Gary Ihar

Gary "Igor" Ihar (hereinafter, Gary) is a project manager, college instructor, technologist, and volunteer currently residing in the Washington DC metro area, but is open to relocation and/or travel both domestically and worldwide.

Professional Experience

Work Experience

04/2023 - Present	Artificial Intelligence (AI) Project Manager, Educaship Alliance LLC, Dumfries, Virginia Project Management. Leads a cross-functional team to deliver innovative and impactful solutions for hands-on training and introductory jobs in AI. Artificial intelligence (AI). Designs AI systems to provide students with personalized and adaptive learning experiences, as well as contributes to their curriculum
11/2018 - 12/2023	Shanghai Jian Qiao University Instructor, Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology (partner), Shanghai, China, and remotely Teaching. Taught a variety of business and management courses for undergraduate students matriculated into airport management and aviation maintenance programs
11/2017 - 04/2023	Cloud Project Manager, Educaship Alliance LLC, Dumfries, Virginia Project Management. Manages a project to create technology behind CNMCyber, which is a platform for introductory jobs and hands-on training; the platform includes hundreds of software systems such as computing servers, virtual environments, middleware, and end-user applications Systems Engineering. Leads the systems design and makes final decisions on the architecture Software Coding. Using HTML5/CSS3/JS/PHP, contributes to and directly oversees coding endeavors and their implementations
5/2012 - 6/2018	U.S. Department of State Project Director, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Washington, DC Project Management. As a subcontractor, directed projects for the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) funded and overseen by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
1/2009 - 5/2018	Adjunct Management Department Instructor, Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, Flushing, New York Teaching. Remotely taught a variety of courses for undergraduate students matriculated into management programs
9/2010 - 10/2017	Trainer, Curriculum Developer, Technologist, Freelance – Virginia, New York, Washington, DC, and remotely Hands-On Training. Designed and led hands-on training for 3,200+ people in accounting, project management (based on both PMBOK® Guide), software development (based on Agile methodology), HTML/HTML5, CSS/CSS3, JavaScript, and PHP web languages Curriculum Development. Designed an innovative curriculum for the U. S. Marine Corps Flight Student Language Program, as well as curricula for entrepreneurs, c-level executives, and startup business officers requested by an investment group Lecturing. Presented a lecture on multicultural management for Washington DC Chapter of Project Management Institute (PMI®), Wasgington, DC, USA
7/2010 - 7/2011	U.S. Marine Corps Culture Instructor, Professional Solutions LLC (government contractor), Quantico, Virginia Teaching. Taught for the Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning (CAOCL)
12/2006 - 11/2014	Ural Federal University Consultant, The Economic Group (contractor), Yekaterinburg, Russia Consulting. Advised the university leadership on Bologna Accord, learning management systems, educational software implementations, and business opportunities
7/2007 - 5/2009	Instructor, Lecturer, Curriculum Developer, Programmer, Freelance – New York and remotely Lecturing. Presented a lecture on international marketing campaigns at School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) of Columbia University, New York, USA Teaching. Developed and taught extracurricular business courses for Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, and Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus Programming. Coded the first version of Opplet.net using PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
7/2006 - 12/2007	Adjunct Business Department Instructor, SUNY Westchester Community College, Valhalla, New York Teaching. Taught business courses including general marketing, international business, and international marketing for undergraduate students matriculated into business programs Web Development. Using basic web languages, developed educational webpages in order to support students.

Competencies

Gary lists his entrepreneurial spirit, thinking "outside the box," and finding "a way to get it done" as his strongest abilities.

Code Development

Development tools -- Eclipse IDE, GIT, GitLab, Apache Subversion (SVN); Android Studio Programing -- Node.js; PHP/Yii Platforms -- Linux/Ubuntu, LAMP stack, SQL, NoSQL, API/RESTful API

Conferencing Software

Live presentation -- SmartBoard Webconferencing -– Cisco Webex, GoToMeeting, Skype for Business, Jitsi, VooV Meetings, Apache OpenMeetings, Zoom software, BigBlueButton, etc.

Document Software

Digital visualization -– Axure Pro, Balsamiq Graphic production -- Adobe Creative Suite (including InDesign, Photoshop), CorelDRAW, Inkscape Office suites such as Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, etc. -- document processors, presentation programs, spreadsheet editors, personal information managers, desktop-publishing apps Video production –- Camtasia Web design –- Elementor Page Builder

End-User Applications

Content management software (CMS) -- Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, MediaWiki Customer relationship management software (CRM software; standalone) -- SugarCRM/SuiteCRM, Salesforce Document management software and office suite platforms -- Alfresco, Liferay, MS Sharepoint, Office 365 Enterprise E-learning software -- Moodle, Canvas LMS (Instructure Canvas), OpenEdX, Sakai, Blackboard Learning System, Desire2Learn, SuccessFactors Email software -- Dovecot, Postfix, Roundcube Enterprise resource planning software (ERP software) -- OpenERP/Odoo, MS Dynamics Project management software (standalone) -- Redmine, MS Project, MS Project Server, Atlassian Jira/Confluence, Taiga software, ProjeQtOr Social network software -- HumHub

Server-Side Systems

Cloud computing platforms/virtual environments -- OpenStack, ProxmoxVE Cyber-security -- Backdoor, denial-of-service attack, direct-access attack, eavesdropping, polymorphic attack, phishing, privilege escalation, social engineering, spoofing, tampering Database management software (DBMS) -- Apache Cassandra, Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL Enterprise integrators (business integration software) -- MuleESB, Apache Camel, Fuse ESB, Keycloak/JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform, WSO2 Enterprise Integrator Identity and access management (IAM) and SSO -- SAML2, OAuth 2.0, OpenID, OpenLDAP, Shibboleth software, WSO2 Identity Server

Web Development

Core web tools -- SSH, SSL certificates, TLS, BIND (DNS server software) Firewalls -- pfSense, iptables Web languages -- HTML/HTML5, SVG, XML; CSS/CSS3; JavaScript Web protocols -- DNS/DNSSEC, TCP/IP, FTP, HTTP/HTTPS, IMAP, TLS/SSL, LDAP Web servers -- Apache HTTP Server, Apache Tomcat, Nginx

Third-Party Credentials

Educational Credentials

M.B.A., Business Administration -- Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus M.S./B.S., Mechanical Engineering -- Belarusian-Russian University, Mogilev, Belarus

Other Achievements

Alumnus (2001), International Visitor Program, funded and overseen by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Story

Gary's Journey: Pioneering the Future of Work

Gary had always been drawn to the cutting edge of technology. From the moment desktop publishing systems and graphic programs emerged in the 1990s, he saw the potential to revolutionize industries. Back then, printing presses were still the norm for laying out newspapers, but Gary knew that wouldn't last.

In Ukraine, he seized the opportunity to organize training for operators and designers transitioning to these new digital tools. His organization flourished, growing to 120 employees as they became the go-to source for training in the publishing industry.

But Gary's ambitions didn't stop there. In 2004, he made the bold decision to relocate to the United States. There, he began teaching at academia, sharing his wealth of knowledge with eager minds. As an adjunct professor, he inspired a new generation of tech-savvy innovators.

In 2010, Gary's expertise caught the attention of the US Marine Corps and, later, the US State Department. They enlisted him to direct educational projects, recognizing his unique ability to bridge the gap between technology and practical application.

During this time, Gary's curiosity led him to delve into Natural Language Processing (NLP). In 2015 and 2016, he immersed himself in the fascinating world of NLP, exploring how English could be harnessed as a programming language. His insights sparked new possibilities in AI and language processing.

By 2023, Gary found himself at the forefront of yet another groundbreaking project. The Virginia Institute of Technology entrusted him to lead a study on the impact of AI on the workplace and workforce. With his guidance, the project delved deep into the implications of AI-driven automation, exploring both its potential benefits and challenges.

As the project progressed, Gary and his team launched the "Future of Work is AI" website, a platform to share their findings with the public. Through articles, interactive tools, and educational resources, they aimed to demystify AI and empower individuals to navigate the evolving landscape of work.

For Gary, each chapter of his journey was defined by a relentless pursuit of knowledge and innovation. From the early days of desktop publishing to the frontier of AI research, he remained steadfast in his mission to shape the future of work for the better. And as long as there were new frontiers to explore, Gary would be there, leading the way into tomorrow.