UCF in the News

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.

Josh Colwell, a professor at the University of Central Florida, joined Queen City News Now to discuss the new moon suits unveiled by NASA for its Artemis III mission.

David Nussbaum started Proto and developed what’s now the company’s flagship device, the Proto Epic. It’s a nearly 90-foot-tall metal box capable of fitting a human over six feet tall inside. The box is also equipped with front-facing 4K video cameras and speakers, so the box can transmit audience feedback and let the user respond in real-time (watch Ellen Degeneres do so here). Bari Hoffman, associate dean for clinical affairs and internal medicine professor at the University of Central Florida, said she’s been using the Proto Epic device since 2021.

Increasing worker pay is just part of the solution, along with increasing time off and other employee well-being benefits, said University of Central Florida hospitality professor Michael “Doc” Terry. But by responding to workers’ concerns, companies like Andretti show they value employees’ feedback and that goes a long way toward resolving staffing issues in a job market where workers are seeking balance. “Are you going to bite the bullet and pay the extra money and provide the right experience for the employee that’s coming in so they stay and feel good about the culture and being there?” Terry asked.

Three years into the pandemic, a select group of people have achieved something some once thought impossible: They have never tested positive for Covid. Scientists around the world are searching for the genetic reasons these people have dodged Covid — despite repeated exposure to the virus. Were they born with a form of super immunity? What's behind their Houdini-like success at escaping infection? Brian Peach worked as a nurse in the Covid intensive care unit at Orlando Regional Medical Center in Florida early in the pandemic, before Covid vaccines were widely available.

March is women's history month, and as we continue to honor the achievements of women both past and present. One in particular made a stop in St. Pete this weekend to play a vital role at the Firestone Grand Prix. As the races marked the dawn of a new IndyCAR series season it also marked Dr. Julia Vaizer's inaugural season as the racing league's first female medical chief. Dr. Vaizer graduated from the University of Florida in 2011 and earned her medical degree from the University of Central Florida in 2016.