Cloud • Networking • Security • Field Operations

Jerry Atchison

IT Support and Network Technician

Hands-on experience in telecommunications infrastructure, hardware diagnostics, cloud and networking fundamentals, and field service operations - including troubleshooting, system configuration, documentation, and coordination with NOC and project teams. Backed by CCNA, AWS, CompTIA, ITIL, and degrees in cloud/network engineering and computer science.

Powder Springs, Georgia · Open to remote or metro Atlanta area roles

Experience

Relevant roles across telecom field operations, technical service, industrial systems, and recent cloud and computer science study.

Full-Time Student & Freelance Technician

Powder Springs, GA

Mar 2024 - Present

  • Completed a Bachelor of Science in Cloud and Network Engineering and earned 11 industry-recognized IT certifications (Cisco, AWS, CompTIA, ITIL).
  • Completed a Master of Science in Computer Science.
  • Perform freelance technical work, including automotive diagnostic equipment repair, specialized equipment resale, and basic handyman/electrical services.

Rental Yard Attendant

Bobcat Atlanta · Marietta, GA

Jun 2022 - Feb 2024

  • Maintained heavy equipment and ensured operational efficiency through diagnostics, maintenance, and reporting.
  • Collaborated with departments to troubleshoot equipment issues and fill out technical documentation.

Wireless Network Technician (Lead Technician)

Lightwave Communications, Inc. (subcontractor for T-Mobile / Verizon / AT&T / Sprint) · Contractor for Neocom · Woodstock, GA

Sep 2016 - Aug 2021

  • Performed rack and stack of telecom equipment; mounted and assembled RBS cabinets, DUs, XMUs, radios, and associated modules at the physical layer (Layer 1), including fiber, power, and labeling.
  • Pre-integrated and commissioned Ericsson/Nokia network equipment; supported Layer 2 connectivity and assisted with basic Layer 3 validation and troubleshooting, coordinating with NOC teams and key stakeholders across telecom network operations.
  • Directed and coordinated on-site tower and ground crews during DAS, rooftop, and cell tower deployments, providing testing results and guidance on required adjustments across multi-vendor environments (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T), including support for Sprint-T-Mobile network integration during the merger.
  • Troubleshot as a ground technician alongside tower teams to resolve VSWR, light level, PIM, MIMO, RET, and power issues; utilized Anritsu and Kaelus for line sweeping and PIM testing, performed OTDR fiber testing, and monitored AC/DC systems, reducing repeat service issues.
  • Tested and validated new cell sites by accessing ground system modules and resolving issues prior to handoff to cell technicians.
  • Compiled and submitted detailed site reports with photographic evidence, detailed work logs, and recommendations for future preventive maintenance.

Satellite Technician

Dish Network · Marietta, GA

Dec 2015 - Jun 2016

  • Installed Dish satellite systems, receivers, coax cable, diplexers, splitters, and wall plates in customer homes.
  • Maintained over 90% average customer satisfaction on post-install phone surveys.
  • Recognized as Employee of the Month twice.

Kitchen Manager and Chef

Johnny's Barbeque · Powder Springs, GA

Sep 2013 - Nov 2015

  • Diagnosed and repaired electrical systems in the restaurant.
  • Managed inventory, scheduling, and team coordination to maintain smooth operations under pressure.

Outside Sales and Technician

Process Measurement & Control Company · Marietta, GA

Jun 2012 - Aug 2013

  • Installed and repaired level, pressure, and temperature sensors integrated with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) in manufacturing environments.
  • Troubleshot and repaired automation systems to improve performance and reduce downtime.
  • Collaborated with maintenance managers and engineers to design solutions and generate quotes and proposals in QuickBooks.

Electrician Helper

Turner Electrical · Marietta, GA

May 2006 - Jun 2012

  • Wired residential homes in accordance with electrical codes.
  • Troubleshot and repaired electrical systems and appliance-related issues.

Student Assistant - Marketing & Outreach

Kennesaw State University · Kennesaw, GA

Aug 2005 - May 2006

  • Edited and maintained the Kennesaw State University CAREing Center website for accurate and accessible content using HTML, Frontpage, and Dreamweaver.
  • Designed brochures and outreach materials to support center outreach and visibility.

Field work

Lead field support across hundreds of wireless sites - new installs, integrations, pre-integration validation, RF testing, troubleshooting, commissioning, and coordination with tower crews, tiger teams, and NOC personnel. Bellevue below is one documented example from that work.

Example field project · Lightwave Communications

Bellevue Wireless Site Pre-Integration and Return Visit

Completed a two-visit Ericsson pre-integration project. On the first visit, I installed and checked site equipment, corrected two unplugged LTE fiber connections, tested alarms, reviewed light levels, PM counters, RETs, radio inventory, and VSWR readings, and isolated a failed LTE Gamma secondary 2212 radio. I returned after the tower crew replaced the radio, reran the checks, and completed the site.

2 visitsInitial troubleshooting and follow-up validation
Fault isolatedGamma secondary radio identified for replacement
CompletePre-integration finished after the radio replacement
Ericsson RBS Pre-Integration Light Levels VSWR RET Alarm Testing
View Bellevue field project
Connected Ericsson baseband and neatly dressed fiber cabling after Bellevue site corrections
Ericsson baseband and fiber after site corrections - final validation, April 12, 2018.
Open Bellevue ground equipment cabinets during the first visit
Bellevue ground equipment and cabinet work during the first visit.
Bellevue tower and sector equipment
Tower and sector equipment documented during the return visit.

College projects

Applied cloud, networking, and security builds from degree programs. Professional field work is above; additional college projects are listed further down.

CloudCampusIQ Scalable AWS Platform project artifact
College project · M.S. Computer Science

CloudCampusIQ Scalable AWS Platform

Designed and deployed a secure AWS foundation for an online learning platform using a custom VPC, load balancing, Auto Scaling, CloudFront, WAF, monitoring, and budget controls.

AWSVPCCloudFrontWAF
View project →
Complete GadgetMotion hybrid Cisco and AWS architecture
College project · B.S. Cloud & Network Engineering

GadgetMotion Hybrid Cisco-AWS Robotics Network

Implemented a segmented Cisco CML network, two-subnet AWS VPC, site-to-site IPsec VPN, ACLs, security groups, and eight repeatable validation areas.

Cisco CMLVLANsAWSIPsec
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Pruhart Health Hybrid Cloud Revision and Workflow Automation project artifact
College project · B.S. Cloud & Network Engineering

Pruhart Health Hybrid Cloud Revision and Workflow Automation

Reworked a healthcare hybrid-cloud design to improve connectivity, identity, security monitoring, analytics workflows, orchestration, and operational resilience.

Hybrid CloudHealthcareAutomation
View project →
Retail Merger Multi-Cloud Security Plan project artifact
College project · B.S. Cloud & Network Engineering

Retail Merger Multi-Cloud Security Plan

Designed security controls for a merged retail environment spanning on-premises systems and AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

Multi-CloudSecuritySegmentation
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Secure AWS IaaS Web Server Deployment project artifact
College project · B.S. Cloud & Network Engineering

Secure AWS IaaS Web Server Deployment

Provisioned a secured EC2 web server with encrypted storage, controlled network access, logging, and operational monitoring.

EC2EBSKMSCloudWatch
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Fielder Medical Center Security Assessment Report project artifact
College project · M.S. Computer Science

Fielder Medical Center Security Assessment Report

Evaluated technical and organizational security risks for a medical center and developed prioritized remediation recommendations.

GRCNISTRiskHealthcare
View project →

Additional college projects

Additional degree work in algorithms, machine learning, software design, mobile UX, hybrid cloud planning, and technical leadership.

AI-Enhanced Network Architecture for Pruhart Health project artifact
College project · B.S. Cloud & Network Engineering

AI-Enhanced Network Architecture for Pruhart Health

Modeled a multi-location healthcare network with secure connectivity, centralized telemetry, and AI-assisted monitoring and response workflows.

GNS3SIEM/SOARIPsecAI Ops
View project →
CART_URL = "http://localhost:5002"
PAYMENT_URL = "http://localhost:5003"


@app.route("/checkout", methods=["POST"])
def checkout():
    data = request.get_json()
    item = data.get("item")
    quantity = data.get("quantity", 0)
    method = data.get("method", "credit_card")
    amount = data.get("amount", 0)
College project · M.S. Computer Science

Retail Microservices Architecture and Prototype

Refactored a retail checkout example into separate cart, inventory, payment, and orchestration services using Python and Flask.

PythonFlaskMicroservicesREST
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MidWest Power Cloud-Based AI/ML DDoS Protection Pilot project artifact
College project · M.S. Computer Science

MidWest Power Cloud-Based AI/ML DDoS Protection Pilot

Developed a pilot implementation plan for testing CloudFront, AWS Shield, WAF, CloudWatch, and traffic-response controls.

CloudFrontShieldWAF
View project →
priority_rows = list(csv.DictReader(csvfile))

    return location_rows, ambulance_rows, calls_rows, priority_rows

def sort_calls(calls_rows, priority_rows):
    # Sort by priority first, then by original order in calls.csv using original index, so it's FIFO.
    priority_map = {}
    for row in priority_rows:
        call_type = row["Call Type"]
        priority_value = int(row["Priority"])
        priority_map[call_type] = priority_value

    indexed_calls = list(enumerate(calls_rows))
College project · M.S. Computer Science

Emergency Ambulance Dispatch Algorithm Comparison

Created dispatch simulations that prioritize emergency calls, compare routes, select ambulances, and log results using graph algorithms.

PythonDijkstraBellman-Ford
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# Read the cleaned/scaled data and scaler file.
data = pd.read_excel(BASE_DIR / "Covid19_Cleaned_After_Scaling.xlsx")
scaler = load(BASE_DIR / "Covid19_scaler.joblib")

# X = inputs, y = what we want to predict.
feature_columns = [column for column in data.columns if column != TARGET_COLUMN]
X = data[feature_columns]
y = data[TARGET_COLUMN]

# Split data into training and testing sets.
X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size=0.2, random_state=42)
College project · M.S. Computer Science

COVID-19 Case Forecasting Model

Built a data-cleaning, feature-preparation, Random Forest training, evaluation, and twelve-week forecasting pipeline.

Pythonpandasscikit-learn
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Smart Agriculture Computing System project artifact
College project · M.S. Computer Science

Smart Agriculture Computing System

Designed a precision-agriculture platform connecting sensors, sprinklers, drones, an autonomous tractor, edge processing, and AWS.

IoTEdgeAWSAutomation
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# Weather module for the Weather program
# Created September 2024
# Converted to Python OOP

class Weather:
    def __init__(self, fh_array, fl_array, array_lengths, ws, wc):
        self._f_high_array = fh_array
        self._f_low_array = fl_array
        self._ws_mph = ws
        self._number_temperatures = array_lengths
        self._w_code = wc
        self._description = ""
College project · M.S. Computer Science

Fortran Weather Program and Python Conversion

Implemented the same weather calculations in modular Fortran and object-oriented Python to compare language structure and design.

FortranPythonOOP
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CampusHub Mobile and Ubiquitous Design project artifact
College project · M.S. Computer Science

CampusHub Mobile and Ubiquitous Design

Created a mobile campus-services concept with user requirements, device interactions, protocols, accessibility planning, and a clickable multi-screen prototype.

Mobile UXWireframesAccessibility
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Strategic Hybrid Cloud Transition Plan for SynesthorTech project artifact
College project · B.S. Cloud & Network Engineering

Strategic Hybrid Cloud Transition Plan for SynesthorTech

Developed a phased transition plan for moving selected analytics workloads from legacy infrastructure into a secure hybrid cloud.

Hybrid CloudMigrationSecurity
View project →
# Snippet 1: Cart Component
# Refactored from Singleton pattern to Repository pattern
# Carts are now stored separately by cart_id so each user can have their own cart instead of sharing one cart across the entire application.

class Cart:
    # cart_id keeps each customer's cart separate.
    def __init__(self, cart_id):
        self.cart_id = cart_id
        self.items = []

    # Same add item behavior as the original code.
    def add_item(self, item, quantity):
        self.items.append((item, quantity))
        print(f"Added {quantity} {item}(s) to cart.")
College project · M.S. Computer Science

Retail Design Pattern Analysis and Refactoring

Analyzed retail components and refactored them using repository, strategy, observer, and other object-oriented design patterns.

PythonDesign PatternsRefactoring
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5G Core · RAN · MEC · Network Slicing
College project · M.S. Computer Science

5G Network Architecture Analysis

Analyzed 5G as a distributed computing platform, including radio access, core services, edge computing, slicing, security, and sustainability.

5GMECNetwork Slicing
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Leadership Styles · Communication · Change Management
College project · B.S. Cloud & Network Engineering

IT Leadership, Communication, and Change Management

Analyzed two workplace scenarios involving process adoption and pilot-team selection, then developed recommendations for leadership, communication, consensus-building, training, and change management.

LeadershipChange ManagementCommunication
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Skills

Hands-on telecom experience combined with cloud labs, security assessments, networking builds, and software prototypes from recent degree work.

AWS architecture and operations Cisco routing and switching VLANs, ACLs, VPNs, and hybrid networking Ericsson / Nokia RAN install and pre-integration VSWR, PIM, OTDR, and RF troubleshooting CloudFront, WAF, ALB, and Auto Scaling Python and Flask NIST controls and risk assessment Monitoring, logging, and automation NOC and multi-crew field coordination Technical documentation and site reporting

Certifications

Click a certification to open the certificate PDF, or view verified badges on Credly. These complement hands-on telecom experience and project work across networking, cloud, security, Linux, service management, and automation.