University of Advancing Technology's Official Technology Blog

For the tenth day of Techmas we have gathered ten tech tips from University of Advancing Technology's (UAT) Faculty. 

Professor Rae Crusoe Advancing Computer Science  "I always tell my students to not trust technology, it will let you down. Keep multiple copies of your files!"

Professor Rawad Habib Software Engineering "Technology changes fast, but problem-solving curiosity never go out of style. Don't just learn tools, learn how to learn."

Professor Jake Perrine Human Computer Interaction "Biotechnology and Wearable Technology empowers you to understand your health as an individual, take advantage and get to know yourself on a deeper level."

Curriculum Integrity & Senior Professor Dapzury Valenzuela SIP & Digital Arts "Adopt an agile mentality when tackling large-scale projects. It's easier to make progress iteratively, when setting smaller milestones. Embrace redirection as opportunities to explore, but dont lose sight of your objective, especially when working within time sensitive deadlines. Remember that time can only be spent, not saved. Inception to implementation takes focus, discipline and belief in yourself that it can be done!"

Professor Ryan Murray Digital Maker & Fabrication "Small, fast iterations keep you from investing too much in a design that is not ready."

Professor Heather Peters Mathematics "Technology is an ever-changing field, so diversifying your skill set is critical. Take those extra certification classes that are offered, seek out training for technologies that are unfamiliar, and eve conciser diving into fields that seem completely different from the career path you are considering to widen your skill set and grow your portfolio."

Professor Gabrielle Vosteen Science "AI can help you study by breaking down difficult topics. For example, you can generate practice questions or summarize information. The key is using it as guidance for learning rather than a tool to relate the process. You can ask AI to quiz you. You may even utilize it to explain concepts in different ways, that can make studying fore effective. The goal is to build your critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills. Treat AI like a study partner that boosts your learning process, not as a shortcut."

Professor Sue Ashton Data Science "Don't jump straight into modeling. Spend most of your time on data cleaning and exploration. Those steps determine 80% of your projects success."

Professor Tony Hinton Artificial Intelligence "Take a moment to reflect on the time you have given this year to texting, videos, games, politics, social media or learning tech skills. Next, reflect on your strengths and weaknesses in each area. Are any patterns materializing? This tech fortune cookie says Life is easy, in 2026 you will improve whatever you invest your time in"

Synchronic & General Studies Regent Craig Belanger General Studies  "My Tech Tip for this holiday season is to go old school digital by getting yourself a CD player or Digital Audio Player, and maybe a few CDs to feed them. Yes, I hear myself. Why, you might be asking, would anyone forego the ultra-convenient music streaming subscription services like Spotify and Apple Music in favor of even more devices and a limited music library? After all, having the entire history of recorded music at your fingertips is a dream come true for anyone who lived through the dark ages of being a pre-00s music fan. Plus all you need is your phone for playback. So why go old school? First is the fun factor. Both the FiiO DM13 and the Moondream DiscDrop are elegant devices that make the case that CDs 1) offer superior sound to scratchy vinyl records and 2) fit seamlessly into your playback ecosystem. I love my records as much as the next person, but a 40-year-old Clash record has a few miles on it. Meanwhile, down the street, Hiby, Fiio, Astell & Kern, and many others are producing slick Digital Audio Players, or DAPs, that can be used to house tens of thousands of digital files across affordability ranges. In the early iTunes era, we called these mp3 players, but they’ve grown up a lot since then. Imagine your standard form factor for a smartphone except all of the hardware inside is dedicated to audio quality. To add to the convenience, new CD players and DAPs usually have Bluetooth, so you don’t need to change how you or where you listen to music. Next up is the support you can give to your favorite artists by purchasing music files or CDs directly from them on dedicated websites like Bandcamp or the artists’ own websites (or even better, drop some cash at the merch table so they really feel the love). Spotify revenues are notoriously light, with payout of a few dollars per thousand streams so this allows you to offer more direct support in a meaningful way. If you still want to collect vinyl records, those are always available. Plus, when you own the music, playback isn’t subject to signal strength or availability from your streamer. Last is the experience of pure listening enjoyment. If you use a dedicated player, there’s no messages or pop-ups or other unwanted intrusions, there’s just you and your music and everything else can wait.”

BONUS TIPS

Dr. Mark Smith Grad & Business Technology "New technologies are wonderful tools with potential for an endless amount of uses. Train yourself to always look for potential new angles in which you can use these tools. This is where innovation and creation live. The "success" in technology today is not in creating but harnessing in a productive manner for mass adoption. So, dive headfirst into all the trends in technology and brainstorm the potential uses. Many of them will go no where or not be feasible but eventually you will find those world changing ideas."

Dr. Briant Becote Cyber Security "Verify before you click. Treat every unexpected link, attachment, or login prompt as hostile until proven otherwise. Hover to inspect URLs, and when in doubt navigate to the site manually."

Unwrap even more innovation—explore UAT degrees built for future tech creators.