when I know we're making real progress together.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to learn technical skills to reach new career goals?
Build small, complete projects that actually solve problems you care about! Documentation is your best friend – create a GitHub portfolio that shows your thinking process as much as your code. I've seen hiring managers spend lots of time looking at thoughtful README files because they want to understand how your brain works through challenges.
What would you like to highlight about your experience in your technical domain outside of teaching?
Aside from teaching, I lead security improvements at companies every day. These experiences continuously teach me that creative problem-solving and clear communication beat fancy tools every time – and now I get to bring those real-world lessons into our classroom conversations!
WHAT ALEXANDRIA'S STUDENTS ARE SAYING...
"She’s patient, she speaks clearly, and most importantly, she supports all of us in reaching our goals."
"Alex is very good at her profession and she is a good instructor."
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