UCF in the News

The University of Central Florida once again improved its standing among U.S. universities as an invention engine. UCF ranked 25th among public U.S. universities for patent production last year, with 46 patents awarded, according to the National Academy of Inventors & Intellectual Property Owners Association. The Orlando university improved from its spot at No. 29 in 2019. “We want to find the best licensee, the industry partner that really can get this technology out there and will commit the resources to develop the technology,” said Director of UCF’s Office of Technology Transfer Svetlana Shtrom. “Sometimes it’s an external company, sometimes it’s a startup.”

University of South Florida and University of Central Florida researchers are building a bridge — both literally and figuratively — with a transportation-technology-focused project. Rasim Guldiken and Necati Catbas, who represent USF and UCF respectively, have teamed up with Transtek International Group, hosted at the UCF business incubator. The entities will use their technology to monitor and collect data about the health of U.S. bridges. The eventual goal is to get a vehicle system that allows detection while driving, to avoid significant lane closures.

The University of Central Florida is one of two Florida schools given hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money, putting its researchers right on the front lines of the pandemic. Taj Azarian is leading the charge at UCF of tracking the spread of COVID-19, virus re-infection and vaccine breakthroughs. The research is a collaborative effort with the University of Florida through a $340,000 Rockefeller Foundation Award. "One of the things is really raising awareness in terms of the need for vaccination. Right now, it's really a race between the virus evolving or mutating and us getting vaccinations to as many people as we can in the community," Azarian said. "We're looking for instances of vaccine breakthrough, so somebody who may have received one of the vaccines and still get sick with COVID as well as re-infections."

UCF alumnus Alex Martins, CEO of the Orlando Magic, was selected as the new chair of the University of Central Florida Board of Trustees in a unanimous vote by his fellow board members Thursday. He will serve a two-year term as chair beginning July 1.

UCF Lake Nona Medical Center announced it is the first hospital in Central Florida to provide incision-less brain surgery to treat essential tremor and tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease unable to be controlled with medication.

Engineering students at the University of Central Florida created a custom ride-on car for Evan Schaefer, a boy with a rare genetic disorder. The car gives Evan a sense of independence and also helps with the development of his cognitive and motor functions.

Mackenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, on Tuesday donated $40 million each to two state universities in Florida that have a history of promoting social mobility and educating students from communities traditionally underserved by higher education. The University of Central Florida is one of them. The gift will help UCF toward its goal of becoming the world’s leading public metropolitan research university by funding faculty research and supporting programs that help students succeed, UCF President Alexander Cartwright said.

Pythons in the Everglades should be shaking in their skin. Researchers at the University of Central Florida are developing new technology to help hunters find this invasive snake. Special cameras developed at UCF make that job a lot easier by enhancing the contrast between the snakes and their surroundings in real-time. It essentially makes that snake pop out as bright against a dark background.

UCF held a UCF Remembers Pulse Vigil, where the university commemorated the 49 individuals who were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting. The names of the victims were read aloud during the ceremony. Speakers included UCF President Alexander Cartwright and Carlos Guillermo-Smith, a UCF alumnus and a state representative.