UCF in the News

A UCF alumna and two UCF researchers have created a disinfectant that can continuously kill viruses on a surface for up to seven days. “My group has been working on nanotechnology for almost 20 years now, and we have developed a lot of materials,” said Sudipta Seal, UCF professor of bacterial science and engineering. “And we started thinking that if we could modify them or engineer them, make them eco-friendly, can you really look into killing pathogens?”

UCF is part of a new coalition of more than 60 public and private organizations charging forward to address the electric transportation market and infrastructure challenges in the Southeast region of the U.S.

In this Q&A with members of the University of Central Florida physics bridge program team, students and faculty talk about bridge programs and the extra support they offer students to strengthen their training in preparation for a PhD program. Bridge programs have developed academic, research, and more holistic mentoring communities to support the needs of students with high potential and help them develop the foundation for a successful career in STEM.

A team of University of Central Florida researchers is helping people who live in downtown Orlando learn more about the air they’re breathing. After waiting out a pandemic delay, the plan is underway to install 100 sensors in neighborhoods across downtown. It took less than 10 minutes for the team to install its most recent solar-powered sensor, one of three installed this week and the 17th so far for the study. “We can make a lot of them so we can basically deploy a lot, and (at) a lot of locations, so we can take a look at the comparison among different places,” said UCF researcher Dr. Haofei Yu. The sensors are now compiling data, and by the end of the year they’ll be sending it to an app that gives residents direct access to the quality of the air where they live. “Then we’ll be able to see, hopefully, some real differences in attitude, in values, and air quality in the city of Orlando,” said UCF researcher Dr. Thomas Bryer.

Execs from Electronic Arts, Luminar, and Stax told Insider that Orlando's big talent pool made it easier for them to recruit in the area. "We have all these great colleges that are literally in our backyard," Suneera Madhani, founder of Orlando-based SME payments platform Stax, said. These include the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, and Valencia College. Electronic Arts vice-president Daryl Holt said its Orlando studios had more than 850 employees - some from the area, including many UCF graduates, and some who relocated.

A small veteran-owned business at the University of Central Florida Incubator has been working in virtual and augmented reality for military training for the last seven years. Serious Simulations’ latest invention could revolutionize how soldiers train on using and protecting themselves from hand grenades on the battlefield. At the company, workers take real life weapons that our military uses on the battlefield, such as guns and rocket launchers, and integrate electronics and technology so that soldiers can train without getting hurt.

Ravenswood Solutions Inc., a training contractor, in April opened an office and lab in UCF’s Research Park Business Incubator. The company will hire up to 12 people with salaries from $65,000 to $120,000 by summer 2023. The California-based company is the latest simulation and training company to establish a presence in Research Park, the center of Orlando’s $6 billion modeling, simulation and training industry. The company plans to tap into UCF graduates for many of its upcoming jobs.

A new website called Togetherall is helping University of Central Florida students connect to peer support groups around mental health topics from suicide to depression. WMFE spoke with UCF’s Dr. Karen Hofmann about the website and how it’s a free and low-risk way for students to get the help they need this semester.

The University of Central Florida has rolled out a campaign to get students to "Armor up" and get "Vacci-Knighted" — that's a play on the name of UCF's sports teams, the Knights.