A man who would not have been able to tell you about cloud computing last year, is now heading to Russia to compete in a skills competition in that very field.

Evan Rideout, a graduate of the College of the North Atlantic, has been training for about eight months for WorldSkills Kazan in Russia – a competition that draws participants from 63 countries.

Rideout travelled to Ottawa to take part in Amazon Web Services competitions and spent time with CNA Computer Systems and Networking instructor, Richard Spencer.

In a video on CNA’s Youtube channel, Spencer praises Rideout. He believes he is up for the challenge, despite being late to the game.

He says it is the first time for Rideout to compete at this level but he has what it takes.