Hap Aziz comes to Rasmussen College with a broad range of professional experience and technical expertise well-suited for the higher education industry. In the early 80s, he worked as a communications engineer designing radio and television broadcast systems and working with the FCC. That experience included the work on Motorola’s first experimental cellular phone system. While working with the early systems, Hap developed custom software to predict cell phone coverage across the company.
In 1990, Hap formed a company that developed software for the Amiga computer. During that time, his company opened a computer store and launched one of the first ISPs in the Orlando area. The software, Ami-Back, went on to become the best-selling Amiga software of its class right until the Amiga stopped being produced in 1994.
However, before that market disappeared, Hap teamed up with several talented individuals to design and produce computer games and a variety of CD-ROM titles. Hap’s team was hired by several design shops including Disney, Sony, and Warner to develop games, websites, and other interactive media.
In 1998, Hap developed one of the first accredited Computer Game Design degree programs in the country, calling on a number of his game industry contacts to help, and leveraging his position on the Board of Directors of the Computer Game Developers’ Association to bring in guidance and advice from industry experts.
Over the past ten years, Hap has been involved in the development of over 500 online courses, has provided web application development services to over 50 colleges and universities, has written and published technology review articles in a variety of national publications, served as technology commentators for Orlando new services, presented at national conferences ranging from the Florida Film Festival to the Game Developers’ Conference in San Jose, California, and provided advice and guidance to higher education institutions worldwide on the most effective ways to integrate technology into the teaching and learning environment.
Hap brings with him an almost boundless passion for educating students today in the technologies that will become commonplace tomorrow. Hap is a firm believer that people learn best when they play.