UCF in the News

Engage in science, technology, engineering and math subjects at the Orlando Science Center this weekend. There will be multiple workshops, demonstrations and exhibits for all ages, presented by the University of Central Florida Office of Research.

The Orlando Economic Partnership honored two longtime Orlando education leaders Thursday night. Retired Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins '83 '86MEd '96EdD and retired Valencia College president Sandy Shugart received James B. Greene Awards during the partnership’s annual dinner at Steinmetz Hall in downtown Orlando

Blasting the surface of the Moon with microwaves could help humans colonize the lunar surface. Getting construction equipment to the Moon is no easy feat – so scientists have developed a mind-bending workaround.

It can be a battle out there between people and Florida’s myriad invasive species. Work is underway to come up with creative and new ways to efficiently locate and remove invasive creatures.

Orange County leaders are working with UCF Global and Rosen Hotels & Resorts to provide free English class to associates. The students are Spanish and Haitian-Creole speakers. "By the end of the course, you have to say be quiet because they want to talk, talk, talk," said Gloria Palacio, Instructor for the EPIC Program with UCF. But, the class is not just for the love of learning. For many, it's a necessity.

As rescue workers in Turkey and Syria continue to find survivors from the earthquake, some Central Florida students are coming together to show their support. So far, the estimate is more than 23,000 people were killed in the earthquake. There are students on the UCF campus who know people who have been impacted and some of them were their close friends. While they're leaning on each other for comfort, they're planning to host a fundraiser to spread awareness.

Orlando colleges and universities want to double down on partnerships with employers to meet a growing gap of workers for jobs. In Florida, there are 155,980 candidates versus 391,286 job openings, or 0.4 candidates per job opening, according to Employ Florida. For metro Orlando, that market is slightly better, with 44,856 candidates for 51,493 job openings, or 0.87 per job. Colleges and universities are among the largest providers of trained workforce in the Orlando region.

Sean Snaith expects an economic slowdown in Orlando and beyond, but he’s not sure when it will start. The director for the UCF Institute for Economic Forecasting highlighted a potential recession during a Feb. 1 event at Orlando’s Citrus Club. His talk was the year’s first in Dean’s Speaker Series, which features UCF College of Business faculty delivering a fast-paced, timely TED-Talk-style presentation on an aspect of their research. Snaith has been projecting a “pasta bowl-shaped” U.S. recession, where over the period of a year, the nation gradually will enter and exit an economic downturn.