UCF in the News

More than a decade after capturing national attention as the young boy who received a 3D-printed 'Iron Man' arm with help from actor Robert Downey Jr., Alex Pring is celebrating a new chapter. This January, Pring will attend the University of Central Florida, where he plans to study aerospace engineering — returning to the same campus where Limbitless Solutions helped change his life as a child. Born without part of his right arm, Pring received a custom-designed, 3D-printed bionic prosthetic from the UCF-based nonprofit. The moment became an international sensation when Downey, best known for portraying Iron Man, surprised Pring by delivering the device himself. Now, Pring is earning recognition for achievements beyond his childhood story. He recently set two national records at The Hartford Nationals, one of the nation's longest-running track and field championships for athletes with disabilities.

Space is one of the harshest places humans can experience. Beyond the protection of Earth’s atmosphere, the body faces powerful radiation, weightlessness, and other conditions it never evolved to handle. Scientists have long known these challenges affect muscles and bones, but new research suggests the liver may also reveal something important about how the body ages. Looking for answers in the liver The study was led by Professor Michal Masternak at the University of Central Florida.

At the University of Central Florida’s CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, Research Assistant Professor Joshua Kaufman’s work combines physics, materials science, and imagination. Few centers in the region represent the connectivity of academic and industry innovation with the scale and reach of CREOL, where Kaufman is part of a new generation of faculty leader whose students are gaining hands-on experience through the Corridor’s Matching Grants Research Program, just as he did when he earned his PhD at UCF more than a decade ago. Kaufman has been a part of projects that range from futuristic textiles to high-performance optical systems, including ambitious collaborations with longtime UCF partner L3Harris Technologies and research developing technology for military and medical applications. Having led seven MGRP projects as principal investigator, several of Kaufman’s students have gone on to work for the defense tech company or have taken on roles at other leading tech firms in the region.

Quantum computers could one day solve problems beyond the reach of even the world’s most powerful supercomputers, accelerating everything from drug discovery to the development of advanced materials and cleaner energy technologies. But the fragile quantum states that make such machines possible are notoriously easy to disrupt. Even tiny changes in the environment – such as stray radio waves, small fluctuations in temperature or slight physical vibrations – can interfere with calculations, introduce errors and disrupt quantum coherence. To help address this challenge, UCF Assistant Professor of Physics Han Zhao is developing a new approach that combines superconducting quantum systems with nanomechanical devices to make quantum operations more resistant to noise and errors.

The University of Central Florida College of Medicine and HCA Florida Ocala Hospital’s Internal Medicine Residency Program are honored to announce a new partnership with Ocala Family Medical Center. This partnership expands opportunities for resident physicians’ education while increasing access to high-quality primary care services for the Ocala/Marion County community.

Could a trip to Mars leave an astronaut's liver looking decades older than it should? Researchers at the University of Central Florida believe they may have found exactly that, and the implications reach far beyond the astronauts themselves. Led by Professor Michal Masternak, the team set out to understand what prolonged exposure to microgravity and cosmic radiation actually does to the body at a molecular level. Within just twenty four hours of radiation exposure, the liver showed a wave of genetic changes strikingly similar to those seen during the natural ageing process. The organ displayed increased cellular senescence, a state in which cells lose their normal function, alongside rising inflammation and fibrosis, changes that, left unchecked, can eventually push an organ toward failure. Masternak's team focused specifically on the liver because of its central role as one of the body's key metabolic organs, making it a particularly sensitive early indicator of wider physiological stress.

Entrepreneur and University of Central Florida alumnus Barry Miller has donated $50 million to his alma mater — its largest-ever individual philanthropic gift. UCF's business school will become the Barry S. Miller College of Business, while the funds will help establish five endowed faculty chairs and a new master's degree program, expand access to internships and increase UCF's corporate partnerships. Miller, who graduated from UCF in 1995 with a degree in finance, is the president and co-founder of Voloridge Investment Management in 2009 and Voloridge Health in 2023. He was inducted into the UCF College of Business Hall of Fame in 2022. "There are many foundational aspects I gained by attending UCF," Miller says, "including many relevant courses like statistics, economics, marketing, accounting, etc., and outside of the classroom I met many of the most important individuals in my life, including my wife, best friend and business partner, and many close friends."

A new forensic training and research lab has opened in Lake Nona, giving University of Central Florida students a chance to learn alongside working Florida Department of Law Enforcement scientists while supporting research into emerging substances. FDLE and UCF leaders said the space is the first co-located lab of its kind in Florida, designed to better prepare forensic science students for careers in crime labs and related fields. “It really lays out a more realistic expectation for them as they can see their future working in a crime lab or somewhere else,” said Olivia Glaze, a UCF student. Glaze said the hands-on training could also shorten the learning curve once students are hired full-time.

We usually don't think about all the things we touch and interact with every day, whether they're metal, plastic, or something else. But that's all a homegrown team of engineers does, as they turn plants into the next generation of tech and things you use every day. All that science happens inside a warehouse in Lake Nona, where the Soarce team creates something they hope changes the way things are made. "Cellulose is the most abundant polymer on the planet," CEO Derek Staltzman said. "It's actually found in the majority of biomass; trees, grasses, things like that." Co-founders Staltzman and Mason Mincey, who's also chief operating officer, learned about cellulose from books on material science in a library.