Advancing Technology Feed

Students in math classes across the world often ask, "When am I ever going to use this?" No one asks that question in Professor Heather Peters' Business Math class at the University of Advancing Technology, where students learn life skills that they can actually use. 

"I wish I had this class when I was 18," Heather said. She remembers having to call her mom when attempting to fill out the W4 form for her first job. "I had no idea what I was doing!" 

Heather uses different teaching techniques and real-world simulations to keep students engaged. It works. "Students are actually excited about mortgages and the stock market," Heather said.

For example, students pick a real house on the market, research different loan options and calculate the mortgage, interest and affordability based off starting salaries in their chosen fields. "It's really eye-opening for most students, especially art students who pick mcmansions." 

To help visual learners grasp budgeting, Heather kicks off the semester with a "bean & budgeting" activity. Each student gets 20 beans to spend on housing, personal care, food, transportation, recreation, insurance, etc. "Then life happens." Students lose seven beans and have to make tough decisions about how to allocate the remaining 13 beans. "It forces students to reevaluate how they spend their money and what they value," Heather said. 

Business Math students also learn how to do their taxes, invest in the stock market, pay off their student loans and write a check. 

Heather invites all students—not just Business Technology students who have to take it—to sign up for Business Math. "It will save you from having to call your mom during tax season!"

Thinking about college but not sure if you can afford it? Check out our free tuition net price calculator. 

Embark on a quest to find your people. No longer feel lost in the crowd. At University of Advancing Technology, you will find fellow geeks who speak programming, cyber, gaming, esports, and cosplay.

Join us on 1/25/2019 and EXPERIENCE UATx. 

See why we believe it is the right choice for for future students interested in technology. Potential students have the opportunity to meet the faculty, tour the campus, play in our technology labs, and stay overnight in our dorm. 

Interested in attending UATx?

RSVP now to reserve your spot and experience what it is like to be a student at the University of Advancing Technology. Call Admissions at 1-800-658-5744 to get started. 

Energize your passion for all things tech.

*All participants in The UAT Experience event must complete the waiver with emergency contact and parent or guardian information. Registration is limited to prospective students only and the first 50 participants at each event.

Garrett Reuscher gets a kick out of surprising dental hygienists when he refers to his teeth by their number. Garrett has picked up a lot of medical terminology since he started working as an educational applications developer at a Western University of Health Sciences university, where he develops games and simulations to train medical students.

Garrett primarily works with Unity, a tool he learned while earning two bachelor’s degrees in game programming and advancing computer science at the University of Advancing Technology. He works with a team to make apps and games for a variety of platforms, including WebGL, mobile phones, the HTC Vive, the AR platform Vuforia and the Microsoft HoloLens. He also gets to experiment with exiting emerging technologies such as haptic gloves and 3D printers.

UAT Alumnus Garrett Reuscher

“No matter what project I’m working on, I always learn new technical skills and new tidbits of medical knowledge,” Garrett said. While working on his most recent eye simulator project, Garrett learned that the eye has six different muscles. The project, a browser application that emulates the muscles and nerves that control the human eye, helps students understand how each muscle affects eye movement.

What’s next for Garrett? He is hoping for a virtual reality project: “Either a program for identifying surgical tools or an app to view Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) files in VR.” He also makes time for his passion projects, including a Pokémon fan game and strategy board game.

Concept Art from Garrett's Board Game Project WARP!

Garrett gained a lot of technical and programming skills during his time at UAT, and he learned a lot about teamwork and SCRUM in his game production studio classes. “Having courses that are structured like real-world work environments is the next best thing to an internship,” Garrett said. But he also appreciated the general education classes. “I’ve had a much easier time with public speaking and presentations after all of the professional development courses and workshops available at UAT.”

Garrett’s advice for current students? “Push yourself to do extra. Don’t stagnate. And make connections.” He remembers professors and staff members encouraging him to network while he was in school. He was hesitant at first, but then realized it works.

“Within the first six months at my job, I recommended one of my fellow UAT grads to come work with me. Had we never met, he might still be job searching.”

 

Do you want to learn how to make mobile apps and games that shape the future of education like Garrett? You can learn more about our Game Programming degree program here.

Most college applications require an essay, which can intimitate and discourage some, but that's good news for go-getters like you! Following a few best practices will help you write a college application essay like a boss (and maybe even earn a scholarship and save a lot of money).

University of Advancing Technology Assistant Registrar Emma Cahill's first piece of advice: "Brag about yourself!" UAT faculty and staff want to know what you're proud of and what gets you excited, but we can't get to know you if you keep all of your accomplishments to yourself. Did you build a computer when you were 9? Did you start a STEM club at your school? Did you maintain a 4.0 GPA while holding down a part-time job and playing two sports? Did you win a robotics competition?

Cahill, who has reviewed hundreds of college applications, emphasized the importance of being personal. We look for students who not only exceed academically but are also well-rounded. "Keep in mind that you are competing with others, which is why you need to make your application memorable," she said. Did you overcome hardship? Did you help raise your siblings or pay bills? Did other students bully you? Was math class really hard for you? How did you respond to those challenging situations?

Proofreading is imperative. Essays filled with grammatical mistakes make it look like you do not care. Students should always check a second and third time for spelling and punctuation errors. Ask a parent, friend or teacher to proofread. Another set of eyes always helps!

Challenge yourself to go beyond good grammar. Avoid filler words like "very" and empty words like "interesting." Replace passive voice (i.e. is, am, was, were) with action verbs. For example, "That class was my favorite" becomes "That class taught me to embrace the uncomfortable feeling of peers picking apart my writing. It made me a better writer."

Cahill also recommends making a plan and sticking to it. “It is almost guaranteed that an essay written in two hours will not contain all of the information that an applicant wants to include," she said.

Planning and proofreading are helpful tools, but if students really want to impress the review committee, they need to showcase their passion and personality. At UAT, the review committee considers may factors when evaluating applications, but your "why"—demonstrated in your essay—matters more than your GPA or test scores.

Apply today and wow us with your essay-writing skills!

Think With The Google: 2018's Year in Search

Even if you're not interested in marketing and advertising, the one newsletter (aka: boring email in your inbox you don't remember signing up for) worth checking out once a year is the Think With Google: Year-End Search Trends issue.

As a digital marketer and self-proclaimed Geek, I think the most important takeaway from this is how search continues to evolve from several specific keywords to conversational and personal queries. The other takeaway is the fact that Google is now 20 years old. Wow, what did we do 21 years ago? How did we survive?

But let's focus on the first takeaway about the evolving search trends and how they're changing. For example, back when Google’s voice started cracking and it became more and more awkward at family gatherings because it would wear Tool t-shirts and Doc Martens, users would enter searches with specific keywords such as: Ice Cube movie 1990s. However, today Google is evolving and becoming our assistant, not just some weird website that we used to “Get Lucky” on. Users are searching for information in their cars while driving, multi-tasking and using voice commands for immediate answers. Now those simple words turn into more elaborate and specific questions such as: Hey Google, at what point did Ice Cube stop being gangster and start making Disney movies?”

Forget typing, just talk to Google, and when it continues rebelling against the man by dropping out of college and “traveling abroad,” remind Google that it will be cut off as soon as its visa runs out and its getting deported back to Silicon Valley -- or in this case factory reset. 

I digress, however, this is more detailed and conversational evolution is important when you or your company might advertise on Google. Long-tail exact match keywords and broad match modifiers will continue to be great ways to convert high-intent searchers who use detailed questions when searching – because, you know, people (like me) have lots and lots of words to say.

Short story longer: How do you "search" throughout the day? Do you use Google Assistant? Still typing away? And for our society, the coming artificial intelligence and those pesky marketers, how will this continue to evolve?

Advancing Computer Science Professor Tony Hinton started coding when he was 12. But one boring computer class in college almost broke him. “It made me second guess whether I wanted to work with computers or not,” Tony lamented.

Tony spent an entire semester developing a fake HR system, “just to throw it all away at the end of the class.” That experience inspired him to build computer science curriculum around solving real-world problem such as increasing crop yields and streamlining systems administration.

“Coding is not like riding a bike,” Tony said. That’s why his ultimate goal is to assign projects that students “find so interesting that they continue developing them after the semester ends.”

UAT student Brandon Nay (far left) poses with the rest of the UAT Space Exploration crew.

For example, Advancing Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence student Brandon Nay didn’t have room for the UAT Space Exploration class on his schedule this semester, but he stayed up all night tweaking on-board electronics before a recent stratospheric balloon launch, developed a data graph twitch stream for the next launch and mentored elementary students in the K-12 program anyways.

Students in Professor Jay Carpenter’s class develop blockchain solutions for real-world problems. They also attend conferences with him and network with professionals at the Desert Blockchain Meetup he hosts on campus.

Advancing Computer Science Professor Stephen Gose.

Professor Stephen Gose integrates music into his Introduction to Python class, which Game Design student Kevin Albregard described as “less of a lecture and more of an immersive experience.” Professor Gose purposefully makes mistakes during class to test students. “When you catch him in the act, you feel this adrenaline rush and morale boost,” Kevin said.

READ: The Lovable Goofball We Call Gose.

With the evolving data privacy laws and precedent set by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is also important to integrate the study of law and regulation into technology curriculum. All UAT students have to take Legal Issues in Technology. (But most of them probably wouldn't call it their favorite class like UAT Network Security alumna Tara Cooke.)

Students expect engaging, relevant content. They also expect instant feedback and answers to their questions, which is why UAT professors don't hide in private offices or labs. Instead, they sit in the commons area, where they help students with homework and get to know them.  

Technology will never stop evolving, and neither will UAT computer science curriculum. Professors proactively seek industry feedback, read a lot and spend their free time coding. According to Tony, “Full Stack won’t be Full Stack without AI in a few years.” That’s why UAT continues to reshape our technology curriculum to emphasize artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, mobile development and other trends that aren’t going away.

If you want to future-proof your career, then check out the Advancing Computer Science degree program at the University of Advancing Technology today.

Tempe, Arizona - October 29, 2018 - On November 5 and 6, 2018, University of Advancing Technology (UAT) hosted the VR for Good 2018 Summit, sponsored by VR Voice and Baltu Studios.

A prime location for this national event, UAT’s technology-infused campus in Tempe, Ariz., is full of VR equipment, developers and mentors. The event schedule boasted the industry’s best all presenting and discussing the ways Virtual Reality can positively impact society. The lineup included UAT Chief Academic Officer and Provost Dr. David Bolman.

UAT has been teaching Virtual Reality and sending alumni to the industry for about twenty years. The positive social impact Virtual Reality can have on the world was detailed further in a recent Study International article featuring UAT’s program. The article discusses that in addition to entertainment functions, VR can be used to, “simulate big data, create augmented reality apps…and recreate day-to-day experiences.” In the early 1990’s, UAT staff and students were working with the best VR technology of the time on immersive experiences, including an archeological site map for the Egyptian government and an architectural rendering of the then-named Bank One Ballpark.

Today, UAT’s VR students begin developing in the virtual world from day one. With UAT’s year-round schedule and project-based curriculum, students can obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Virtual Reality in less than 3 years and gain real world skills along the way.

About UAT

UAT is an elite intimate private college in Tempe, AZ focused on educating students in advancing technology who desire to innovate in the areas of emerging technology disciplines. Living on campus, students are surrounded in a true living learning technology environment that incubates their ideas into innovations that students can patent and take to market. Students must create an innovation project to graduate.

About VR Voice

VR Voice has developed a unique event that covers virtual reality’s positive social impact in different industries. Our speaker line-up is committed to making change via VR/AR that promotes the greater good. Industries and organizations covering healthcare, learning and education, historic preservation, museums, government agencies, communications, news and journalism, and charitable causes are being profoundly affected by the VR/AR revolution and are covered in The VR for Good Summit.

Contact(s):

Ashley Murry Valerie Cimarossa

University of Advancing Technology

913-526-5249 602.390.9213

amurry@uat.edu valerie@uat.edu

A long time ago in a Digital Video class far, far away...

In reality, four years ago several Digital Video majors, with help from faculty at UAT, produced the above video: Bohemian Rhapsody - Star Wars edition. What more than likely started as a fun idea and hilarious project, turned out to be a viral hit that's now approaching close to 5 million views.

The talent at UAT is always admirable, but some of the best ideas and projects come from students bouncing ideas off each other and having a good time in the common areas and labs. The Commons has been a co-working space for almost 10 years now and was an idea brought about by our staff prior to the current boom in "co-working" office spaces.

Now with the popular Bohemian Rhapsody movie, that just went over the $300 Million mark in the box offices, our student-created video above is getting some resurgence and we felt like it was a great time to showcase it once again.

If you'd like to learn more about the Digital Video program or any other technology degrees at UAT, follow this link: https://www.uat.edu/ to learn more! 

Video credits:

• Produced by the Students and Faculty of the Digital Video Program at University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona (http://www.uat.edu)
• "Star Wars Edition" Lyrics by Stephen Panagiotis, Jamall Richards and Paul DeNigris
• "Star Wars Edition" Vocals Produced by Joey Sawhill & Adam Newton
• All vocals by Adam Newton Engineered & Mixed by Joey Sawhill
• Yoda Puppet by Philip Robinson and James Wright (http://www.droidonthemoon.com)
• Samurai Fett armor by Allen Amis (http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/7/1/i...)
• Spanish subtitles courtesy of Juan José Melero Gómez

On April 27, 2018, North Korea and South Korea signed the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula. Two electronic versions—one in English and one in Korean—have been stored on the Ethereum blockchain. The energy industry alone has invested $1 billion in blockchain. 

And four of the world’s largest automakers want to put blockchain technology in your car.

“Blockchain is right up there with the invention of the Internet,” said Damian Chung, Sr. Director of Cybersecurity Engineering and Development at Dignity Health. Chung thinks blockchain has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, empower businesses to bypass the middle man and even safeguard democracy. “We can apply it infinitely, so it’s here to stay,” Chung said.

Blockchain may lead to unprecedented business agility and help companies save time and money, but few people know how to harness the power of this emerging technology. According to TechCrunch, 14 blockchain job openings exist for every one blockchain developer.

The talent shortage prompted Chung to develop and teach a blockchain course at the University of Advancing Technology, where he is an adjunct professor in the cyber security department.

Students who take Chung’s Summer 2018 blockchain class will be able to:

• Explain the benefits of blockchain and how it differs from cryptocurrencies
• Understand blockchain architecture
• Present use cases to CEOs, devs and non-technical folks
• Design smart contracts
• Produce an architectural proposal for a real-world blockchain application

The 15-week course will cover blockchain transactions, keys, miners, distributed ledgers, blockchain wallets, hash functions, pseudonymity, Solidity, Go, private blockchain on Ethereum, Hyperledger Composer and MultiChain. Even though the class will incorporate some coding, students do not need to be strong programmers to do well.

Chung recommends starting with Blockchain Revolution by Don and Alex Tapscott and watching some YouTube videos.

Students should also capitalize on the power of the magic words, “I am a college student, and I need help.” Reach out to professionals who are already doing cool things with blockchain. Tweet to SEMs who tweet about blockchain. Ask questions on blog posts. Utilize LinkedIn. Create your own internship.

Search for and join Meetups such as Desert Blockchain. Professionals go to Meetups because they want to connect with other innovators, give back to their communities and meet and mentor (and possibly hire!) curious students.

Learning how to develop blockchain solutions will prepare students for careers as disruptors. Studying how blockchain is transforming industries such as banking and real estate will also help students to forecast, visualize and implement change in other industries such as energy, gaming, HR and cosmetics.

Interested in collaborating on a blockchain project with UAT or hosting a blockchain event on campus? Reach out to Ashley: amurry@uat.edu.

UAT Student Brett Butler’s experiences at Disney theme parks, resorts and cruises inspired him to join the maker movement. His dream job? “Working at Disney as an Imagineer!” The term Imagineer combines imagination and engineer. Brett definitely fits that description.

Brett likes to make stuff, which makes him a perfect fit for the Digital Maker and Fabrication (DMF) program here at UAT. Since he arrived on campus in the fall of 2017, Brett has spent hours tinkering away in the UAT Maker Lab. He loves playing with the laser cutter and Formlabs high resolution stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer.

Brett has been playing around with animatronics for years. He is currently building an animatronic elephant that can talk, blink and move its trunk. When Brett was in high school, he participated in the Technology Student Association’s animatronics national championship. His team created a fully animatronic bird that they 3D printed at school. “It had feathers, moved and completely worked,” Brett exclaimed.

Brett’s friends have been pestering him to make another awesome creation using one of the 3D printers at UAT. He accepted their challenge and 3D-printed a working ukulele! Then his girlfriend told him that she wanted a violin.

“I started off with a 3D-modeled violin that I used a photo reference for. From there, I printed it, checked it, printed, checked, and kept repeating until it worked,” Brett explained. “I’m actually going to have to reprint this once because it’s still not exactly perfect,” he added.

Brett turns to his fellow Digital Maker and Fabrication peers and his favorite professor, Joseph Horen, for inspiration and collaboration. “I think DMF is one of the coolest programs here. You can create something and have it in front of you. You can hold it. I think that’s amazing,” he said.

Students in the DMF program graduate with hands-on experience in produce design, product development, industrial design, digital fabrication, 3D modeling and embedded systems programming. Brett appreciates the project-based curriculum and capitalizes on Professor Horen’s offers to explore a topic or problem and then develop a project or solution and well, make it. “Joseph is always helping me figure out problems that I am having, and he’s helped me with some of the electronic components of the elephant,” Brett said.

Big dreams push Brett to keep creating. “UAT is a cool place where I can make just about anything.” Brett will undoubtedly continue to make cool stuff throughout his time at UAT.

Follow UAT on social media to keep up with Brett’s current projects and other cool tech on campus. We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Voice recognition is a prominent technology that is being used in more and more places today. There is voice recognition for recognizing the speaker. This type of voice recognition is used for security (physical access and access to files in computer network).

 This is also evolving to give specific instructions/information to the speaker as well.

There is voice recognition for translation, as well. This allows for written transcripts of audio events. The benefits are not limited to ADA compliance but useful for translating into other languages and to have a searchable transcript of an event.

In both cases, artificial intelligence (AI) is utilized to have the computer learn and improve on its success of voice recognition.

While everyone has heard of Siri or Alexa for voice recognition, there are innovative uses far beyond the home or smartphone. One recent example is in forensics. A voiceprint can be created in less than two minutes of speech. Crime experts are now using voiceprints for identity of voices from wire taps. This application is unique in that it uses the sound of one’s voice rather than the shape or pattern. That means that a voice match can be found regardless of the language or accent of the person.

At UAT, we implement both of these types of voice recognition in our classes, such as AI, machine learning, and deep learning. Some of the examples of what our students have done are:

• Coding by Voice – This allows visually impaired or those driving to speak their code. The cool part is that when you write a line a code then you can say “check” and it will make sure your syntax is correct or make suggestions on corrections.
• Speech Analysis for Intent – When you send an email, write a blog, or read a news article, the content can be analyzed for intent – positive or negative. This could be used to find only positive new stories. This way, you could filter out the negative stories or blog posts. It could also be used in emailing your boss about a problem. This is important because in the written word, some meaning is lost without the actual interaction and this would help to insure that the message you want to convey has the proper intent.

Voice recognition is just one of the technologies that UAT students master – because we excel at implementing new technology as it occurs. UAT is truly a University of Advancing Technology.

In both your professional and personal life you will need to develop your emotional intelligence IQ which is usually referred to as your (EQ).

Communication is key to success in any relationship so it is very important to hone this skill of understanding the emotional state around the person that you are interacting with. An example of this is seeing someone that you want to communicate with is sad, you will naturally change your approach in how you open your conversation with them because you can visibly see they’re sad. The same would go for any other emotional state as you want to have the most pleasant experience when interacting with another person. This is the most basic way of looking at this skill set but this understanding can go much deeper along with being useful.

The understanding of emotions and the best way to manage them is a great way to ensure that you will always have a constructive interaction with anyone you meet. Keep in mind you need to be aware of your own emotions and manage them as well. Knowing your own personal tendencies with emotions will allow you to manage them to be a more effective communicator.

Having these skills allows you to effectively understand the best way to approach and communicate with another individual in any situation. This can be a very important tool if you are ever in leadership or managing people as you need to have a grasp on the best way to approach your employees. It can also be very good at diffusing tension between individuals or uplifting people that may be down.

Overall, emotional intelligence is an understanding of how people feel and work, which allows you to be a more effective communicator, motivator or leader.

UAT Robotics students took a road trip to participate in the VEX U Robotics Tournament last weekend at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. While this is not a qualifier for VEX Worlds Championship, it does earn points for qualifying for Worlds.

This is the first year that UAT has competed in the early season competition. All of the teams from our league were invited. Early competition gives us the advantage of practicing against real opponents and seeing what the most successful teams are doing as we have time to iterate and improve before the State tournament in February.

UAT's team placed 7th overall out of 12 teams. Getting the robot up and running the day before the competition gave the programmers enough time to develop some great autonomous functionality. The team learned a lot and have some great ideas for improving the robot before the state tournament in February.

UAT Professors Present Technology Topics to Local Girl Scout Camp

UAT is doing its part to encourage more females to explore a future in technology. Last week on June 7, UAT kicked off hosting a series of technology-themed workshops for residents of the newly opened Girl Scout camp, the Bob and Renee Parsons Leadership Center for Girls and Women at Camp South Mountain, which opened last April. The Campaign for Girls in Arizona is an effort by Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council to achieve better outcomes for Arizona’s girls.

The Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) offers camps for girls in three age groups, which include summer technology classes held at UAT. Some topics that they are learning include coding, game art, science, stage makeup, digital video and business, taught by knowledgeable UAT Professors on our technology-filled campus.

UAT is an advocate for women, especially in STEM degrees, making this collaboration a perfect partnership opportunity in the Phoenix community.

Christina Spicer, GSACPC’s Senior Associate of Fund Development said, “Encouraging young women to explore STEM skills and careers is critical to the development of our workforce. We are so thrilled and fortunate that our new Parsons Leadership Center is right down the street from UAT, as their tech expertise and resources can really help us advance these young ladies. They even supplied the computers for our office!”

Camp Director Crystal Dingott said, “UAT has been instrumental in our first summer of instruction here at Parsons. Almost all of their faculty will be teaching sessions at our camps this year. They have so many knowledgeable staff that are genuinely excited to help our girls learn and lead, the school is an asset to our community.”

UAT’s Provost Dr. David Bolman said, “Girl Scouts of America, especially the Arizona Cactus-Pine organization, have a tradition of guiding young women to be great citizens, great leaders and basically the best humans that they individually can be. Our future is going to be stronger as more and more Girl Scouts enter into technology spaces. Few things cause us more joy than having these young women on campus interacting with technology and experiencing first-hand how these tools expand their thinking and creativity. As a college, we see great potential in these girls who embrace the values that the Girl Scouts of America teach combined with the drive to become future technology creators.”

The Girl Scout camp runs from June 7- July 21, on UAT’s campus located at 2625 W. Baseline Road, Tempe, AZ 85283.

Girl Scouts—Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) is Arizona’s leading organization dedicated to building girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. In partnership with more than 10,000 adult volunteers, GSACPC serves 20,000 girls grades K-12 in more than 90 communities across central and northern Arizona.