Kyle Stecki recently completed his final in my NTS405 course (Network Security). He did an excellent job war gaming an attack, describing it in a very creative format. 

We asked Professor Peters to share with us what she wished others would have told her before starting her educational journey. From budgeting to mentorship, her advice is full of answers to questions that you simply might not realize you should ask! Read on, and feel free to ask any questions it sparks as the fall semester will be here before you know it!

At the end of July, UAT students and alumni wrapped up the summer semester by competing in the Summer 2020 UAT Game Jam. Hosted online from July 17–26, the 9-day jam was designed to be open to all levels, including those who had never even made a game before, with professors available on Discord to mentor and help solve problems. Veteran jammers and experienced developers were also strongly encouraged to partner with and mentor the newbies.

Parents and students will be spending more time online and connected to other students, educators, and employers in the coming months. This new normal poses special challenges and can feel daunting. However, by being vigilant, paying attention to the details, and communicating with your child about privacy and personal safety, you should find this transition to be pleasant and rewarding.

At UAT, we are committed to helping our students find great employment and internships that match their skill sets. In fact, our Students Services team is actively working with companies who understand that although things may be different right now, we must still keep moving forward. 

One such organization is Lights Camera Discover (LCD), a 501c3 nonprofit organization led by Executive Director Kema Charles, that provides underserved youth opportunities to develop confidence, build self-esteem, and learn teamwork through digital arts programs.

Kema Charles, Executive Director and Founder of Lights Camera Discover works with students on filmmaking and animation basics.

In addition to working with Student Services to match students with the needs of their nonprofit, Lights Camera Discover also works with Crystal Onyema, a National Admissions Representative at UAT. "I’ve known Kema Charles for seven years," said Crystal. "We randomly met at an old job and connected from day one! I have now been on the Board for the past five years. Before that, I taught screenwriting and helped run the bootcamps."

Crystal Onyema, a National Admissions Representative at UAT, is a Board member and volunteer at Lights Camera Discover. 

Crystal says that thanks to Kema, LCD is really on the upswing. "Kema has taken the nonprofit to several other cities but still calls the Phoenix area its home," she said. "Dozens of successful workshops have been carried out and students spend time creating, shooting and editing their own films/animations. Kids who initially come in shy, withdrawn or with a defense mechanism are seen to gain confidence, and break out of their shell. For some, it is the first time being asked to be a part of a team, have responsibilities to carry out tasks. Some of the subject matter focuses in on self-confidence, social awareness and anti-bullying."

Samael Newgate is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) student at UAT who is graduating with a Bachelors in Advancing Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, as well as an Associates in Data Science. For his final project in his advanced AI course, he programmed a JavaScript Face Recognition Application that works on any regular browser!

Innovation is key at UAT—staff, faculty and students are always looking to create something. The University bought the Segway Loomo platform for Advancing Computer Science and Robotics and Embedded Systems students to program it. Enter Brandon Michelsen.

On Tuesday, April 14, UAT students presented their Student Innovation Projects (SIP). This time, however, it was not in our traditional theatre—but virtually—through Zoom.

Justin Anthony is a Navy veteran and UAT graduate. After running across his name in the Omaha World-Herald, we thought we'd check in to see how he feels about his education and experience at UAT, as well as his career since graduation. Read on to find out more about Justin!

Ricky Martinez knows how to hustle. As an Excel Leader and Student Mentor, Ricky is a familiar face to all on the University of Advancing Technology (UAT) campus. He’s also active in clubs, is double-majoring in Game Programming and Robotics and Embedded Systems and works in the UAT Cafe.

University of Advancing Technology (UAT) celebrated our veteran students, friends and family on Veterans Day at the UAT campus amphitheater. The service, dedication and sacrifices made by the men and women serving our nation in the United States military are recognized by staff, faculty and students at UAT. The appreciation event included students writing thank you cards to send to active military.

Elijah McKay is President of the campus Nerf Club and a Founder's Hall Resident Assistant (RA). RAs are new students’ best friends. They help students with the transition to university life and their educational journey at UAT. RAs are known to be an information hub for academic matters, campus activities, administrative procedures and campus and community resources. Elijah enjoys being an RA because he can help bring people together.

During the first week that our nation was dealing with the spread of COVID-19, and while many were unsure of what to do for higher ed to continue on schedule, UAT students responded by not only easily converting to all virtual classes—they jumped at the chance to use their skills to be part of the solution.

Brandon Michelsen, Garren Koller, Ke’Ondrae Mell and Dylan Crockett are considered by UAT faculty, peers, and staff as outstanding, hard-working students. Due to their impressive combination of skills and experience with machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced programming, robotics, software development and app integration, they were selected as interns for a robotics project with UAT’s on-campus, co-working space designed for tech companies, Perimeter83.

Society is experiencing an unprecedented phenomenon. COVID-19 is forcing people all over the globe to stay in their homes and practice social distancing.

At UAT, Professor Nathan Eskue is an excellent resource for space enthusiasts, with 20 years of aerospace/defense industry experience, including work for NASA, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman.

At UAT, we are proud of our exceptional students. Every year our graduates impress the world as they go on to become respected innovators in their fields. One such person is Yasmin Nejad, a UAT alumni who graduated with not just one, but three degrees! Yasmin share her experience and insight with us, as she gets ready to continue her education in a master's degree program. 

Tell us more about you… where are you from, what are your interests?

For technophiles, CES isn’t just a conference—it’s bigger and better than any theme park, and there are even more possibilities than most can imagine. Business and tech leaders from all over the world converge to show off what’s happening now, and even more exciting, what’s possible for the future.

At UAT, we are proud of the work students consistently do while on campus, but it's really exciting to see them continue on with great success after graduation. Every year our students leave to become respected innovators, and an excellent example is Tylene "Ty" Robinson, International & Sales Operations Manager at Symetrix in Seattle. Read on to find out where she's been and how she's achieved her current success. 

This past fall, AZBigMedia hosted a panel of Arizona Cyber Security experts at the AZ Tech Talk, moderated by UAT’s very own Data Privacy expert, Dr. Dave Bolman, University of Advancing Technology’s Provost and Chief Academic Officer. The panel was brought together to provide critical information to Arizona individuals, businesses, and schools on the rising concern of data privacy, how to safeguard systems to prevent a cyber security breach from occurring, where to find cyber security resources and how to get help after a cyber-attack of at any level has occurred.

Last summer Mattel released a new line of scientist Barbies co-designed with National Geographic and ecologist Nalini Nadkarni. The line includes Barbies featuring scientific careers such as a marine biologist, astrophysicist, photojournalist, conservationist and entomologist. This isn’t Barbie’s first STEM career. In past years Barbie has worked as a computer engineer, a Mars explorer, an architect, a game developer and most recently a robotics engineer. But what impact on our young people, with career aspirations as big as their imaginations, does this really have?

Dr. Mark Smith, Professor and Program Champion of Business Technology, has been throwing UAT students to the sharks for 4 years through his “Mark Tank” program. Held at the end of each semester and upon completion of the Business 200 course, students are mostly competing for entrepreneurial bragging rights, but those presenting also get exposure to area professionals who judge the competition—and the people that choose who swims away a winner.

Meet Drew Foster, Animal Curator at the Phoenix Zoo and Adjunct Associate Professor at UAT. It’s well-known that UAT tech classes are hands on, but many don’t know that our expert adjuncts also bring other real-world experiences to their classrooms, and Drew has done that in an exciting way through his Animal Diversity class.

Read how bringing zoo animals into the classroom has made for greater learning for UAT students, and see what’s ahead for Drew’s spring courses.

When you want to know about computer science, the best person you can ask—of course—is a scientist! So, we sat down with Dr. Jill Coddington, Advancing Computer Science (ACS) Program Champion and Professor, to talk about Computer Science Education Week.

At UAT, a Student Innovation Project (SIP) is a culmination of an undergraduate student’s hard work on a specific assignment relative to their degree and technological field of study. A SIP is similar to a Capstone or Master’s thesis but with an agile, new-age approach to developing a student’s career-readiness. 

In late November, UAT students participated in the Good Morning IoT Contest, the 3rd Delos AI Coding Contest for Westworld. For AI students, it was an opportunity to turn their dreams into reality, as Delos was looking for AI (Artificial Intelligence) coders for Westworld, and contest winners are considered for these positions.

Drones are always a hot item on holiday tech wish lists, so we checked in with Jacy Smith, our Business Development Specialist for Perimeter83, to review a few of UAT's drones.  

On Saturday, November 9, 2019, approximately 100 students from across the Phoenix area came to UAT’s campus for CodeDay, a 24-hour marathon to test their skill in app and game design. Students of all experience levels teamed up and worked all night long, learning from mentors and presentations along the way. “We provided sessions for them to learn about different coding languages, as well as actual applications like GameMaker, Construct, and Unity,” explained Kathy Mitchell from State Farm, one of the main event sponsors.  

University of Advancing Technology is excited to announce that eight of our students earning cyber security degrees will be competing in the 2019 Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition (CPTC) Regionals event October 11-13th. Although UAT's on-ground campus is physically located in Tempe, Arizona, our cyber security students have been invited to compete with the Northeastern Regional group hosted at Penn State University.

UAT builds grads with the most technology advanced skills who enter the AZ workforce more practiced in building solutions than anyone.

UAT Provost Dr. David Bolman (left) recognizes the dedicated Experience Leaders (EXL) who make new students feel welcome on campus. Because they successfully completed one full year of service, they are receiving a coveted letter of recommendation from Provost Bolman that will go into their portfolios. EXL leaders are enthusiastic, outgoing student leaders who apply and are selected by UAT to help familiarize new students with the campus, share insights about life at UAT, work on-campus events, and help them begin to feel connected and at home.

Along with EXL members, you can also find other student workers giving tours, working the front desk and other departments on campus. Almost every Monday you will see UAT staff and faculty walking around with black UAT shirts that say mentor. Each Mentor Monday students are encouraged to engage with faculty and staff outside of the classroom setting and learn more about "the real world" or career paths in tech, or even how to make the best ramen bowl on Thursdays in the UAT restaurant.

There's a reason why alumni come back and sit in on classes often and how quickly that anxious freshman feeling is only a memory. So if you're new on campus this fall and you don't know where something is or you have a question -- just ask someone.

The next generation of technology innovation begins the day students set foot on campus at the University of Advancing Technology. This technology college offers a technophile’s dream environment where innovation and passion for advancing technology are synthesized with the best of faculty and technology resources.

Daryl Garcia, a natural builder, problem solver and hands-on worker, decided to take his Student Innovation Project (SIP) to the next level by merging leading technology and unique furniture pieces.

This Student Innovation Project (SIP), created by duo Rocky Vargas and Michael Shepherd, monitors what players are saying and flags inappropriate words. Rocky explains, “Our innovation claim is that gameplay is intensified by turning to foul language gamers use into a mechanic for punishment.”

There isn’t anything for gaming that uses speech recognition this way. If Watch Your Language detects vulgar words, alarms sound and the monitor will display the word. This mechanic is meant to monitor in real-time and can be universally used because there is a coded element that can be written for any word.

Because of the code, this technology can expand into more than just the gaming industry. Software and other technologies written in code can apply Watch Your Language if it’s compatible with a microphone.

Rocky wrote the original code to detect specific words and activated the streaming portion of this SIP. Michael polished the code and hooked it all up.

Do you want to drive the future of games? Check out UAT’s Game Programming degree.

After experiencing the lengthy task of adding incoming, first-year students to a database by hand, Adam Morris took his experience working in the Cyber Warfare Range to improve administrative work.

Have you run into this orange feline before? Max, the campus cat, is commonly seen prancing through the Quad. Because of his frequent visits, students decided to adopt him! Max loves lounging around in the grass, rolling in the gravel and following students for belly rubs and savory treats.

University of Advancing Technology (UAT) students love unwinding with video games after a long day of classes and studying. Students thrive when they have a healthy school-life balance and playing cult classic video games is one way they relax while out of class.

University of Advancing Technology (UAT) is known for innovation—students take that to heart and are even inspired to rearrange their dorm rooms because of it. Ross Hall, Kevin Albregard, Darren Palermo and Andrew Weisenberger are a group of suitemates who decided to convert their connected bedroom suite into a sleeping room and a game room.

Innovation is dripping from every corner at University of Advancing Technology (UAT), so it’s not surprising that the residence hall features five different Think Tanks. Congregate and create new friendships in the Think Tank closest to you. With technology at every student’s fingertips, it’s no wonder innovations to improve the world are constantly being discovered. AT UAT, students have the freedom to be visionaries to explore and test the unknown.