{"id":150232,"date":"2025-12-09T13:02:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=150232"},"modified":"2025-12-09T16:15:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T21:15:41","slug":"ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Graduates Prove to Be STEM Talent Real-World Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Bassett wants to use his UCF engineering and medical training to create better surgical instruments. Melissa Deinys is a graduating Knight who is helping save Florida\u2019s mangroves.<\/p>\n<p>The two are among 6,000 undergraduate, master\u2019s and Ph.D. students who will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucfs-fall-2025-commencement-set-for-dec-12-13\/\">graduate from UCF<\/a> Dec. 12-13.<\/p>\n<p>Bassett and Deinys, both Florida natives, credit UCF with instilling in them a spirit of scientific discovery and a passion to use their love of science to help others.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150236\" style=\"max-width: 1200px;\" class=\"figure float-left\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img size-full wp-image-150236 img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College.jpg\" alt=\"White male wearing blue blazer and white dress shirt stands in SVAD lobby\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img size-full wp-image-150236 img-fluid lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"White male wearing blue blazer and white dress shirt stands in SVAD lobby\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College-360x240.jpg 360w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Michael-Bassett-UCF-Burnett-Honors-College.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">A Burnett Honors College Scholar, Michael Bassett completed multiple internships at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Transforming Healthcare Through Tech<\/h2>\n<p>Bassett will graduate with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-begins-double-degree-engineering-biomedical-sciences-pre-med\/\">medicine-engineering<\/a> double degree in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/molecular-and-cellular-biology-bs\/\">molecular and cellular biology<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/mechanical-engineering-bsme\/\">mechanical engineering<\/a>. The degree program, one of UCF\u2019s most challenging, recognizes that the future of healthcare is in technology, and the workforce needs trained professionals who can understand both the biology of disease and the engineering principles to create new healthcare solutions.<\/p>\n<p>The double major requires 163 credit hours and a lot of time management skills. With back-to-back engineering and biomedical sciences labs as part of his routine, Bassett jokes he could actually feel his mind transform as he walked from one classroom to the next to absorb and process two vastly different topics.<\/p>\n<p>While at UCF Bassett completed multiple internships at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/college\/burnett-honors-college\/\">Burnett Honors College<\/a> scholar, he served as a teaching assistant and a chemistry undergraduate lab researcher.<\/p>\n<p>Bassett says UCF helped him understand the medical \u201cwhys\u201d of the medical engineering he creates and wants to go into an industry that will allow him to design and test better medical tools that can make surgery less invasive, more efficient and safer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith my training, I know the what and the why,\u201d he says. \u201cI can use that knowledge to solve more medical problems. I hope I can help my colleagues understand why something is happening in the body.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150237\" style=\"max-width: 1200px;\" class=\"figure float-left\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img size-full wp-image-150237 img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves.jpg\" alt=\"Woman wearing red long sleeve shirt and tan pants sits in front of green plants in lab\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img size-full wp-image-150237 img-fluid lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Woman wearing red long sleeve shirt and tan pants sits in front of green plants in lab\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves-360x240.jpg 360w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/Melissa-Deinys-UCF-mangroves.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Through her research at UCF, Melissa Deinys helped create a sustainable nutrient to help protect Florida mangroves against a pathogen she discovered in high school. The product has been approved for use across Florida, and Deinys hopes it will soon receive EPA clearance for use nationwide.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Making Florida\u2019s Mangroves More Resilient<\/h2>\n<p>Born in Miami, Deinys knew science was her passion at an early age while attending a STEM-focused middle and high school. During an internship at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, she discovered a pathogen that was threatening to kill Florida mangroves.<\/p>\n<p>Later, in collaboration with the Marine Resources Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Florida\u2019s Indian River Lagoon, they determined that 80% of the mangroves they had sampled tested positive for at least one of the pathogens.<\/p>\n<p>Through her research at UCF, she helped create a nutrient of magnesium and sulfur nanoparticles called \u201cMag Sun\u201d (MgSuN) that acts like an antimicrobial solution while helping nourish the plant. Mag Sun is also sustainable so it\u2019s safe for the environment. The product, which reduced pathogens by 95%, has now been approved for use across Florida, and Deinys hopes it will soon receive EPA clearance for use nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI grew up in South Florida and developed a deep love for the beach and coast,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I knew something was happening to my mangroves. I\u2019m committed to the community I\u2019m from and I want to help people \u2013 that\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As an undergraduate, she was lead research assistant in an agricultural artificial intelligence effort between UCF and Cornell University and UCF\u2019s Material Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Lab. She also served as an Office of Undergraduate Research peer mentor and has presented her research at conferences across the state and nation.<\/p>\n<p>An Order of Pegasus honoree, Deinys will stay at UCF to earn her Ph.D. in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/chemistry-phd\/\">chemistry<\/a> with a specialization in nanoscience. She said her goal is to be a \u201cjack-of-all-trades,\u201d in science because she\u2019s excited by too many opportunities to use her inquisitive mind to solve real-world problems. As she speaks from her lab office filled with plants, she says she wants to use her love of agriculture to help find ways to link plant life and space travel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet two students who say UCF inspired them to pursue scientific discovery and innovation to solve problems in medicine and Florida\u2019s coastal habitats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":150235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[54523,5,24],"tags":[54822,838,973,979,982,1004,2876,3538],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-150232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-colleges","category-science-technology","tag-burnett-honor-college","tag-chemistry","tag-college-of-engineering-and-computer-science","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-commencement","tag-lockheed-martin","tag-order-of-pegasus"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UCF Graduates Prove to Be STEM Talent Real-World Needs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meet two students who say UCF inspired them to pursue scientific discovery and innovation to solve problems in medicine and Florida\u2019s coastal habitats.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Graduates Prove to Be STEM Talent Real-World Needs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet two students who say UCF inspired them to pursue scientific discovery and innovation to solve problems in medicine and Florida\u2019s coastal habitats.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T18:02:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T21:15:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/grad-cap-ucf-pegasus.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenna Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jenna Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jenna Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bbcb2bbfa580f27936bd841c70479c63\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Graduates Prove to Be STEM Talent Real-World Needs\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T18:02:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-09T21:15:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":716,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-graduates-prove-to-be-stem-talent-real-world-needs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/grad-cap-ucf-pegasus.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Burnett Honor College\",\"chemistry\",\"College of Engineering and Computer Science\",\"College of Medicine\",\"College of Sciences\",\"Commencement\",\"Lockheed Martin\",\"Order of Pegasus\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Academics\",\"Colleges &amp; 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