Benjamin Ward

Role

My role mainly encompasses supporting my fellow members of the Department of Computer Science, primarily by developing new web-based services for staff and students to increase productivity and heighten the student’s overall experience and exposure to a wider range of software(s) and tools. In addition, I undertake the management and maintenance of server infrastructure hardware that is hosted on-premises, often collaborating with the wider Digital Technologies staff to implement solutions and resolve technical problems. I work closely with my team & colleagues to innovate what we can offer to members of the University, in order to make their lives easier or to learn new technologies for a better technical breadth of knowledge.

This can work can include networking, automation, scripting, implementation of cloud-based technologies, resolving technical issues for staff (in relation to service delivery), or general hardware/software troubleshooting if the need arises. Moreover, I ensure all our Departmental services run without issue and are backed up regularly by following best practises/procedure.

Some of the things myself and my team manage are the delivery of the isolated labs (Isolated Active Directory domain), the on-premises Github Enterprise instance (Olympus), Jenkins, Udon, Hydra (HPC), CloudStack (IaaS), Kubernetes & Docker platforms, CS Helpdesk, Application Deployment, and monitoring & analytics platforms with Zabbix and Grafana, among many other technologies and services – all of which are running on our Hypervisor platform(s) that I have set up within the NTU network.

Career overview

I started out as a student at NTU within the Computer Science Department, aspiring to get my BSc in Computer Systems (Networks). I also undertook a placement year working for Digital Technologies on-site team on Clifton Campus, where I dealt with various issues for staff and students all over Clifton Campus. During Covid, I transitioned from 2^nd line support to 1^st line support, pitching in for issues encompassing all campuses and departments, and finally returning to finish my degree with First class honours.

After finalising my degree, I joined the Department in a junior version of my current role as Senior Specialist IT Systems Development Technician. After a year of working closely with my team, implementing solutions and resolving problems, I was promoted to Senior where I now oversee and manage a large array of technology and infrastructure that is in use by the Department, for both staff and students. I am constantly looking to develop and deliver new solutions to complex problems, primarily by researching new technologies and implementing them with a passion to resolve any issues that may arise.