Upakar Bhatta

After spending years working in roles in government information technology and IT instruction, Upakar Bhatta is taking his knowledge of cloud networking and cybersecurity to the next generation of Sun Devil IT professionals.

The new assistant teaching professor in The Polytechnic School, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, comes to ASU from a role as senior manager of systems and networks at the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Before working at the Arizona Department of Corrections and as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland Global Campus, Bhatta held positions as a software engineer specializing in network engineering for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority and as a Cisco networking instructor at the Advanced Computing Institute.

“With the growth of the internet from 1985 to 1995, I saw networking would be important for every business,” Bhatta says. “To keep up with new networking technology, I have consistently updated my IT skills through many professional certifications in areas such as Amazon Web Services cloud computing, security and Cisco wired and wireless technology.”

Bhatta’s insatiable desire for knowledge in the IT field has led him to earn a variety of degrees and a graduate certificate in addition to his professional certifications.

He holds two master’s degrees in cybersecurity technology and cloud computing architecture from the University of Maryland Global Campus, a master’s degree in management from California’s University of Redlands and a graduate certificate in communication systems earned with distinction from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also pursuing a doctoral degree in cybersecurity from Virginia’s Marymount University.

Bhatta believes that as computing technology progresses toward cloud-based platforms, his knowledge in the field can provide insight for students to modernize and optimize IT infrastructure. He will use his expertise to teach students in IFT 366 TCP/IP and Routing, IFT 482 Network Forensics, IFT 520 Advanced Information Systems Security and IFT 523 Network Forensics for Information Technology.

Bhatta aims to use these classes to prepare students to obtain a wide variety of IT certifications from Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Microsoft and Certified Wireless Network Professionals.

“ASU is a great academic platform that will allow me to share my integrated networking experience to help students succeed in their IT careers,” he says.

Meet the newest faculty members of the Fulton Schools of Engineering here.

Written by TJ Triolo