# James Ray
**Worcester, Mass 01609
[
[email protected]](mailto:
[email protected])
[LinkedIn Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ray-61098a187/)**
## Professional Experience:
[**Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF)**](https://www.socom.mil/st/Pages/JATF.aspx)
**Tampa, FL
Rapid Prototyping Mechanical Engineer/Lab Manager
May 2025-July 2025**
- Provided Tier 2 and Tier 3 support for Ubiquity Enterprise network. Setup ISP fail-over to maintain network up-time
- Design, prototype and test unmanned robotics systems for use by Special Operations Forces in contested environments.
- Lead and manage the Rapid Prototyping Lab consisting of 3 distinct lab spaces.
- Educate and lead Special Operations Forces teams to test and evaluate new prototypes.
- Improved fabrication capabilities with new 3D printing engineering plastics to improve part strength by 2x, as well as operating and maintaining our 1.2 KW fiber laser for metal work.
- Acquire and maintain inventory for 3D printers, fasteners, flat stock and more in an environment with rapidly changing needs.
- Instituted safety protocols for class 4 lasers, reactive batteries, fine dust, toxic fumes, and electrical hazards; resulting in zero safety incidents.
[**ThreatLocker**](https://www.threatlocker.com/)
**Orlando, FL
Cybersecurity Analyst
Jan 2025-April 2025**
- Analyzed endpoint security logs from SIEM software and triaged cybersecurity incidents
- Performed root-cause analysis of application behavior, and clearly documented findings while working with customers through to resolution.
[**DigitalCM LLC**](https://www.digitalcm.com/)
**Tampa, FL
Cybersecurity Analyst
June 2023-August 2024**
- Research, develop and lead classes to professional audiences on; network infrastructure, proper network configuration, as well as common vulnerabilities and how to exploit them
- Develop and demonstrate live demos of malware in isolated, virtualized testing environments. From these demos, I would teach about what Indicators of Compromise (IOC’s) we can gather from observing malware operate, and what we can do to prevent it in the real world
- Provided Tier 2 and Tier 3 support as a Cisco Meraki and Proxmox administrator to improve network speed, reliability, and security.
- Worked with a variety of tools including; bettercap, kismet, docker, virtualbox, the kali linux suite of tools and more.
[**USF Institute of Applied Engineering (USF IAE)**](https://www.usf.edu/engineering/iae/)
**Tampa, FL
Research Support Intern
May 2022–Dec. 2022**
- Assisted in maintaining 3D printers and lab management duties at the JATF.
- Pursued Wi-Fi WPA2 pen-testing projects.
[**University of South Florida Oceanography Department**](https://www.usf.edu/marine-science/research/chemical-oceanography.aspx)
**St. Petersburg, FL
Research Support Intern
Jan. 2019-May 2019**
- Developed Key Performance Indicators for testing and evaluating pH and salinity sensors for monitoring effects of climate change in the Tampa Bay
## Education and credentials:
[**University of South Florida**](https://www.usf.edu/)_**,**_ _BS,_ _Business Analytics_ **Tampa, FL**
[**Florida Polytechnic University**](https://floridapoly.edu/)**,** _AS_ **Lakeland, FL**
## Extracurriculars:
**[Member of Whitehatters Computer Security Club](https://wcsc.notion.site/homepage) at USF**
- The Whitehatters is a student run cybersecurity club where more experienced students teach about cybersecurity concepts
- In this club I practiced Blue Team skills:
- SIEM log reading and investigation
- The [Mitre Att&Ck](https://attack.mitre.org/) framework to understand the attack workflow from the defender side
- Virtualization in Virtualbox to run Kali safely, as well as running vulnerable VM's from [VulnHub](https://www.vulnhub.com/) to attack
- Practiced hands on Red Team skills:
- Scanning and enumerating with Nmap
- Fuzzing and directory busting with Dirbuster
- Exploitation with reverse shells
- Pass the hash to exploit Windows AD
**Lead of Manufacturing section of** [**Purple Fire Robotics**](https://www.youtube.com/@purplefirerobotics) **at Florida Polytechnic University**
- Spearheaded a new section of the combat robotics team to help mechanical engineering students advance manufacturing skills and improve robot designs.
- Teaching students with a hands-on approach how to manufacture what they have designed, out of various materials including metal, plastic, and wood.
**Electrical Lead for** [**Team 79 Krunch Robotics**](https://www.team79krunch.com/) **at East Lake High School**
- Competing in FIRST Robotics Competition, we designed, prototyped, and built a functional competition robot in 6 weeks weighing in at 120 pounds.
- As leader of the electrical team we designed and built a functioning electrical system that was easy to access and repair during competition.
**Volunteer for** [**The Lioness Instincts**](https://www.thelionessinstincts.com/) **Women’s Self Defense**
- Participating as a volunteer to create and present at digital privacy workshops to teach women how to protect their digital footprint.
## Skills:
- Linux proficiency in server administration and virtualization. Specifically in Debian, Fedora and Windows Server 2019
- [[Microsoft Active Directory Lab|Microsoft Active Directory]] experience
- Computer network design, troubleshooting, and network security. In depth knowledge of the OSI model as well as protocols including TCP/IP, HTTPS and SSL certificate management.
- Proficiency with Virtualbox, Docker, [[Home Lab-Technical Details#Server OS|Proxmox]], KVM, [[Home Lab-Technical Details#Network Diagram|VLAN’s]] and more.
- Over 3 years of experience in college and workplace training in cybersecurity and computer networking as well as server administration.
- Own and operate a homelab running Proxmox Virtual Environment, with TrueNAS for automatic backups, VLAN segmentation for security, and Tailscale Mesh Wireguard VPN to share resources with friends and family.
- Wireless and wired penetration testing and security hardening against network based attacks
- Teaching with a focus on hands-on education
- Organizing/Documenting work clearly. Proficient in markdown based documentation.