After spending most of his five years in USF’s Division of Computer Arts and Technology, Jacob Nolt will take over as director of the now remodeled and renamed Division of Communication, Animation and Technology (DCAT), in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, the late Rick Miller.

Nolt learned a lot from Miller about setting priorities and allowing staff members to do the same. “Because of his challenges working through cancer, Rick had a clear perspective on life,” Nolt said. “If there were opportunities to attend family and other important life events, he wanted to make sure you could get to them. It’s important that we train our students in skills and character, but at the end of the day, what’s important is your family. He stressed in class it’s OK to say, ‘I don’t know, let’s find out.’ Together we can go out and seek the answer. He lived each day by the motto, ‘Lead with hope, walk with courage.’”

Nolt hopes to create opportunities to give DCAT students more experience before graduation. “We are looking at some internal projects where students may be able to help other departments and utilize their skills for applications other than entertainment,” he said. “What we teach in animation can be applied in a variety of fields, such as advertising, simulations, games, architectural visualization, medical visualization, education and sales tools. Several of the division programs are also exploring the integration of software certification into the curriculum, allowing more professional preparation and another item for student resumes.”

He brings a wealth of experience to such projects. He earned a bachelor’s degree in game art and design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in digital art from Bowling Green State University. Between degrees, he spent five years working as a 3D artist inside the Unity 3D game engine to create virtual and augmented reality interactive experiences. He still freelances for interactive application and indie game development.

The values practiced in the division under Miller will prevail, Nolt said. “When our division first consisted of Rick Miller, Patrick Riggle and me, we stressed open communication, respect and collaboration. I hope to uphold Rick’s legacy and his work to create students of character, and continue the mentoring of faculty. Our faculty shares the vision to instill open communication, respect and collaboration into our coursework.”

He was drawn to a smaller, faith-based university, and continues to appreciate USF’s culture and challenges. “I really enjoy the smaller campus, which allows faculty to get to know students better. I have really grown to appreciate the students and incredibly talented faculty in our division, the creative arts and other parts of campus,” Nolt said.

He values the fact USF is a teaching, rather than research, institution. “I like that USF is ultimately concerned about the learning of their students,” he said. “Because we are smaller, we have the agility to change our courses and curriculum to meet the needs of the field, which can be a longer, drawn-out process at larger universities.”

Nolt is optimistic about DCAT’s future. “I am most excited about some of the forthcoming collaborative efforts between disciplines and how those will impact our students,” he said. “I am also looking forward to working with programs outside our division and finding those inroads that tie us all together.”