Posts tagged newhire

David Rich Joins Zekiah’s Software Development Team

June 17, 2020 Written by Fawn Kildoo

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome David Rich to our software development team. Mr. Rich is our newest veteran hire (read more on the benefits to hiring veterans in AFSA’s Spring 2020 magazine, page 28) and we’re excited to have been able to implement new on-boarding procedures to continue hiring during the COVID-19 quarantine. After serving in the Navy Mr. Rich attended Capital Institute of Technology in Maryland and then Johns Hopkins/APL to get his master’s degree. In a vain attempt to “get out of the city” Mr. Rich moved to Stafford Virginia where he has spent the last thirty years fighting the traffic on I-95. His new commute with Zekiah, supporting our NSWC Dahlgren contracts, finally allows him relief from traveling on I-95 and he’s looking forward to the change of pace. (Read more about the benefits of simplifying your commute here.)

Company News

careers, veterans, Welcome

Ashton Spencer Joins Zekiah’s Software Development Team

January 30, 2020 Written by Tina Entzian

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome Ashton Spencer to our Software Development team! Mr. Spencer is originally from the West Coast, Camarillo California, and comes from a military family. He’s lived in multiple states during his youth but now calls Virginia home. Ashton has served his country for the last 6 years as a member of the Air National Guard.

Through his time with the Air National Guard and personal time Ashton has discovered and fed his love for travel, both in the country and out. The current tally of places he has visited is: 17 states and 13 countries (spanning 4 continents)! Though he may be an East Coaster now, he still shows his strong ties to his west-coast upbringing as a huge LA Rams fan.

Ashton choose an east-coast school, attending the College of Charleston and receiving a BS in Information Systems. When Ashton joined Zekiah in December he said, “I look forward to providing my best efforts in trying to address our nation’s ever evolving cyber challenges by working together with our government counterparts.” Justin Smith, Ashton’s supervisor, shared his thoughts stating “The client and Zekiah team members are excited to begin working with Ashton, a fresh young talent, who will support new changes to our customer’s automation program.” Welcome aboard Ashton!

Zekiah Technologies is a small business headquartered in La Plata, MD committed to exceeding the expectations of our clients through innovation and the ingenuity of our technical solutions in the fields of software development, systems engineering, geospatial technologies, and training.

Company News

careers, Welcome

Maria Heath Joins Zekiah’s Database Development Team

October 24, 2019 Written by Fawn Kildoo

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome Maria Heath to our Database Development team! Ms. Heath is a native Southern Marylander, hailing from our very own Charles County. She has since moved to the Northern Neck of Virginia where she has raised her family, German Shepherd dog, and multiple cats. Though she doesn’t currently have any horses, they were her main reason for moving to Virginia (Virginia is for horse lovers!), a passion shared by several other Zekiah employees!

Maria earned her BS in Computer Science from the University of Maryland University College (recently renamed the University of Maryland Global Campus). Originally a civilian government employee, Maria made the switch to a contractor and has supported the government in that capacity for the last 20 years. Her professional interests include Oracle databases and UNIX servers, making her a perfect fit for Zekiah’s work.

When Maria joined Zekiah in late September she said “I joined the Zekiah team to work in a friendly office environment with educational/training opportunities and to find a better work/life balance.” Zekiah recognizes the importance of a good work/life balance and is excited to be part of Maria’s. Cassandra Casablanca, Maria’s supervisor, shared her excitement stating “I’m pleased to welcome Maria to the NEMS contract. With her depth of experience in database administration and development and her ability to hit the ground running, I know she’ll be an invaluable member of the team.” Welcome aboard Maria!

Company News

careers, oracle

Zachary Johnson Joins Zekiah’s Software Development Team

October 9, 2019 Written by Fawn Kildoo

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome Zachary Johnson to our software development team! This name may already be familiar to our followers since Zach interned with us both last summer and this summer. Upon completion of his degree from the University of Mary Washington in May and the Zekiah Technologies Controls System (ZTCS) internship this summer, we were excited to offer him a full time permanent position.

During Zach’s 2018 internship he wrote our insights piece “Why work at Zekiah Technologies?”

We introduced Zach for the 2019 internship in our company news piece “Zekiah Welcomes our Summer Interns, Pt. 1!”

Zach was also quoted in our August insights piece “The Mutual Benefits of Internships”

Zach shared the following sentiments when interviewed at the internship’s close.

“I think what I am going to miss the most from this internship is the feeling of constantly working toward a tangible goal. Our project is going to have a physical deliverable at the end of it, and I think that knowing or at least having an idea of what exactly I’m helping to build, and seeing how it may have real-world applications is a massive motivator. But once the internship is over, that feeling is going to go away for a while.
My future goals are pretty generic: I’d like to get a job in a field I enjoy, probably software engineering or data science, and live well with a fulfilling job as well as time for myself. […] I’d like to thank Zekiah for this opportunity, I’m going to take the tools and technical skills I’ve learned with me to whatever projects I am a part of in the future, but the mindset of constant learning will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

We are proud to be able to keep Zach’s talent, drive, and ingenuity here at Zekiah, and put it to good use supporting our clients. His feeling of excitement at seeing the real-world results of his efforts will not be diminished, as he feared, but rather focused onto a new effort. Zach has already accomplished his above goal, and we look forward to helping him set new goals in the future.

At Zekiah, we believe in being active participants in the development of the future workforce. The relationships we develop through our internship opportunities are just one more piece of our Zekiah family and company culture. This family in turn provides the superior service and client support for which we are known. Zekiah has several success stories of interns and junior staff we mentored into accomplished developers and engineers and we’re committed to Zach’s journey. Welcome aboard Zach!

Company News

careers, Dahlgren

Kevin Manion Joins Zekiah’s GIS Team

September 19, 2019 Written by Tina Entzian

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome Kevin Manion to our Geospatial Engineering team! Mr. Manion is a native Marylander, growing up in the Annapolis area and attending college at the University of Maryland, College Park. After graduating with a degree in Geographical Sciences, his professional interests turned to GIS and front-end development and he states “I am looking forward to supporting Zekiah in those areas.”

When Mr. Manion is away from his computer keyboard, he likes to be in front of a piano keyboard! He’s been performing as part of an ensemble in the Washington, DC area for nearly a decade on piano and bassoon. He also enjoys board games on the weekends. Some of his favorites include Agricola and Colt Express.

When Mr. Manion joined Zekiah earlier this month he said “I am excited to join the Zekiah team and continue to learn and grow in their supportive environment.” Eric Mahaffey, Mr. Manion’s supervisor, shared a similar sentiment stating “I’m excited to bring Kevin on board to support the MADSS program. He brings a solid background in geospatial analysis coupled with a strong drive to gain more experience as a geospatial developer. I’m excited to see what he can do as he digs into the project.” We’re happy to continue to find strong, local talent to support our clients and looking forward to the successes we’ll achieve together. Welcome aboard Kevin!

Company News

careers, GIS, somd

Troy Thompson Joins Zekiah’s Software Engineering Team

July 25, 2019 Written by Tina Entzian

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome Troy Thompson to our Software Engineering team! In 2015, Mr. Thompson graduated from West Virginia University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. After graduating, Mr. Thompson returned to his hometown of King George, VA where he now resides with his two year old dog, an energetic medium-sized mixed breed named Denali.

Company News

SoftwareEngineer

Ermina Callera Joins Zekiah’s Software Engineering Team

July 19, 2019 Written by Tina Entzian

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome Ermina Callera to the Software Engineering team! Mrs. Callera graduated from the University of Texas, where she received a degree in Computer Science Business Programming. For the last 22 years, her family has called Northern Virginia home. Before settling down locally, Mrs. Callera traveled all over the country as she followed her husband throughout his career as a service member of the United States Army.

Company News

SoftwareEngineer, Welcome

Zekiah Welcomes our New Summer Interns, Pt. 2!

July 10, 2019 Written by Tina Entzian

At Zekiah Technologies, we believe in supporting the local community. By giving young people meaningful first-hand experience in their desired fields, Zekiah takes part in creating competent and qualified members of the workforce. We host a multitude of internship opportunities that vary in length and topics throughout the year. This summer, two sets of interns will be lending their talents and gaining invaluable experience alongside the experienced Zekiah employees.

The second pair of interns joining us this summer are Kim Stuart and William Makell III (read about the first two here)!

Company News

careers, internship

Keith Anderson Joins Team Zekiah

June 27, 2019 Written by Tina Entzian

Zekiah Technologies, Inc. is pleased to welcome Keith Anderson to our software development team! Mr. Anderson has deep ties to our military starting out as a “Navy brat” who lived in two countries and six states by the time he graduated high school. Opting to go Army in the 90’s he is a combat veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in the early 2000’s. He’s also a dedicated husband and father of four, with one kid again breaking party lines and currently serving in the Marine Corps.

Company News

gamedesign