Tue Apr 25
University of Central Florida researcher is leading a nearly $5 million U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project to develop the first, large-scale system for extended reality human subjects research. Called the Virtual Experience Research Accelerator, or VERA, the system will enable researchers to carry out large studies in extended reality (XR) environments, including virtual reality (VR),…
Tue Apr 18
Limbitless Solutions — a nonprofit and direct support organization at UCF dedicated to increasing accessibility and empowering children and adults in the limb difference community — and two affiliated UCF faculty members have received $85,000 in philanthropic grant funding for their bionic arm training video game, Quantum’s Pursuit. The project was selected as one of eight winners…
Thu Apr 13
Limbitless Solutions president and co-founder Albert Manero ’12 ’14MS ’16PhDwas recently honored by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis during the first annual Florida Heroes reception. The event welcomed heroes from across Florida to the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee to honor them for exhibiting courage, perseverance, and self-sacrifice. This included police officers, first responders,…
Fri Apr 7
Thanks to a new partnership, UCF and its two partner schools in the Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Public Research Universities (the Consortium) â Florida International University (FIU) and the University of South Florida (USF) â will unleash the potential of Hispanic/Latina/o/x graduate students who seek to become leaders in the STEM workforce. The Alfred P.…
Wed Apr 5
UCF’s annual Employee Honors Celebration thanked and congratulated more than 350 employees for choosing the university as their professional home and advancing UCF’s impact as the University for the Future. UCF honored employees for reaching 5, 10, 15, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service; recognized recent retirees; and presented the Florida TaxWatch Productivity Awards for…
Mon Apr 3
UCF’s stellar students being honored on Wednesday for Founders’ Day have unleashed their potential and excelled in colleges and disciplines across the university. Among the undergraduate and graduate students are groundbreaking national and global scholarship winners, researchers, athletes, teaching assistants, residence assistants and leaders in campus organizations such as Student Government, LEAD Scholars and the…
Fri Mar 31
UCF will showcase more than 200 faculty members for academic excellence and service Wednesday at the Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration in the Student Union’s Pegasus Ballroom. The celebration runs 3-5 p.m. and includes a reception after the formal program. Highlighted are recipients of the Pegasus Professor Award, UCF’s highest faculty honor; recipients of the…
Thu Mar 30
This year’s Reach for the Stars honorees are united by their passion to help people and positively change the world. By promoting positive healthcare and helping improve how we respond to survivors of violence to enriching the human experience through space exploration, advanced computing and cultural understanding, the honorees are helping unleash the potential of…
Thu Mar 30
University of Central Florida professor and 26 other researchers have published a study identifying the challenges humans must overcome to ensure that artificial intelligence is reliable, safe, trustworthy and compatible with human values. The study, “Six Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenges,” was published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. Ozlem Garibay ’01MS ’08PhD, an assistant professor…
Thu Mar 30
We’ll bounce, stomp and celebrate UCF Day of Giving on April 13 this year. With this celebration of all things Black & Gold, we wanted to highlight a few unique funds for those who are looking for the right area to support. Girls EXCELing in Math and Science (GEMS) The GEMS program is dedicated to…
Mon Mar 27
UCF is one of 16 universities in the U.S. that have formed a consortium on nuclear forensics. The association is supported by a $25 million cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The goal of the consortium is to engage in research that supports the NNSA’s nuclear security and nonproliferation…
Mon Mar 6
Abhishek Sastri ’20 built a business on cooling technology for high-performance computers. Now, the UCF mechanical engineering alumnus plans to take the business one step further by developing cooling technology for data centers around the world. The coolant is unlike anything created on Earth. It’s created in microgravity, and has already received recognition from Blue Origin. Sastri’s company,…
Mon Mar 6
The requests come regularly to the research teams at UCF’s Institute of Simulation and Training (IST). The change leader of a company or with a government agency wants to know how they can take a gigantic innovative leap without also taking a gigantic risk. Is it even possible? And so, these leaders reach out to IST, where the following…
Mon Mar 6
A University of Central Florida researcher has received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to enhance the current understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) reasoning. The project focuses on developing algorithms to create robust multi-modal explanations for foundation, or large, AI models through the exploration of several novel explainable AI methods. The DOE recently…
Tue Feb 28
A team of UCF researchers, led by Materials Science and Engineering Professor Sudipta Seal, have been awarded a patent for their nanomaterial-based disinfectant that can kill several viruses, including COVID-19. This is the 85th patent that Seal has been awarded through the UCF Office of Technology Transfer. The Pegasus Professor and chair of the Department of…
Tue Feb 28
Many airplane passengers grit their teeth, white-knuckle their armrests and say a silent prayer for their flight to go smoothly. They know that any sudden disturbance in airflow can cause turbulence — and in turn, a severe case of anxiety. But in smaller aircraft, such as unmanned aerial vehicles or micro air vehicles, turbulence is…
Fri Feb 17
A University of Central Florida researcher has helped identify a ring around a trans-Neptunian object 4 billion miles away that defies the current understanding of the physics behind ring formation. The trans-Neptunian object, Quaoar, is a large enough candidate to be a dwarf planet. Researchers have found that its ring exceeds the Roche limit, or…
Fri Feb 17
As a child, Madisyn Messmore ’22 was fascinated by the human body and how it worked. She planned to become a neurosurgeon, but her career path shifted directions in college when an internship with the UCF-based nonprofit Limbitless Solutions piqued her interest in engineering. After she started the internship, she learned that a family member was dealing…
Fri Feb 17
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its Science family of journals. Election as a fellow is a lifetime honor and considered one of the most distinguished recognitions within the scientific community. UCF professors Peter Delfyett and Ronald DeMara are…
Wed Feb 8
Back to the Future movie fans may remember the term “flux capacitor” as a fictional device that allows for time travel. That device still doesn’t exist, but a University of Central Florida storage technology does use a different type of flux capacitor developed by NASA. While trying to find a way to store renewable energy…