UCF in the News

A new invention allows patients with limited mobility to use their facial muscles to control their wheelchairs. The hands-free wheelchair technology invented at the University of Central Florida allows people with limited mobility to use their facial muscles to control their wheelchairs. The control method uses electromyography sensors placed on a patient's temporalis muscles to move a wheelchair or vehicle. When a user clenches their jaw, the wheelchair will respond by moving in the designated direction. "The technology has the potential to unlock mobility independence for certain patients," said one of the inventors, Albert Manero, in the news release. "We are hopeful to complete further clinical trials on the equipment before working with a wheelchair provider to integrate with their available devices."

Virtual reality can help people see their favorite band perform, hang out with friends or relax on a beach without leaving home. It is also pushing some people to speak in front of crowds or revisit war zones, processing fears or traumatic memories for the sake of their health. Hospital and university clinics for years have helped people with post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias by using virtual reality to immerse them in simulations that help them reckon with the problem. It is a virtual version of the longstanding technique called exposure therapy, in which people confront memories or fears, such as seeing spiders or getting into an elevator, with a therapist to overcome the feeling of being under threat. Now researchers are aiming to make immersive VR-based therapy more personal and bring it into people’s homes. “It is a tool that in the hands of therapists can be very powerful,” said Deborah Beidel, director of a research clinic for post-traumatic stress disorder at the University of Central Florida.

Scientists have been documenting abnormal and dramatic sea level rise along the US Gulf and Southeast coasts since about 2010, raising new questions about whether New Orleans, Miami, Houston and other coastal communities may be more at risk from rising sea levels than previously thought. While this acceleration has been relatively short-lived so far, it could have far-reaching consequences in areas of the United States that have experienced explosive development as the wetlands, mangroves, and beaches that once protected them shrink. “It disrupts your daily life,” said Thomas Wahl, professor of coastal hazards and engineering at the University of Central Florida. and co-author of the paper in Nature Communications. “It destroys the infrastructure. It damages cars that drive through salt water every day. You cannot open a business or go to work.” Then there’s the fact that in low-lying areas, even a small amount of sea level rise can make storm surges even more dangerous. The waves approach the shore, exacerbating erosion. “You now have higher levels of essential water,” says Wahl. “If you have a hurricane today compared to the same hurricane 150 years ago, the effect will be different.”

Cloaked by choking green vegetation, a small exposed patch of concrete caught the eye of college students and volunteers searching off an anthill-dotted dirt lane for signs of the long-lost Bumper 8 blockhouse at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. After chopping away thorny brush and thick roots with hacksaws and shears, the University of Central Florida archaeological team unearthed the 20-by-20-foot foundation of the crudely built structure at historic Launch Complex 3. This makeshift blockhouse marks where technicians launched Bumper 8 on July 24, 1950 — America's first rocket from the Cape. Since late January, the Bumper blockhouse site has been targeted by about 20 students with the University of Central Florida's Department of Anthropology. They systematically surveyed and GPS-mapped a 700- to 900-square-meter grid across abandoned Launch Complex 3, digging periodic "shovel test pits" to study what lies below the surface.

The sun is one of the cleanest and most easy to use sources of energy. Solar panels turn the free sunlight we receive every day into electricity to power our homes. Solar adoption is on the rise, with the number of residential installations up 40% in 2021, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association. A common misconception, though, is that solar panels don't work at night or when it's cloudy. "The panel is always working. The question is how much electricity comes out of it based on the amount of light," James Fenton, director of the Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, told CNET. "You will get close to zero electricity at night, but if there is a little bit of ambient light, sometimes even the reflected moonlight can do it. However, if you were to buy a solar panel, and you actually see the output on your cell phone every day, you'll see that it's close to zero at night."

When Kelly Longstreet’s family moved to Florida four years ago, she applied for a job as a classroom aide, knowing the hours would mesh well with her daughters’ school schedules. Plus, she’d once hoped to become a teacher, and the job with Orange County Public Schools gave her a taste of that teaching life. And that taste seemed enough until she received an email from the school district. The school district hopes another 30 aides, officially called paraprofessionals, sign up for a similar effort to be offered through the University of Central Florida starting in August. “The expertise they’re bringing in from being in the classroom and working with teachers is just phenomenal,” said Andrea Borowczak, director of UCF’s school of teacher education. UCF ran a small pilot program this school year for about eight aides. In the fall, it hopes 30 from OCPS and another 30 from the Marion County school district start the classes that could have them certified Florida teachers in three years.

As a child, Tricia Hinely traded letters with her father, serving overseas in the Vietnam War. But her final two messages never arrived in his hands. “I’m so sorry, dear ‘Tricia, that I won’t be able to be home for awhile yet. I miss you so and Daddy loves you so very much,” wrote Bernard Jaffe from My Tho, Vietnam, in a letter dated Aug. 20, 1965. Less than a month later, he succumbed to hepatitis. Hinely was just 13 years old. Now, Hinely is the first to be visited by Andrew Carroll in his “The Historian Who Makes House Calls” campaign. Carroll has dedicated 25 years to collecting letters from the Revolutionary War through recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan — and Central Floridians can get a “first look” at his mission Friday at UCF Celebrates the Arts.

Florida Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis sent letters to over 30 electric vehicle car manufacturers calling on them to assess and identify methods to limit the risk of EV fires. Now teams at the University of Central Florida say they may have the answers.

As NASA eyes November 2024 to send four astronauts into space on the 10-day Artemis ll moon mission, we're learning more about one of the engineers who's working to get that group off the ground. UCF alumna Amanda Stevenson is the lead for the Artemis II service module assembly in the Orion Production Operations Office at Kennedy Space Center. She oversees the technical progress for assembly, integration and production operations.