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.
Wed Oct 28
Cell biologists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bar-Ilan University at Israel and a bioimaging expert at the University of Central Florida are teaming up in what they hope may lead to a major breakthrough in understanding of the three-dimensional organization of the nucleus over time and their role in certain diseases. The…
Wed Oct 28
Florida’s sea turtle nesting surveying comes to a close on Halloween and like everything else in 2020, the season was a bit weird. The number of green sea turtle nests on central and southern Brevard County, Florida beaches monitored by University of Central biologists were way up during a year they should have been down…
Wed Oct 28
Jeanette Garcia, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences, researches interventions that help children with autism live healthier lives. Her newest research investigates how to increase healthy habits like physical activity and healthy eating in this population. “Young people with autism spectrum disorder are at higher risk for obesity, due to poor nutrition habits and lack of physical activity,” Garcia said. “This research will build on past research that shows how…
Mon Oct 26
A common reproductive strategy among invertebrates called multiple paternity could give animals like porcelain crabs a survival advantage as the world grows warmer, new research finds. While climate change is often associated with major events like melting glaciers and super storms, the authors of the recently published paper in the Journal of Crustacean Biology chose…
Mon Oct 26
AUniversity of Central Florida researcher is working to make portable devices and electric vehicles stay charged longer by extending the life of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries powering them. Assistant Professor Yang Yang is doing this by making the batteries more efficient, with some of his latest work focusing on keeping an internal metal structure, the…
Mon Oct 26
History is a great teacher, but in the age of electronic media, making history accessible is almost as important as preserving it. That’s where UCF’s Center for Humanities and Digital Research (CHDR) comes in. The center is made up of a group of faculty members and staff who help train humanities researchers to properly digitize…
Fri Oct 23
Cancer researcher at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, Dr. Alicja Copik. An immunity-boosting technology developed by the College of Medicine is being tested as a potential weapon in the fight against COVID-19. UCF cancer researcher Dr. Alicja Copik created the therapy that stimulates the body’s natural killer (NK) cells with nanoparticles to increase…
Wed Oct 21
Local governments offer a myriad of initiatives to support the needs of their communities. The challenge of launching and sustaining new policies is often tied to difficulties collaborating effectively. This effort of coordination and communication within city government is what Christopher Hawkins, professor of public administration, will be researching with a colleague from the University of Kansas…
Tue Oct 20
The increase in remote work and e-learning sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic means more people are reading in digital formats, from eye-straining, small-text documents to PDFs that have embedded pictures and graphics. But there’s a bigger problem – the technology doesn’t lend itself easily to help enhance reading speed or comprehension. Other than being able…
Mon Oct 19
Four years after it launched, NASA’s OSIRIS REx NASA mission is closing in on its big day. On Oct. 20, the spacecraft is scheduled to complete its touch-and-go move to collect a sample of asteroid Bennu. University of Central Florida Physics Professor and asteroid expert Humberto Campins is counting down the days. He is part of the…
Mon Oct 19
Housing programs can serve as a lifeline for domestic violence survivors and their children – providing them with vital resources to leave abusive relationships and find safety. Various housing models are being implemented across the country; however, little is known about their long-term effectiveness. A team of researchers from the University of Central Florida, University…
Wed Oct 14
For the past five years UCF has invested in research clusters, which brought together interdisciplinary faculty to focus on big problems, such as the growing need for cyber security in a digital age. The effort began with six clusters overseen by the Provost Office and has grown to nine clusters, which are overseen by the Office…
Tue Oct 13
In the era of electric cars, machine learning and ultra-efficient vehicles for space travel, computers and hardware are operating faster and more efficiently. But this increase in power comes with a trade-off: They get superhot. To counter this, University of Central Florida researchers are developing a way for large machines to “breathe” in and out…
Fri Oct 9
One small crack in an aircraft component can lead to major problems. The cracks can grow fast and damage metal components to the point of failure, but they are often hard to detect. In an effort to stop this problem as it starts, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently awarded UCF aerospace engineering Assistant…
Thu Oct 8
Brain fog, difficulty concentrating and forgetfulness are common complaints among many cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy. But while “chemo brain” affects about 75 percent of cancer patients, according to the American Academy of Neurology, the connection between cancer treatment and cognitive function has remained unclear – until now. College of Medicine researcher Dr. Dinender…
Thu Oct 8
To understand the significance of the Spitzer Space Telescope on the understanding of our solar system, think of what the steam engine meant for the industrial revolution. A national team of scientists today published in the journal Nature Astronomy two papers that provide an inventory of the major discoveries made possible thanks to Spitzer and offer guidance…
Wed Oct 7
Henry “Hank” C. Okraski’s passion for simulation and training is reflected in the impact he’s had on the field and in his unique collection of historical pictures dating back to World War I. Okraski spent most of his career working to support the training of armed service men and women through simulation and training. He…
Tue Oct 6
Before you ever step into a new coffee shop, years of urban planning have gone into building that brick-and-mortar building in your neighborhood. Urban planning is a multi-faceted discipline in which planners collect data points from targeted areas to determine if a store, hospital or other types of buildings are likely needed in that area.…
Mon Oct 5
Two UCF physics students just landed two NASA awards that are giving the pair the opportunity to recreate the harsh cosmic conditions found on asteroids and comets in a lab at UCF. Brian Ferrari ’18 and Katie Slavicinska are doctoral candidates in the Astrochemistry Lab working under Assistant Professor Christopher Bennett. They met in the lab and share a passion…
Thu Oct 1
Kyu Young Han, an assistant professor in UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics, is the university’s first faculty member to be awarded the National Institutes of Health’s Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for early stage investigators. The five-year $1.7 million grant is intended to provide stable funding so recipients can pursue ambitious challenges, according to the National…