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 May 6
An illustration of what the UCF developed process could look like on the moon. Credit: NASA and Jessica Woodward/UCF UCF is taking inspiration from well-established mining techniques on Earth to tackle mining on the moon and asteroids. University of Central Florida planetary scientist Philip Metzger and his team at the Florida Space Institute have received…
Wed May 6
What’s driving violent anti-Chinese discrimination in Nairobi, Kenya, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and what can be done to quell it? How are part-time theme park workers in central Florida handling massive furloughs, and what could their employers be doing better? What unique challenges did people with disabilities face in Wuhan, China, during the lockdown? These…
Tue May 5
Some states consider prenatal substance use as equivalent to child abuse or neglect. Anew study co-authored by a University of Central Florida researcher shows that laws that punish substance use during pregnancy actually do more harm than good. These unintended consequences include keeping women from getting the treatment they need and failing to reduce the…
Mon May 4
UCF-developed technology will boost rocket performance. AUniversity of Central Florida researcher and his team have developed an advanced new rocket-propulsion system once thought to be impossible. The system, known as a rotating detonation rocket engine, will allow upper stage rockets for space missions to become lighter, travel farther, and burn more cleanly. The results were…
Thu Apr 30
Albert Chi (center), associate professor of surgery in the OHSU School of Medicine, works with John Sparkman, director of research and development for Limbitless Solutions, and Dominique Courbin, director of production during a visit to UCF in May 2018. Aresearch collaboration and ensuing friendship between a trauma surgeon in Oregon and a handful of engineers…
Wed Apr 29
The Mote Marine Laboratory photo shows red tide off Florida’s Southwest coastline. The group was conducting a manatee survey as part of the Manatee Research Program when it captured the image, The University of Central Florida is one of two universities selected to study the social and economic impacts of Florida’s red tide events during…
Mon Apr 27
NASA’s OSIRIS REx team, which includes two professors from the University of Central Florida, completed a dress rehearsal of maneuvers it expects to make when its mission to collect a sample from an ancient asteroid comes to its climax. UCF Professor Humberto Campins and Assistant Professor Kerri Donaldson Hanna are part of the science team…
Thu Apr 23
The Office of Research has launched a searchable database for UCF faculty and scientists. Agencies have put out calls for proposals, but with hundreds of agencies and multiple opportunities with their own specific requirements, it can be daunting to find a good match. The database offers UCF faculty and scientists a quick way to search using key…
Thu Apr 23
Anne Virkki, head of Planetary Radar at the Arecibo Observatory and asteroid 1998 OR2 pose with their masks. The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is following an asteroid approaching Earth this week and while it poses no threat, it appears to know our planet is facing a pandemic. “The small-scale topographic features such as hills…
Tue Apr 21
Accurately predicting how many people are at risk due to sea level rise and storm surges is of particular interest to states like Florida where a large part of the population lives along the coastline. Accurately predicting how many people are at risk due to sea level rise and storm surges has always challenged scientists,…
Thu Apr 16
Anew University of Central Florida study recently published in Metropolitan Universities indicates a need for university websites to better communicate with first-generation college students. This is important as first-generation college students make up about one-third of undergraduate populations but are more likely to not earn their degree than their counterparts. “As universities become more digitized, my research…
Wed Apr 15
Zeynep Elshaer, who is majoring in biomedical sciences and Spanish at UCF, wants to be a doctor who won’t let language get in the way of delivering good care. In her own family, Elshaer has seen firsthand the struggle of her Middle Eastern mother to grasp what exactly a doctor is telling her. It wasn’t just a language barrier,…
Wed Apr 15
FLAGSHIP, UCF’s online research journal channel for the College of Medicine, is expanding to medical schools across Florida to increase submissions from students, medical residents and faculty. Since opening in 2016 within the Cureus.com platform, FLAGSHIP has published 135 articles with nearly 60,000 content views. Its research — from basic sciences to clinical case reports — can…
Fri Apr 10
Researchers pushing the limits of magnets as a means to create faster electronics published their proof of concept findings Friday in the journal Science. The University of Central Florida is the lead university in the multidisciplinary university research initiative (MURI) project, which is funded by a $7.5 million grant from the Department of Defense. The team exploring methods…
Wed Apr 8
Masks that protect doctors and nurses from COVID-19 only block the virus before it reaches their faces, but UCF researchers are working to create a protective coating that would include a novel mask material that would catch the virus and kill it within seconds. Sudipta Seal, an engineer specializing in material science and nanotechnology, initiated this project…
Wed Apr 8
Biology major Katherine Viehl conducts research focused on the lionfish, one of the state’s most invasive species. Though this species is native to the South Pacific and Indian oceans it has been spreading through the Atlantic Coast since 1985. Their predatorial habits cause damage to the biodiversity destroying native fish and plants of the estuaries…
Tue Apr 7
The worldwide Association of University Technology Managers selected UCF’s Technology Transfer Office for the inaugural Better World Project Award for its role in bringing a new water cleaning technology to the world market. Researchers at UCF’s Stormwater Management Academy invented Bold & Gold, a water-filtration media that removes pollutants from stormwater, wastewater and agricultural applications. Made from natural and…
Mon Apr 6
Studying human behavior isn’t the exclusive domain of psychology. When Alexander V. Mantzaris, Ph.D, joined the Department of Statistics and Data Science in 2016, his unique research on network science and social media behavior proved just that. Mantzaris brought a background studying the behavior of voters in the international song contest Eurovision. The show encompasses…
Mon Apr 6
More employees are working from home due to COVID-19, and the disruption in workflow could prove detrimental to job performance, according to a UCF study. The abrupt shift to remote work poses new challenges, such as juggling tasks and mastering new technologies. New research suggests these challenges may hurt employee performance when experienced inconsistently. If…
