UAT Tech - Official Blog of University of Advancing Technology

Meet the Faculty: Digital Arts & Business and Innovation

Written by Katy Toerner | Aug 12, 2025, 6:00:00 PM
At the University of Advancing Technology (UAT), the Digital Arts, and Business & Innovation faculty fuse creativity with strategy to shape the next generation of tech-savvy entrepreneurs and designers. With expertise spanning marketing, branding, entrepreneurship, leadership, and visual design, these industry professionals bring a dynamic blend of business and creative vision to the classroom. Whether guiding students through launching startups, crafting compelling brands, or managing real-world projects, they combine hands-on experience with a passion for teaching. Their goal? To empower students to innovate boldly, think strategically, and thrive at the intersection of business and digital artistry.

 

 

Dr. Mark Smith

Dr. Mark “The Shark” Smith’s is an IFBB professional bodybuilder, published author, and an expert in leadership, business, and organizational development. His professional background has been around company expansion and growth. With over 12 years of experience with various companies ranging from enterprise to start-up. 

Mark has significant IT experience leading sales teams through client relations and staying up on new tech for industry needs. During this process Mark became very familiar with how IT infrastructure works and became sales certified for Microsoft, Cisco, Juniper, VMware, Symantec, Red Hat, Apple, HP, and Dell. 

Mark has a wealth of start-up knowledge, being involved with organizations like Hotchalk and Digital Air Strike in their infancy. With start-ups Mark’s skill set makes him an intricate part of growing the company through output and developing the proper partnerships for expansion. Mark started with UAT in 2015 and teaches specific courses in both undergraduate and graduate on entrepreneurship, leadership, project management, marketing, and strategic planning. His philosophy and teaching style is catered to prepare students for working in today’s business markets. 

 

Dapzury Valenzuela

Dapzury Valenzuela is a marketing and design professional with over 20+ years of industry experience and 15+ years as a post-secondary educator. She is the Curriculum Integrity & Senior Professor and runs the Student Innovation Project for all majors helping them to create, develop and present their tech-based product or service. She works in both traditional and digital formats using the Adobe Creative Suite with a specialty in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

Dapzury is also a Brand & Marketing Consultant through her LLC, Haute Pro, helping people, startups and businesses reach their goals through her extensive knowledge in brand development, inbound marketing, and visual content creation. Her clients range from STEM-based academies to virtual reality in fashion.


Specialties:
Branding (Logos)
Graphic Design
Inbound & Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Art & Creative Direction
Project Management
Web & UI Design
Business Development
Entrepreneurship & Startups