UCF in the News

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, WMFE’s Joe Byrnes, who covers aging, sat down to talk about romance with two University of Central Florida experts on counseling and relationships. John Super who teaches counseling and Sejal Barden, Executive Director of the Marriage and Family Research Institute, say there are plenty of tips young people can learn from senior citizens about enduring relationships. And whether you’re a senior in high school or a senior citizen, the key is finding ways to connect and to understand each other.

The world’s first optical oscilloscope – an ultrafast device for measuring the electric field of light – has been constructed by researchers at the University of Central Florida. The new instrument works by converting light oscillations into electrical signals and could help advance communication technologies.

It’s a tough time to be a teacher, and a tough time to be a college student, too. These circumstances are squeezing the university programs that train future teachers. The challenge of attracting students into and graduating them from education departments at colleges predates the pandemic, experts say, and yet the pressures of the past two years have worsened the situation at some institutions. At UCF’s undergrad program to train special-education teachers, there’s a special agreement with local school leaders that benefits both UCF students and K-12 schools. UCF students are helping fill the shortage of substitute teachers – giving them the real-world experience they need while earning their degrees and helping alleviate stress off local schools at the same time.

Michael Richardson, a Navy veteran and UCF senior, is helping his fellow veterans get access to school supplies. He launched the UCF Supply Vault for Veteran Success, where veteran students can get supplies for free such as noise-canceling headphones and keyboards. He has been spreading word of the vault at the Veterans Academic Resource Center, which is available to assist the 1,400 student veterans at UCF.

Noemi Pinilla Alonso, a planetary scientist at the Florida Space Institute based at UCF, is one of the few hundred scientists who will have the first opportunity to access the information provided by the James Webb Space Telescope. Scientists will use the telescope to find new galaxies, explore star formation and better understand the physical and chemical properties of stars and planetary systems, including our own.

Black women in America are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy related cause than white women, and maternal mortality is just one health disparity that researchers and doctors are working to understand. The pandemic highlighted health disparities, such as access to prevention and care, but it also showed how disparities could be mended. Joining Intersection are three people who are looking into the causes of health disparities and solutions, including Dr. Saleh Rahman, professor of medicine and co-director of the Focused Inquiry & Research Experience program at UCF’s College of Medicine. Rahman says it’s critical to give the next generation of medical students the training they need to help overcome health disparities. “I believe our future physicians can not only make a difference in their own practices, but become an advocate for change,” he says.

With the Space Coast in our backyard, researchers at the University of Central Florida are hard at work developing the next generation of space technology. One of those projects focuses on hypersonic propulsion. Kareem Ahmed is a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor. His team is working on propelling rockets at speeds even faster than sound. “This is Mach 5 inside. Outside, the vehicle will be flying at Mach 6 to Mach 17,” Ahmed said. They are working to get people to outer space much faster and reduce emissions along the way with one-of-a-kind technology. “It’s a supernova-like explosion that you’re harvesting the energy that are coming out of it to propel you forward,” he said.

The University of Central Florida and Disney are teaming up for an exclusive job recruitment event. It comes at a time when our entire hospitality industry is desperate for new workers. “Labor force shortages, you know, that is the situation we are still dealing with,” said Youcheng Wang, dean of UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management. It’s one of the reasons the UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management is holding its student and alumni recruitment event Wednesday with Walt Disney World. Not only is Disney the largest employer in Central Florida, it employs the most UCF hospitality management graduates.

A partnership between UCF and NASA is helping students launch their career with Kennedy Space Center. As a kid, Bryce Frase looked at the moon through a telescope — hoping to work in the aerospace industry. “NASA was the big dream that I never thought would happen.” After serving in the military, Frase enrolled at UCF, studying electrical engineering. In his first semester, he heard about NASA’s Pathway Program — a paid internship program awarded to current university students to work in federal agencies while also studying in school. NASA says 385 students have gone through the program since its creation back in 2013. Frase graduated last month, and is now employed full time at Kennedy Space Center. Since March of last year, NASA has added 52 interns to the program, with another 16 starting this month. UCF says around 30 percent of Kennedy Space Center employees are UCF alumni.