UCF in the News

Researchers at the University of Central Florida are working to design the next generation of space technology. From advanced propulsion systems to lunar landing pads, this technology could help expand our knowledge of the solar system and beyond. Some of the projects include improvements for interplanetary travel and better landing capabilities on extraterrestrial bodies.

If you were beaten and bullied as a child, if you lived for nine years in constant fear of being tortured or killed, if you and your family fled your home, losing everything, and were forced to live in a tent, would you call yourself “lucky”? Abraham Pizam does. For eight decades, Pizam — founding dean of UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management — did not speak publicly of the terror of his youth. In the big picture of things, he said, he didn’t think it mattered. After all, he survived. Six million Jews did not.

After a journey of nearly a million miles, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reached its final destination on Monday: orbiting the second Lagrange Point of the Earth. The L2 milestone was celebrated by scientists across the world, including at the Florida Space Institute, which is based at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, a planetary scientist at FSI, is leading an international team on one of the observation missions that will take place over the first year of Webb’s lifetime. Her team’s proposal for observation using the JWST was one of only 286 chosen by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) out of the more than 1,100 proposals sent in from 44 countries.

The University of Central Florida ranked No. 7 overall. UF and UCF also garnered high rankings for several online majors. UCF ranked No. 6 for online bachelor’s degrees in psychology and No. 8 for the online bachelor’s in business. It also ranked No. 8 for online bachelor’s programs for veterans and No. 9 for online master’s in criminal justice programs for veterans. Tom Cavanaugh, UCF vice provost of digital learning, also credited faculty for the high ratings. “They take the time and effort to create a positive, engaging learning environment for all of our online students and have helped distinguish UCF as a leader in digital learning,” he said in a statement.

Key players in Central Florida’s startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem spoke at Orlando Inno’s 2022 Startup Outlook panel on Jan. 20.Michael Weiss, associate director of research programs and services, University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program, said: “I work with a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of early-stage technology startups. What I've seen as a challenge is a well-rounded team. They either have a very talented technologist who is afraid of sales, or they have a business development person who can't develop their product. It is a real struggle. They turn to investors, but it's too early for them to invest. So it's a real chicken-and-egg scenario.”

When it comes to pandemic trends, the proof is in the numbers. Florida’s latest COVID status report shows improvement with the number of new cases plummeting last week compared to the week before. “We’re heading in the right direction,” said UCF epidemiologist Elena Cyrus. Cyrus said she is seeing the same pattern. She starts off every week with a COVID update call with the National Institutes of Health and said she is taking note of Florida’s improving new case positivity rate.

A UCF head coach is getting a chance to help the U.S. women’s national team in January. Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, the head coach of the UCF women’s soccer team, will serve as an assistant coach in the annual January training camp, according to a tweet from UCF. Roberts Sahaydak has been the head coach for the Knights since May 2013, according to ucfknights.com. Since then, the Knights have won four American Athletic Conference championships and earned four NCAA Tournament bids. Roberts Sahaydak has also been named the American Athletic Conference coach of the year three times.

The UCF women’s basketball team has been on a tear and is beginning to receive national recognition for its effort on the court. Following back-to-back home wins over Houston and then-No. 24 South Florida, the Knights (12-2, 4-0 AAC) were named the NCAA.com women’s basketball Team of the Week on Tuesday. Sitting atop the American Athletic Conference, UCF received 25 votes in the latest USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll and nine votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Schools are expanding app communication processes so students can access information anywhere, anytime, through text, portal messaging, and chatbots for the entire campus or targeted groups—with options to opt-in or out of specific features, improving student control over the communication they receive. Ryan Seilhamer, assistant director of mobile strategy and innovation at the University of Central Florida states, “Creating better access to data, making it easier to discover relevant campus experiences, and offering open and transparent communication is something we have to continue to grow in 2022.”