Queensborough joins AWS Academy to offer cloud courses to students
New Jersey resident and former biostatistician Lisa Hallman, Brandeis University (Boston) sophomore Joshua Feld, and Flushing engineering science student Jason Bhimani are among 70 people from different education and life experiences enrolled in Queensborough Community College’s first online Amazon Web Services (AWS) Academy course, delivered this month.
“This specialized program and Queensborough expertise bring together an expansive and diverse community of learners, each with their own aspirations and reasons to study,” says College President, Dr. Timothy Lynch.
Queensborough has incorporated AWS Academy curriculum into its AWS Solutions Architecture Preparation and Cloud Security Essentials course, which runs online from April 20th to June 12th. Students in the 45-hour course will be prepared to take the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exams.
“The largest enterprises and the hottest start-ups use AWS. That’s why we’re creating new tech talent pipelines, or micro-credentials with AWS Academy courses. And more is coming,” says the College’s Hui-Yin Hsu, Dean of Continuing Education & Workforce.
AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products, developer tool and IT management solutions that enable organizations to move fast, lower IT costs, and scale up their projects, and due to this, demand for the course is strong. AWS Academy is a program that provides higher education institutions with a ready-to-teach cloud curriculum that prepares students for in-demand cloud roles and industry-recognized certifications.
A veteran of consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, Hallman is retooling for a second career.
“I want to reenter the workforce as a data scientist, with the perspective of my 20-plus years of experience,” Hallman, who holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in Mathematics from Hunter College, makes clear.
“I bring nuance and problem solving skills that programmers half my age have not yet acquired,” she says, preparing a learning nook that looks onto the woods, and occasional deer, outside of her northern New Jersey home.
Feld, from Douglaston, first enrolled at Queensborough as a College Now student while at Queens High School of Teaching, Liberal Arts, & The Sciences. A former intern at the College’s Kupferberg Holocaust Center, he is an alumnus of other Queensborough Continuing Education courses.
“I love Queensborough and the timing for me is perfect, in terms of my Brandeis requirements. I’m studying politics, sociology and education and want to work professionally with special needs children after I graduate. This course is very intriguing.”
Unpacking a second desktop computer monitor, Feld says working towards AWS Certification through Queensborough appealed to his interest in emerging technology and 3D printing (he restarted a 3D printing club at Brandeis).
For Bhimani, President Pro Tempore of Queensborough’s Student Government Association (pictured), the course will deepen learning in a specialized area of study that he describes as increasingly competitive and in-demand.
Queensborough engineering science student Jason Bhimani is enrolled in the College’s first online Amazon Web Services (AWS) Academy course.
“Skills in cloud security and infrastructure architecture are highly employable and they are great qualifications to add to my resume,” Bhimani explains.
The course is new, but its purpose is not, states Continuing Education Dean Hsu.
“Queensborough is building a workforce for tomorrow. To keep up with rapid technological advancement and changing work, we need to prepare current and future students like Lisa, Joshua and Jason and equip them with the right skills and mindset,” explains Hsu.
Employers in all fields are seeking AWS Certification, according to Queensborough Engineering Technology specialist Michael Lawrence.
“Solutions Architects and Cloud Security professionals are the new foundations of any successful business effort and Queensborough is highly trusted for providing that instruction.”
Funding for the program is provided by a grant under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act administered by the New York State Education Department. Course applicants may or may not have previous training in coding and/or web applications; neither are essential. From recent high school graduates to early career specialists, all that is required to study is an interest in Systems Administration, Cloud Computing or Cyber Security.
Contact Lori Conkling at Queensborough’s Office of Continuing Education & Workforce Development for information about AWS Academy courses and other Queensborough Continuing Education Services at lconkling@qcc.cuny.edu
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