Based in
Ames, Iowa
Focus
Infrastructure / Security
Status
Building
Engineering systems
& security
Selected work ↓Cooper Hoy
(About)
I like creating things that make an impact
I work across software engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity, networking, and computer architecture. My projects range from encryption tools and trading platforms to network security tooling, custom processors, and hardware built for the field.
By day, that’s infrastructure engineering at QCI and leading a fifteen-person technical team at Iowa State. By night, it’s usually a half-finished processor or whatever currently has its case open on my desk.
I want to be an engineer in cybersecurity, infrastructure, or networking: designing, building, and defending the systems organizations run on. The work I've enjoyed most so far, like hardening firewalls at RSM, catching a live attack, and building disaster-recovery paths at Cambridge, all sits where those three overlap.
Right now that means going deeper on the fundamentals: I'm working toward my CCNA and through the SC-500 series.
The dream is to build and lead a team of engineers, and be the one out front for it, delivering something meaningful.
Delivering change
(01) — Senior Design
Cicada is a mesh of solar-powered sensor nodes that measure fire-related conditions (air moisture, wind, temperature, pressure, and particulates) across rural acreage and report them over LoRa to a base station. The base station feeds a live dashboard showing node locations, readings, and threshold alerts, so first responders and landowners can see where a fire is starting and how conditions are moving. The first-semester deliverable is one node, a base station, and a live dashboard working end to end with real sensor data.
(02) — Work
Selected work
Hover for the gist. Click for the whole story.
W@V3 encrypts a file with AES-256 and hides the ciphertext inside an ordinary WAV audio file, so the protected data travels as something that looks and plays like normal audio. A Tkinter desktop interface handles the encrypt-and-embed and extract-and-decrypt workflows.
My role
Sole developer: I designed the embedding format, implemented the encryption and audio handling, and built the desktop interface.
What I learned
- Applied symmetric cryptography (AES-256, key derivation, IV handling)
- Binary file formats and the WAV/RIFF container structure
- Steganography trade-offs between capacity and detectability
- Desktop GUI design with Tkinter
Resources
- Python standard library (wave, struct) and a Python cryptography library
- RIFF/WAV format specification
- NIST guidance on AES modes of operation
Python · AES-256 · WAV steganography · Tkinter
NOCstock tracks network equipment from receiving dock to rack. Technicians scan a barcode to intake a device, the backend enriches it with vendor data (model, warranty, lifecycle), and every change is recorded in an audit log. Role-based access control separates who can view, edit, and retire assets.
My role
Sole developer: I designed the database schema and the Spring Boot REST API, built the React front end, and implemented authentication, RBAC, and audit logging.
What I learned
- Full-stack architecture with Spring Boot and React
- Relational schema design in MariaDB
- Integrating third-party vendor APIs
- Access control and audit trails as security requirements
Resources
- Spring Boot and Spring Security documentation
- MariaDB documentation
- React documentation
- Vendor product/warranty APIs
Java · Spring Boot · MariaDB · React
Knext takes the results of an Nmap scan, builds a topology map of the hosts it found, and matches each exposed service and version against published CVE data, so a defender can see which machines are exposed and how badly in one view instead of reading raw scan output.
My role
Sole developer: I wrote the scan parser, the CVE correlation logic, and the topology visualization.
What I learned
- Network reconnaissance and service fingerprinting with Nmap
- Vulnerability assessment and CVE/CPE matching
- Parsing structured tool output (Nmap XML)
- Presenting security data so it is actionable
Resources
- Nmap reference guide and XML output format
- NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD) CVE data
- Security coursework on penetration testing
Nmap · CVE correlation · Network topology mapping
Nerd Market treats collectible cards like equities: it pulls live market prices, stores price history, charts trends, and lets a user track a portfolio's value over time.
My role
Sole developer: I own the data model, market API integration, and portfolio logic.
What I learned
- REST API consumption, rate limits, and caching
- Time-series data storage and modeling
- Designing a domain model for portfolios and transactions
Resources
- Public card-market pricing APIs
- Java and database documentation
Java · REST APIs · Database · Portfolio tracking
A processor implementing the RV32I instruction set, built first as a single-cycle design and then as a five-stage pipeline with hazard detection and forwarding, verified in ModelSim against test programs.
My role
Computer Organization coursework: I designed and debugged the datapath and control logic, first as a single-cycle design and then as a five-stage pipeline.
What I learned
- Hardware description in Verilog
- Datapath and control design
- Pipelining, data/control hazards, and forwarding
- Planning before building: skipping design work only moves the time into debugging
Resources
- RISC-V ISA specification (RV32I)
- Patterson & Hennessy, Computer Organization and Design (RISC-V edition)
- ModelSim simulator
Verilog · RV32I · Single-cycle & pipelined · ModelSim
Currently
At QCI — Live
(03) — Experience
Where I have worked
Open a role for duties and the technical and soft skills it built.
Duties & projects
- Virtualize and maintain client servers on VMware and Nutanix
- Configure Cisco IOS and Meraki networking for client sites
- Administer Azure identity and PIM elevated-access policies
- Write PowerShell and Microsoft Graph automation for provisioning and identity workflows
Technical
- VMware
- Nutanix
- Cisco IOS
- Meraki
- Azure / Entra ID
- PIM
- PowerShell
- Microsoft Graph
Soft skills
- Juggling several client environments
- Balancing school with production work
Duties & projects
- Designed multi-site Layer 2/3 infrastructure: VLANs, 802.1Q trunking, inter-VLAN routing, subnetting
- Built and hardened Palo Alto HA firewall clusters with NAT, virtual routers, and GlobalProtect
- Detected a live credential-spray attack and built a FortiOS automation that bans attackers without locking out real users
- Ran SD-WAN edge cutovers and ISP migrations with zero unplanned downtime
- Delivered network diagrams, firewall rule audits, and implementation docs to clients
Technical
- Palo Alto
- FortiGate
- GlobalProtect
- Meraki
- SD-WAN
- VLAN / 802.1Q
- Incident response
Soft skills
- Client communication
- Diagnose before you fix
- Coordinating carriers and client staff
Promoted to Team Lead in 2026. I lead up to 15 technicians across campus network, endpoint, and identity services, and built an onboarding program that cut ramp-up from six weeks to two.
Duties & projects
- Deployed Windows Server 2025 on VMware for Active Directory, DNS, and file services
- Designed a DMZ segment hosting a domain-controller clone for disaster-recovery failover
- Wrote hardening GPOs that became the enterprise endpoint security baseline
- Maintained 99.9% Exchange availability and led root cause analysis on outages
Technical
- Windows Server
- Active Directory
- DNS
- VMware
- HCI
- Group Policy
- Exchange
Soft skills
- Root cause analysis & write-ups
- Working within change control
I mentor 30+ students across three competitive robotics teams in mechanical design, Java programming, and engineering documentation.
(04) — Capabilities
Systems I work with
No proficiency bars — hover or tap a node for what’s actually behind it.
Systems map
Nine systems, one network. Hover or tap a node to see what I’ve worked with.
(05) — Contact
Let’s build something interesting
Résumé & papers
- RésuméRésuméB.S. Cyber Security Engineering, Iowa State University, expected May 2027 (transferred from Hawkeye Community College, 2023).CCNA and SC-500 series in progressPromoted to Team Lead, ISU IT Solution Center (2026)FIRST Tech Challenge robotics mentor
- ReflectionCumulative ReflectionChanging majors, what my ethics and gen-ed courses taught me about the people behind the technology, three internships, leading the IT Solution Center, and recovering from rough semesters.
- ReflectionGen Ed ReflectionHow communication, psychology, economics, Russia Today, and leadership courses connect to security problems facing society: AI-powered social engineering, the ransomware economy, and state-sponsored attacks on critical infrastructure.
- PaperEthics PaperCyber Ethical Dilemmas, CYB E 234 (Spring 2025). Government facial recognition through Kantian, utilitarian, and virtue ethics; I argue virtue ethics best guides the engineers who build these systems.
Cooper Hoy