UCF in the News

During the State of Downtown Address, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer discussed the growth and future possibilities of tech here in Central Florida. The mayor said the city is becoming a hub for technology companies and is the fastest-growing US city for IT talent and the second fastest-growing city for tech worker salaries. Ben Noel is the Executive Director of the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy at UCF and believes this is just the beginning for technology in Orlando. “It is one of the fastest growing areas. Maybe not the biggest, but fastest growing,” explained Noel. “We have seen that and again 20-30 years ago, it was harder to attract people to Orlando. The people were coming from other places. They could hardly bring their families here. They were worried about if I lost my job in that one tech job, what do we do? Now those concerns aren’t there.” He said students are coming to the graduate program with the goal of staying in Orlando and working at a company like EA. “I got stories of kids that are coming saying what am I doing, I’m moving into the Julian, I’m coming to FIEA, then I’m going to go work at EA,” added Noel. “16 months later it is exactly what they are doing.”

A University of Central Florida chemistry professor is using laser-based technology to help the families of victims whose remains have yet to be identified. “This is a handheld laser-induced spectroscopy instrument, otherwise known as a handheld LIB,” UCF doctoral student Kristen Livingston said. Livingston said there are two versions of the laser-induced spectroscopy—a hand-held version, used for fieldwork, and a larger stationary unit, used for lab work. Livingston and her professor, Matthieu Baudelet, hope they can get results by distinguishing bones and other remains using this new tech. The idea behind it is that someone’s metabolism or their environment causes a unique signature within the remans that make them identifiable. During a demonstration, Livingston said the instrument works by focusing a laser on the surface of a bone or remain. The laser then helps break down the sample which then converts data to a spectrum highlighting its composition in elements and atoms. “So if you just have bones and you cannot do much DNA, that would be something like large mass graves and everything is mixed up, we can help,” Baudelet said.

Leonid Glebov left Russia for the United States in 1995 empty-handed with a big idea and no plan. Today, Glebov, 74, is a research professor at the University of Central Florida and the research and development director of OptiGrate Corp., an Orlando-based company producing optical elements that precisely control laser beams. This has made eye surgery with lasers safer and improved spectral analysis for the detection of drugs, explosives and other kinds of contaminants. Today, Glebov, 74, is a research professor at the University of Central Florida and the research and development director of OptiGrate Corp., an Orlando-based company producing optical elements that precisely control laser beams. This has made eye surgery with lasers safer and improved spectral analysis for the detection of drugs, explosives and other kinds of contaminants. The research has also helped miniaturize size and reduce the cost of lasers used for medicine, pharmacology and defense.

After pedaling his bicycle to the barrier-island dunes in Melbourne Beach, Florida Institute of Technology professor J. Travis Hunsucker watched NASA's mighty Artemis I moon rocket arc a fiery path across the post-midnight sky last month, twinkling into a tiny dot over the Atlantic Ocean. Now, the ocean engineering and marine sciences assistant professor has reported to the Navy amphibious transport ship USS Portland in San Diego. On Sunday, he'll help forecast and analyze wave dynamics to guide NASA officials as they retrieve the rocket's bobbing Orion capsule after it splashes down into the Pacific Ocean. While attending the University of Central Florida, Jones recalled getting a February 2003 phone call from her mother, Sue Hutchinson, who was standing at the 15,000-foot-long Shuttle Landing Facility waiting for shuttle Columbia to return to the Cape. “She called and woke me up, and she said, ‘Get up and turn the news on.’ And she hung up. And she was out there the rest of the day,“ Jones recalled. Columbia had tragically broken apart over Texas during atmospheric reentry, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

Following a loss at Tulane in the AAC championship on Saturday, UCF coach Gus Malzahn stressed the importance of the Knights’ opportunity to earn the team’s 10th win of the season in a bowl. “What’s next is a bowl game and we need to win a bowl game to get some momentum for next year,” Malzahn said after his team fell 45-28 against the Green Wave in New Orleans. It marks the seventh straight year that UCF will play in a bowl, which extends a program record. “Bowl games are very important,” Malzahn said. “Just like it was last year. We’ll put everything we can into getting a bowl victory.”

With the holiday season in full swing, you may be looking forward to your parties, dinners, and other cheer-filled festivities. But for many people, this time of year is also an opportunity to practice gratitude and spirituality. Established in 1966, Kwanzaa is celebrated for seven days every year from December 26 through January 1. The word Kwanzaa comes from the word "first" in Swahili and is inspired by the start of the harvest season in Africa. The holiday was created with the intention of connecting with the past to prepare for the future while acknowledging culture and identity, says Donald Harrell, an adjunct Africana Studies professor at University of Central Florida. However, it wasn't recognized as a mainstream holiday until the 1980s. The shift in acceptance was revolutionary for the Black community. "Your identity with yourself gives you power that was [against] the goals of those who sought to oppress, marginalize, and keep people in a second class position," explains Harrell.

Fun fact from the files of “there’s a job for that”: there are multiple companies that specialize in making fake Moon dirt. One of the simulant companies, Exolith Lab, lets you just… order their fake Moon dirt on the internet. So we did*! We examined both the raw materials and finished products in our studio and spoke to Exolith about how they make their simulant on a semi-industrial scale. We also tried our own demonstration involving a baking pan full of simulant and a model rocket — to see how that turned out, check out the video above.

UCF President Alexander Cartwright has set a number of goals to boost the college's research and staffing during its fiscal year 2023. The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees approved unanimously the president's goals across four areas during a Nov. 17 meeting at the Lake Nona Wave Hotel. The goals align with the university's strategic plan, which runs through the 2026-27 year. Why this matters: New research generates jobs, investment and can lead to new innovation.

Exoplanets have become quite the sensation over the last decade-plus, with scientists confirming new exoplanets on a regular basis thanks to NASA’s Kepler and TESS missions, along with the James Webb Space Telescope recently examining exoplanet atmospheres, as well. It’s because of these discoveries that exoplanet science has turned into an exciting field of intrigue and wonder, but do the very same scientists who study these wonderful and mysterious worlds have their own favorite exoplanets? As it turns out, four such exoplanet scientists, sometimes referred to as “exoplaneteers”, were kind enough to share their favorites with Universe Today! “My favorite is actually a system of exoplanets: the HR 8799 system,” said Dr. Theodora Karalidi, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida. “The system has four planets that are giant and are still warm enough and far enough from their parent star so that we can see them with our telescopes. Seeing the planets rotating around their parent star is fascinating.”