It's been a while since I’ve written about the courses I’ve been taking, electives in particular. This fall semester, I’ve found a class that is creatively challenging and seems to cover certain skills that would be useful amongst artists and filmmakers alike. For this blog, I’m going to be covering the DVA234 course, otherwise known as Special Effects and Character Makeup.

I had a blast at Arizona's premier cyber security conference CactusCon, where I learned a lot about cyber security trends and tools and met a lot of cool people.

We recently knocked out our first game jam of the new school year, the annual Founder’s Game Jam. I spent a few days preparing and hyping up other students, but I wasn't the only student ambassador excited to build a new video game in 48 hours. Our new student ambassador Jordan Brown wanted to work together with me to create something during this jam. He also helped me write this blog. 

Black Hat is one of the biggest information security events in the world. For the past 20 years, the world's leading cyber security researchers, practitioners, executives, venders, job seekers and students come together for a series of super informative briefings, trainings and networking events/

UAT has an exclusive arrangement with the Black Hat conference ambassador program. There are many reasons cyber security students should capitalize on this amazing opportunity.

You're witness to a shot being filmed during the making of Thr3e, an innovative film concept with three different story segments. Depending on which segment you chose—film noir, action or horror—the story differs along with the view experience. Segments are filmed in such a manner that they intersect with one another to entice viewers to enter the other story realms.

Robotics and artificial intelligence are rapidly emerging fields. From bomb disposal to manufacturing gigs to hamburger flipping and brick laying, robots are doing jobs more efficiently and accurately than humans. Today’s robots have come a long way in terms of processing power, which has led to advances in how similar they are to humans. This begs the question: Is a robot with Artificial Intelligence (AI) capable of having a soul? This may seem like a far off question, but we might be closer to answering it than we think.

Do you want to learn about cryptocurrency innovations, equity crowdfunding and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)? Rep. Jeff Weninger, KryptoPal Co-Founder Jaycen Horton, Dessert Blockchain members and other blockchain influencers for the Arizona BLOCKATHON Invitational right here at UAT on Saturday, July 28, 2018.

Image: KryptoPal

My favorite part of online games is the competition. Whether participating in high-level tournaments or competing at local game shops, people try their hardest to win a game regardless of the reward. Here at UAT, we have an eSports club where we play Overwatch at collegiate competitions for scholarship money.

Everyone has a favorite teacher. A lot of UAT students share the same one. She is kind and patient, and she loves math. You guessed it; it’s Heather Peters!

Heather Peters was born in Iowa, but she moved to Chandler, Arizona when she was very little, and grew up there. She has an older brother and a TWIN sister.

Heather has always wanted to be a teacher. When she played school with her sister growing up, she would be the teacher and her sister was the student. Heather got her bachelor's degree in secondary education with an emphasis in mathematics at Arizona State University. She also got her master's degree in education at Northern Arizona University. She started teaching when she was 22 years old. She spent 11 years teaching math in high school. She also went to China and taught English there for a year. She came to UAT and has been here ever since. In total, she has been teaching for 14 years. Now, she is working on an additional certificate in math.

I asked heather how she teaches math in a tech environment. She said she teaches with concepts related to students’ majors or interests such as video games. She also utilizes also the computer labs and asks other teachers what concepts and methods they use in their classes to spark curiosity and engage students. But mostly she says she learns from her students.

I asked her what was the best thing about teaching math. She said the best thing is when someone finally figures out the answer to a problem. “It’s like a lightbulb goes off,” she said.

I also asked her why she wanted to be a math teacher. At first, she wanted to study accounting, but then she took some math classes in college and loved them! 

Heather is an awesome teacher and human being. Even if you hate math, you will love her class! You will have fun, and learn a lot! I know I did. 

Games allow players to explore strange worlds and live out dreams. At least, that's the concept behind the third-person, single-player adventure game known as Morpheus. Players control a shape-shifting character through a surreal landscape which challenges conventional ideas of reality.