(WACO) – Zackary Palomin can always say he was the first.
Palomin, 22, of League City and a student at Texas State Technical College in Waco, in mid-August became the first Cloud and Data Center Management program student to get the Amazon Web Services Certified Solution Architect – Associate certification. The certification is for two years and can be renewed with additional testing. AWS is a worldwide cloud platform that includes storage, networking, analytics, artificial intelligence and other features.
“My eyes were wide open,” Palomin said when he found out he passed the test.
Palomin’s instructor, Andy Kroll in TSTC’s Cloud and Data Center Management program, has used the Amazon Web Services Academy Cloud Computing Architecture curriculum in the Cloud Deployment and Infrastructure Management course since January. Cloud and Data Center Management majors take this course in the fifth semester and learn about data security, data storage, cloud computing, the AWS cloud and other topics.
“It’s the most in-demand certification in information technology,” Kroll said. “Everyone wants to go to the cloud, but there aren’t enough people to take them to the cloud.”
Palomin is a triple major at TSTC. He graduated in December 2016 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Networking and Systems Administration and in August 2017 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Cloud and Data Center Management. He is scheduled to graduate in December 2017 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Cyber Security.
“I decided the second-to-last semester before I was going to graduate with my first degree to take my mother’s advice and keep going and explore more,” Palomin said.
Palomin was born in New Mexico and moved to Texas in 2001.
“I was a curious child,” he said. “I had an interest in taking things apart. I had an interest in my parents’ computer when they used the Windows 2000 program.”
Palomin learned about TSTC when a recruiter visited Clear Falls High School in League City, where he graduated in 2014. He was also involved in technical theater.
Palomin is active in SkillsUSA and the Cyber Centurions organizations at TSTC. Away from clubs and studying, Palomin likes to watch YouTube videos and read about random subjects through Google searches.
After finishing at TSTC, Palomin wants to work in the Houston area.
For more information on Amazon Web Services, go to aws.amazon.com.
For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.
