Aalok Dhonju

Education

Northern Kentucky University

Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Technology

Expected Graduation: May 2026

Network and System Administration Track | Minor in Health Informatics and Information Security

Cumulative GPA: 3.938 / 4.00

Honors: US Bank Cyber Security Scholarship, COI President's List 3x, COI Dean's List, Haile COB Dean's List, Haile Enrichment Fund, International Merit Scholarship, EDGE and EDGE+ Programs

Experience

Medpace Inc.

Network Engineering Intern

August 2025 - Present

Resolved Zscaler and network support tickets and monitored alerts with SolarWinds
Assisted in deploying Cisco 9200CX switches and installing Opengear appliances for network management
Automated routine tasks using PowerShell, including ACL extraction and group membership audits
Conducted authenticated network scans with Tanium and strengthened micro segmentation with Guardicore policies

Northern Kentucky University

Undergraduate Student Researcher

May 2024 - April 2025

Conducted research on SPHERE for reliable Edge Computing Services under Prof. Rasib Khan
Configured VMware vSphere instances to deploy local databases and edge computing servers
Secured IoT data streams using blockchain-based hash chains and cryptographic methods

Compass Group USA

Intern

October 2023 - August 2025

Administered and migrated the NKU Dine-on-Campus website
Analyzed marketing data using Python, Excel, and Power BI to provide consumer behavior insights
Managed digital displays and social media, and automated marketing emails for over 200 subscribers

Northern Kentucky University

Teaching Assistant

August 2024 - December 2024

Assisted with lab sessions and exam reviews for CIT 247 Networking Fundamentals
Supported hands-on learning with Cisco networking equipment in the Cyber Threat Intelligence Lab

Projects

Secure Service Provenance in Edge Computing

Set up and managed MySQL Server, creating automated Python scripts to streamline data extraction and storage

Integrated Local APIs with databases for efficient and secure data transfer
Enhanced system integrity using blockchain, hash chains, and robust security protocols
Deployed and maintained multiple VM instances, ensuring optimal configuration and performance

Unix System Administrator Tool Using Python

A comprehensive system administration tool using Python to automate various tasks

User Management: Create, delete, and update user accounts, including batch creation from CSV files
System Monitoring: Track CPU and memory usage, check disk space, and list running processes
File Organization: Automatically categorize files based on extensions
Email Notifications: Automated alerts after task completion

Layer 2 Security Hardening on Cisco Switches

Configured a Cisco switch to enhance network security by implementing multiple security measures

Threat Prevention: Mitigated MAC spoofing, CAM Overflow, and DHCP Snooping attacks
Security Solutions: Enabled Port Fast, BPDU Guard, and auto-recovery in Cisco 3850
VLAN Management: Secured unused ports in a "parking lot VLAN"
Protocol Hardening: Disabled CDP to reduce attack surfaces

Self-Hosted Portfolio Website

Created and hosted portfolio website on a self-hosted Ubuntu server

Apache2 Web Server: Configured and hosted the website on port 80
NAT Forwarding: Enabled external access by forwarding port 80
Domain Linking: Mapped the server's IP address to custom domain
Live at: www.aalok.me

Education

Northern Kentucky University

Experience

Medpace Inc.

Northern Kentucky University

Compass Group USA

Northern Kentucky University

Projects

Secure Service Provenance in Edge Computing

Unix System Administrator Tool Using Python

Layer 2 Security Hardening on Cisco Switches

Self-Hosted Portfolio Website

Certifications

Certified in Cybersecurity (CC)

SASE Expert Level 1

CompTIA Network+ ce Certification

Google Cybersecurity Certificate