NSTC News
June 2022
Another Record Year for UCF — 8 NSF CAREER Award Winners
The recipients are engineers who work with interdisciplinary teams to solve tech and health problems.
May 2022
'Brain-on-a-Chip' Technology Advances Toward a New Form of Drug Screening
Brain-on-a-chip simulated models hold the potential to revolutionize and accelerate the way new drugs are discovered.
April 2022
UCF Researchers Create Brain-like Devices to Enable AI in Remote Regions and Space
Researchers at the University of Central Florida are developing new devices that will allow artificial intelligence (AI) to work from anywhere, without connecting to the internet.
March 2022
UCF Researchers Are Part of New Multi-million-dollar Awards from U.S. Department of Defense
The new funding will support projects that range from advancing hypersonic propulsion to improving semiconductor performance.
UCF Researcher to Collaborate with MIT on DARPA Night-vision Project
NanoScience and Physics Professor Michael Leuenberger will help develop lighter night-vision goggles than current models that weigh 2 pounds.
Former Nano Student Awarded 2022 Order of the Pegasus
Twenty-six students — ranging in disciplines from engineering to biology to education and others across the institution — have been named as 2021-22 recipients of the Order of Pegasus, UCF’s most prestigious student award for those who display incredible academic achievement, university involvement, leadership and community service.
UCF and NASA Researchers Design Charged ‘Power Suits’ for Electric Vehicles and Spacecraft
The lightweight, supercapacitor-battery hybrid composite material provides power and is as strong as steel.
January 2022
UCF Student Nanotech Team Designs Space Suit Material for NASA Competition
The team’s new design, which uses the microstructure of bee hair to simulate the capture and release of pollen, helped them secure an award.
UCF Researcher Leads $1.5 Million DARPA Project to Improve Night Vision, Space Exploration and Healthcare Diagnostics
The research aims to develop a system that will enable more powerful and less expensive infrared imaging for night vision, space exploration and healthcare diagnostics.
New Funding Will Help UCF Researcher Develop Nanotech to Detect Animal-borne Diseases
The research aims to close the gap between state-of-the-art nanotechnology and technology currently available for tracking potential threats from animals.
December 2021
UCF Researchers’ Ethanol Fuel Cells Offer New Alternative to Power Cars, Technology
An ethanol fuel cell produces less emissions and uses less fuel than combustion engines, doesn’t require recharging like battery-powered technology, and may offer an alternative to hydrogen fuel cells.
UCF Researchers Develop Rapid, Highly Accurate Test to Detect Viruses like COVID-19
Researchers say the device can tell with 95% percent accuracy if someone has a virus, a significant improvement over current rapid tests.
September 2021
UCF Researchers Create Water-repellent Nanomaterial Inspired by Nature
The novel superhydrophobic coating, which can potentially be used to create more efficient fuel cells and sensitive toxic gas detectors, can keep materials dry for longer and at greater depths.
Long-lasting Disinfectant Promises to Help Fight Pandemics
An alum and several researchers at UCF have used nanotechnology to develop the cleaning agent, which protects against seven viruses for up to seven days.
August 2021
UCF Awarded $800,000 Grant to Establish Center on Materials Research and Education
Materials research is of national interest because it promises to address many challenges from quantum communications to energy generation.
Elizabeth Barrios selected to win the Space Generation Leadership Award
One of the main missions of Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is to facilitate access to the world’s major space conferences for young professionals and students. The Space Generation Leadership Award enables five outstanding SGAC members to attend the 19th Space Generation Congress and the 72nd International Astronautical Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
July 2021
UCF Researchers Develop New Nanomaterial to Derive Clean Fuel from the Sea
The material offers the high performance and stability needed for industrial-scale electrolysis, which could produce a clean energy fuel from seawater.
UCF’s Modern(a) Man
In late December 2020, Darin Edwards ’97 ’10MS ’11PhD was in the middle of another marathon work day from his home office in Boston when he received a text message from his sister in Orlando.
UCF College of Sciences Researchers Join Project to Fight Animal-borne Diseases
The goal is to gain a deeper understanding of zoonotic threats, which may include COVID-19, in order to better respond to them.
NSTC student’s paper won BEST POSTER at IEEE Transducers 2021
A paper presented by Ms. Julia Freitas Orrico, a M.S. Nanotechnology student who is also the first author of this paper just won the BEST POSTER award at the recently concluded virtual meeting, IEEE Transducers 2021 (https://transducers2021.org).
