The University of Central Florida brings innovation and solutions to some of society’s most pressing problems through research and the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge and avenues for progress.
Tue May 18
University of Central Florida researchers are building on their technology that could pave the way for hypersonic flight, such as travel from New York to Los Angeles in under 30 minutes. In their latest research published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers discovered a way to stabilize the detonation needed…
Thu May 13
Fast Company magazine named a developing technology pioneered at UCF as one of its 2021 “World Changing Ideas.” A panel of editors and reporters selected the winners from more than 4,000 nominations. Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering Ben Sawyer ’14MS ’15PhD and his team are working to make it easier for people to read digital text at a high…
Wed May 12
Computer science researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a sarcasm detector. Social media has become a dominant form of communication for individuals, and for companies looking to market and sell their products and services. Properly understanding and responding to customer feedback on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms is critical for…
Mon May 10
Due to the breadth of the degrees offered, the more balanced rank of faculty members and, most importantly, the global reach of the school, the Department of Health Management and Informatics received approval to become the School of Global Health Management and Informatics. The designation is effective May 10. “The school will strengthen our ability to…
Wed May 5
New research indicates that the legendary Sargasso Sea, which includes part of the Bermuda Triangle and has long featured in fiction as a place where ships go derelict, may actually be an important nursery habitat for young sea turtles. In a study led by a University of Central Florida researcher and published today in the…
Mon May 3
When the James Webb Space Telescope launches later this year, UCF researcher Noemi Pinilla Alonso will be among a select group of scientists worldwide who will have more than 100 hours of observation time awarded to conduct her work. The JWST telescope, which has been described as NASA’s next great space telescope, is a hot…
Mon Apr 26
Skid marks left by cars are often analyzed for their impression patterns, but they often don’t provide enough information to identify a specific vehicle. UCF Chemistry Associate Professor Matthieu Baudelet and his forensics team at the National Center for Forensic Science, which was established at UCF in 1997, may have just unlocked a new way to…
Tue Apr 20
Ateam of scientists, including a researcher with the University of Central Florida and Arecibo Observatory, has discovered that a rare, interstellar comet may be one of the most pristine objects ever documented to have visited our solar system. Such a “pristine” interstellar comet, or one that has never passed near a sun, is of interest…
Thu Apr 15
UCF researchers, led by Associate Professor of English Beth Rapp Young, have launched a new digital version of Samuel Johnson’sâ¯A Dictionary of the English Language. Made available to the public April 15, which is the 266th anniversary of the first edition’s publication, this digital tool empowers readers to search the dictionary’s more than 43,000 words online for the first time. This project is the result of years…
Thu Apr 15
For many people suffering from depression, chronic pain and addiction, common treatment options such as psychotherapy and medication don’t work, according to scientific and public health reports. That’s why researchers are exploring alternative methods, such as neural stimulation, in which tiny electrical pulses are sent to a specific brain region to alleviate symptoms of neurological…
Thu Apr 15
Anew study from the University of Central Florida suggests that masks and a good ventilation system are more important than social distancing for reducing the airborne spread of COVID-19 in classrooms. The research, published recently in the journal Physics of Fluids, comes at a critical time when schools and universities are considering returning to more in-person…
Fri Apr 2
Some may say the past year has been one giant global experiment. While scientists and researchers didn’t create the coronavirus, the pandemic has spurred opportunities for investigations that run the gamut of public-service efforts and response. Here are just a few ways experts at UCF as using their insight to enhance what we’ve learned and…
Thu Apr 1
For future biomedical scientist Sai Preethi Nakkina, research is like unlocking a mystery. “I have always been fascinated with research because it’s like looking for clues, step by step along the way to solving a mystery,” said Nakkina who has spent much of her UCF graduate student career researching pancreatic cancer. “I have always been…
Thu Apr 1
Michael Himes is a fourth year doctoral candidate studying planets lightyears away (also called exoplanets) by using machine learning to better understand their atmospheres. This type of research could have big impacts on the future of understanding what is out in the universe, potentially including the remote detection of life. Himes began harnessing the capabilities…
Wed Mar 31
When COVID-19 hit and Central Florida went into lockdown, UCF undergraduate student Victor Blocker began noticing mounting tension and stress among his friends, particularly couples. That’s what sparked Blocker’s research idea, which he turned into a project he will share during the Student Scholar Symposium, part of UCF’s annual Student Research Week, March 29-April 2.…
Mon Mar 29
With the prospect of space missions to Mars and beyond becoming a likelihood within the next decade, putting together the right team for those longs trips is critical. That’s where Krisztina Szabo comes in. The doctoral student in industrial/organizational psychology wanted to find out how diversity affects team dynamics, and she said she could think…
Mon Mar 29
Nursing Assistant Professor Ladda Thiamwong works with elderly patients and tackles one of the most pressing issues facing this population: the mental and physical instability surrounding life-threatening falls. With the help of an interdisciplinary team of researchers, Thiamwong has developed a treatment regiment for aging patients, which assesses not only their physical abilities but their…
Mon Mar 29
Early screening can mean the difference between life and death in a cancer and disease diagnosis. That’s why University of Central Florida researchers are working to develop a new screening technique that’s more than 300 times as effective at detecting a biomarker for diseases like cancer than current methods. The technique, which was detailed recently…
Mon Mar 29
Many students shy away from conducting research because they believe it is complicated and requires an Albert Einstein-like IQ. While it takes work and brainpower, the key ingredients are curiosity and a determination to find answers. Conducting research is something that should be part of every student’s college experience, which is why every year UCF…
Fri Mar 26
Students and faculty who want to hear about exciting new research underway at UCF can get updates about several projects during the SEEDing Research Forum, a new addition to Student Research Week. Making the world’s first color infrared camera, creating a compatible diagnostic platform for detecting multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and connecting with people who become homeless…