Architect. Build. Scale.

Embedded within the Birmingham City University IT and security team, working on monitoring, analyzing, and safeguarding the university's enterprise infrastructure. Spearheading vulnerability assessment workflows, security monitoring, and endpoint protection schemes, while planning and executing proactive defensive measures to detect and mitigate active threats across university network boundaries.

Security Operations & Analysis

• Conducts regular automated and manual vulnerability scans across university servers and internal subnets to identify CVE exposures and configuration gaps
• Monitors and analyzes security logs via centralized SIEM dashboards to detect anomalous behavior, unauthorized login attempts, and potential insider threats
• Participates in incident response playbooks, coordinating alerts triage, isolating compromised nodes, and documenting remediation actions for internal audits
• Performs packet capture analysis to inspect suspicious network traffic flows and identify potential command-and-control (C2) beacons or data exfiltration

Infrastructure Hardening

• Configures and audits firewall rulesets and ACLs to enforce least-privilege network segmentation across administrative and student subnets
• Audits cloud access control policies and IAM roles within host environments to identify and eliminate privilege escalation risks and exposed secrets
• Deploys security patches, updates server configurations, and hardens operating system baselines according to CIS Benchmarks
• Enforces Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agent coverage and verifies policy compliance across active Windows and Linux server nodes

Tools & Technologies

Kali Linux, Nmap, Wireshark, Splunk, Active Directory, AWS, Firewalls & ACLs, EDR Agents, Vulnerability Scanners, CIS Benchmarks

Leading the Cyber Security Division of the BCU Student Computing Association, responsible for designing and delivering technical programmes, events, and learning experiences that give students hands-on experience in cloud security, penetration testing, and defensive security. Responsible for full curriculum design, session delivery, lab guide development, GitHub resource management, and end-to-end technical coordination across all division activities. Flagship programme: Hack Your Own Cloud — an 8-week structured cloud security programme where student teams deploy, attack, and defend real AWS environments.

Division Leadership

• Leads all technical programmes, workshops, and events within the Cyber Security Division from conception through to delivery
• Designs and maintains curriculum, lab guides, and challenge resources across all division activities, hosted and managed via GitHub
• Acts as primary technical mentor for all students in the division, supporting learning across all experience levels from complete beginners to advanced students
• Liaises with the SCA VP Cyber Security on logistics, planning, and strategic direction of the division
• Scouts and onboards new programme ideas, evaluating feasibility, technical requirements, and student impact before committing to delivery

Hack Your Own Cloud — Flagship Programme

• Designed and owns the full 8-week cloud security curriculum where students deploy deliberately vulnerable environments on AWS, attack assigned peer environments, and harden their own infrastructure
• Built a flag-based CTF system using AWS CLI bash scripts and deterministic hash generation to verify genuine exploitation rather than theoretical knowledge
• Architected separate AWS sub-accounts per team with budget alerts, spending caps, and VPC-level containment to ensure safe, legal, and cost-controlled peer attack exercises
• Developed weekly lab guides covering AWS EC2, S3 misconfiguration, IAM privilege escalation, insecure APIs, network security, and cloud-native monitoring tools
• Introduced and runs a structured peer attack challenge functioning as the division's flagship CTF event each semester

Technical Delivery

• Leads every weekly session using a guided learning approach — actively mentoring students through real vulnerabilities rather than delivering passive lectures
• Implements monitoring and hardening workflows using Scout Suite, Prowler, CloudWatch, and Azure Monitor as part of the Week 7 remediation phase
• Manages safety and containment protocols including rules of engagement, account isolation, and UK Computer Misuse Act compliance across all offensive security exercises

Tools and Technologies

AWS (EC2, S3, IAM, VPC, CloudWatch), Kali Linux, Nmap, Burp Suite Community, DVWA, WebGoat, Scout Suite, Prowler, AWS CLI, GitHub

Coordinating the Software Engineering Division of the BCU Student Computing Association, responsible for designing and delivering programmes, workshops, and events that build real technical skills in software development and engineering. Responsible for full curriculum design, session delivery, team structure, technical mentorship, and end-to-end coordination across all division activities. Flagship programme: API Workshop Series — an 8-week full stack programme where student teams build and deploy real applications powered by live external APIs.

Division Coordination

• Coordinates all technical programmes, workshops, and events within the Software Engineering Division from conception through to delivery
• Designs and maintains curriculum, lab guides, and project resources across all division activities
• Acts as primary technical mentor for all students in the division, supporting learning across beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels within the same sessions
• Liaises with the SCA VP Software Engineering on logistics, planning, and strategic direction of the division
• Evaluates and prioritises new programme ideas based on student impact, technical feasibility, and career relevance before committing to delivery

API Workshop Series — Flagship Programme

• Designed the full 8-week API Workshop Series curriculum taking students from HTTP fundamentals to a deployed full stack application using real external APIs
• Structured a two-path backend approach (Node.js/Express or Python/Flask) to support different skill levels while maintaining consistent guided support across sessions
• Built in a progressive difficulty curve: foundations and authentication in Weeks 1-3, backend and frontend build in Weeks 4-6, multi-API integration and deployment in Weeks 7-8
• Designed an optional React advanced path from Week 5 onwards with additional resources provided separately so advanced students are never held back and beginners are never overwhelmed
• Coordinates industry guest speakers and mentors to drop into build-phase sessions to review projects and share real career experience with students

Technical Delivery

• Leads weekly sessions using a guided learning approach — students learn by doing with active support throughout rather than passive instruction
• Established GitHub Desktop as a core collaboration tool from Week 1, ensuring every team can manage shared codebases without conflicts from the very first session
• Manages team formation and role assignment (frontend developer, backend developer, project lead) to give every student concrete, specific, CV-ready ownership of their contributions

Tools and Technologies

Node.js, Express, Python, Flask, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, React, Postman, GitHub Desktop, Vercel, Render, OpenWeatherMap API, GitHub API, NASA API, Spotify Web API, Open Library API

Embedded as a full stack developer on CivitasAccess — a civic guidance and opportunity navigation platform built for UK students and international students. Responsible for the complete front-end architecture and UI build across 24 pages, alongside back-end planning, admin system design, and direct client collaboration throughout the product lifecycle.

Front-End Development

• Architected a single-file React/Babel application spanning 24 fully interactive wireframe pages including public pages, three content hubs, user account flows, and a complete admin panel
• Built reusable component systems (navigation, card primitives, form inputs, pill labels, roadmap steps, journey nodes) maintaining consistent design tokens across the entire codebase
• Developed an interactive Career GPS homepage flow — a multi-step guided widget allowing users to identify their current position, select a destination, and receive a personalised pathway recommendation
• Implemented a visual journey timeline for the International Student Hub featuring clickable node-based navigation, animated progress tracking, and interactive checklists
• Designed and built six full pathway detail pages with animated roadmap step sequences, connector lines, Career GPS sidebar panels, and linked opportunity cards
• Built the Success Stories system — index page with category filtering, individual story pages with visual journey progression strips, and cross-linked sidebar panels

UI/UX & Design Systems

• Worked directly with the client to translate written briefs and conversational feedback into functional, production-ready wireframes across multiple revision cycles
• Established and enforced a consistent brand design system: teal (#1A5C6B), gold (#93632F), typography scale, spacing grid, and component hierarchy
• Delivered iterative wireframe audits using structured pass/gap/defer reporting to track requirement coverage and communicate scope decisions clearly
• Proposed and agreed scope boundaries between V1 (launch) and Phase 2 (post-launch dynamic features) to protect timeline while preserving the client's long-term vision

Back-End Planning & Admin Systems

• Designed a full admin panel architecture covering: Opportunity CRUD management, Manage Pathways (step-by-step roadmap builder with no-code interface), Content & Stories management, User Manager, Category/Tag management, and Community Impact stats editor
• Planned and documented the database tagging schema for opportunities, categories, and pathways to support future personalised recommendation logic
• Structured the admin panel to allow non-technical content management — client can publish opportunities, guides, and success stories independently after handoff

Security Considerations

• Specified SSL certificate implementation as a deployment requirement for all data in transit
• Designed contact form architecture to route submissions through Google Workspace email — avoiding direct server-side email exposure
• Anticipated XSS prevention in form input handlers by verifying text sanitation requirements in the front-end
• Documented Google SSO as the primary authentication path (supplemented by email/password) to reduce credential-attack surface in user management drafts
• Flagged GDPR-relevant data points (e.g., student location, career tracks) for inclusion in the platform's future Privacy Policy and Terms of Service drafts
• Separated personally identifiable information (PII) from behavioral analytics fields in the database schema draft to protect user identity
• Proposed full network separation between admin panels and public routes to limit administrative dashboard exposure

Client Communication

• Authored structured client-facing update emails to summarize weekly wireframe progress, explain technical logic, and detail scope decisions
• Created a shared "Phase 2 Deferral" document to log and agree on features that would be moved to post-launch milestones, preventing scope creep and protecting the delivery timeline

Technical Skills Used

• React (JSX)
• HTML5/CSS3
• UI/UX Design
• Database Design
• Security Awareness
• Admin Systems
• API Integration
• Client Communication
• Code Review