UCF in the News

Seminole County has launched a new center to help grow small businesses. The county opened the Seminole County Economic Development Hub at the Seminole State College of Florida Heathrow Campus on Oct. 30. The facility is staffed by three of the county's economic development partners and provides resources to small businesses to grow. It also has a multi-use space to host classes, networking events and more.Seminole County Commissioner Amy Lockhart told Orlando Business Journal the location fits in with the county's economic development strategy to help businesses big and small have the resources to grow in the county. "We have a lot of small business owners who are adept in their field but know they may benefit from beefing up skills in another area to take their business to the next level," Lockhart said. "Being right here on Seminole State's campus in Heathrow takes away some of the barriers that otherwise exist." Michael Harvey, founder of Octanium Corp., said the hub not only allows his business to meet with people, but also allows the county to draw new small businesses here. Harvey's company is based out of the UCF Business Incubator in Winter Springs and provides cybersecurity services. "It feeds back into the ecosystem of people and allows them to know that they can own a business here," Harvey said.

Did you know there have been five U.S. Presidential Elections in which the winner lost the popular vote? The Electoral College has voted to elect John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Benjamin Harrison in the distant past, and George W. Bush and Donald Trump in modern times. Despite proposals to change or abolish the Electoral College (the University of Central Florida reports there have been over 1,000), there are many reasons why these attempts failed. Firstly, as UCF History Professor John Sacher explains, the Electoral College is part of the U.S. Constitution — and amending the Constitution is complicated and difficult. Additionally, Sacher argues that the Electoral College is useful in instances like the 2000 Presidential Election. Despite Gore winning a plurality of the popular vote, he didn’t win a majority. Neither Bush nor Gore won the majority and it fell upon the electors to decide. Sacher explains: “We are the only nation that still uses an Electoral College… Given that this discussion has already lasted well over 100 years, we may be in for 100 more.”

The two people killed early Friday in a mass shooting in downtown Orlando have been identified as Timothy Schmidt Jr., 19, and Tyrek Hill, 25, according to the Orlando Police Department. OPD on Saturday afternoon provided the names and ages of the two men. No additional details were available about Hill. Schmidt, of Weston, was a freshman at the University of Central Florida, according to a GoFundMe page set up for his family. “Please join the Alpha Epsilon Pi Nu Delta Chapter of Central Florida in raising money for Timothy Schmidt Jr’s family as Tim was tragically and innocently murdered in a shooting in Downtown Orlando in the hours following Halloween, on November 1st, 2024,” the page said. “He was an extraordinary person, loving son, caring friend, talented soccer player, astounding teammate, kind soul, hardworking student and individual with an extremely warm heart and a witty sense of humor.”

The 2024 U.S. election is heightening stress across the country, affecting more than 7 out of 10 adults, regardless of political affiliation. Surveys show that 82 percent of people’s opinions are based on inaccurate information, and 64 percent feel their rights are under threat. The relentless nature of social media, with its constant flow of election-related content, has increased passive consumption of social issues and elevated anxiety, particularly in our youth. In the face of rising political tensions and societal challenges, more than half of youth and young adults in the U.S. are feeling pessimistic about their future. Some experience a “pre-election mental health crisis,” marked by sleep issues, worsening depression, catastrophic thoughts about the future, and even hallucinations. This distress in our youth often stems from an acute awareness of societal forces shaping their lives, coupled with a sense of powerlessness to influence change. How can we support our youth through these challenges?

Food Insecurity on Campus: The UCF Knights football team will host undefeated Brigham Young University on Saturday. BYU Cougars fans are putting a twist on their game day tailgating. They’re bringing clothes, canned goods, and other critical supplies to their tailgate area at Carillon Elementary School in Oviedo. BYU Alumni Chapter Chair for Orlando Christian Rasband joins Engage to tell us how the Cougs Care program will support UCF students and the Knights Helping Knights Pantry this weekend. The Knights Helping Knights Pantry was created by UCF students who wanted to help their classmates struggling to access or afford essential items like food, clothes, or personal hygiene products. UCF senior Chloe Milliron started volunteering with the Knights Helping Knights Pantry as a freshman and is now the manager of the student-run organization. She joins Engage to discuss the resource to combat food insecurity on campus.

With hypersonic travel, people can fly from New York to London in less than 15 minutes or explore space — and the University of Central Florida wants a piece of the action. The school launched a new center to study the technology for hypersonic travel — which is up to 17 times the speed of sound or 13,000 mph. UCF President Alexander Cartwright celebrated this week’s opening of the Center of Excellence in Hypersonic and Space Propulsion — or the HyperSpace Center — in the Central Florida Research Park by the main campus. “What we create here and across UCF will define the aerospace and defense industries for generations,” Cartwright said in front of U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Daniel Webster and State Rep. Susan Plasencia as well as other officials. At the new center, UCF faculty, graduate students and undergraduates will be working to develop the technology fueling hypersonic travel. The school has received millions of dollars in U.S. Department of Defense grants.

Navigating the Dark Side of the Moon America is looking to return to the moon – it’s been more than fifty years since the last Apollo mission and the Artemis program has set a goal of putting people back on the lunar surface by 2026. The mission is focused on the moon’s south pole, where there is believed to be a presence of ice. Because this is an relatively unexplored region, NASA has initiated a challenge to professional and citizen scientists – devise a navigation and mapping system to help astronauts orient their way to and from a lunar lander without getting lost. This may seem like a simple concept in 2024, but remember – this is the moon: no GPS, no compasses, no Google Maps or Waze. The prospect of getting lost on the lunar surface is terrifying so we asked Dr. Addie Dove, a planetary scientist and associate professor in the Department of Physics at UCF to set us at ease.

As office manager of an Indiana recruiting firm, Jolene Rosario enjoyed the predictable nature of her weekly duties – handling payroll and workers’ compensation insurance, paying invoices and answering employment questions from state agencies. Several months ago, her boss asked her to also take on the responsibilities of front-office coordinator after a colleague was laid off because of declining revenue at the firm, called Express Employment Professionals. That meant responding to in-person visitors (from the UPS delivery person to job applicants), interviewing job candidates, onboarding new employees, sometimes answering phone calls and more. Some experts also worry about burnout, which was widespread when many Americans left the labor force in the early days of the pandemic, leaving colleagues with bigger workloads. "When your work increases beyond the point where you have the resources to succeed and successfully do the work...you do get burnout, fatigue and workers looking for other jobs," said Mindy Shoss, a professor of industrial and organizational psychology at the University of Central Florida. "It's a well-being crisis, it's a public health crisis and it's an economic crisis." Such a scenario harms both workers and their employers, she said. At the same time, she said, if workers are given the tools to do their jobs, increasing their skills and responsibilities can help them advance in their careers.

On Episode 133 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with Greg Autry on the progress of the Artemis moon program, space science, and the challenges posed by a fast-rising Chinese space program. Dr. Autry is the Associate Provost for Space Commercialization and Strategy at the University of Central Florida, visiting Professor at Imperial College London, former NASA transition team member, and author of "Red Moon Rising." We'll also highlight the recent launch of SpaceX's Starship and the amazing catch of the booster by the Mechazilla Launch tower, Michael Bloomberg's recent article condemning the slow progress of the Artemis program, and this weekend's Orionids meteor shower!