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Physics Professor on Good Day Orlando
University of Central Florida Physics Professor Dan Britt, Ph.D., was a special guest on FOX 35’s morning show, “Good Day Orlando,” on Friday morning, January 13. Britt, director of the Center for Lunar & Asteroid Surface Science at UCF , will help explore some of the oldest asteroids in the solar system thanks to a […]
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Professor’s Research Part of First Mission to Trojan Asteroids
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today University of Central Florida Physics Professor Dan Britt, Ph.D., will help explore some of the oldest asteroids in the solar system thanks to a new NASA mission. NASA, this month selected the Lucy mission, which will explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids for the first-time. The robotic spacecraft will also explore […]
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COS Celebrates Fall 2016 Grads
On Friday, December 16, 2016 the University of Central Florida’s College of Sciences celebrated more than 1,000 students graduating from the college. The college hosted its traditional graduation reception immediately following the afternoon ceremony for its graduates to celebrate with their faculty, friends and family. The event, held in the UCF Psychology Building, hosted more […]
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Physics Pegasus Professor’s International Appointments
Talat Rahman, Ph.D., Pegasus Professor in the University of Central Florida’s Department of Physics, has received several prestigious appointments in her field. Beginning in January 2017, Rahman will begin serving as a member of the Physical Sciences Directorate Advisory Committee at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. She will assess and provide advice on the […]
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Physics Professor’s Research Published in Science
Luca Argenti, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department Physics and College of Optics & Photonics at the University of Central Florida, has co-authored a research paper recently published in the prestigious journal “Science.” This work is the result of a large theoretical and experimental collaboration that came together in 2013 to address a long-standing conundrum […]
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UCF to Host Moon Viewing
Story by Bernard Wilchusky, UCF Today UCF’s Planetary Sciences Group will host a telescopic-viewing night of the moon in a new location Thursday, Dec. 8. For the first time, telescopes will be set up from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in front of Millican Hall near the Reflecting Pond. Hurricane Matthew interfered with the originally scheduled […]
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Lee Chow Inducted into NAI
Lee Chow, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida, was recently inducted into the university’s chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. Chow is one of 29 researchers at UCF inducted into the university’s new chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. Chow and colleagues were honored at a […]
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News and Views
Assistant Professor in the UCF Department of Physics Michael Chini, Ph.D., wrote a “News and Views” article for the academic journal “Nature” published on October 20, 2016. In his News and Views article, Chini highlights research on ultrafast electron dynamics in solid-state materials which was performed by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics. […]
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COS Faculty in National Academy of Inventors
Story by Barb Abney The University of Central Florida inducted 29 researchers into its new chapter of the National Academy of Inventors on Monday night in a gala focused on innovation and invention. Nine of these inductees are faculty or maintain a joint appointment in the UCF College of Sciences. The NAI membership has more […]
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UCF Physicist Observes Breakthrough
UCF physicist Madhab Neupane, Ph.D., led a group of international researchers to examine BiPd, discovering characteristics never seen before in the material. “These characteristics have the potential to be the first step in an entirely new field of electronics and technology,” explained Neupane, assistant professor in the Department of Physics. Neupane led the team of […]
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UCF Hosts Fourth STEM Day
By Julia Anderson On Friday, October 28, the University of Central Florida hosted 1,200 K-12 students on campus for its bi-annual STEM Day event. Students from 33 schools across Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Hernando, Brevard and Sumter counties participated in the event coordinated by the Center for Initiatives in STEM (iSTEM). Several home school groups attended […]
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UCF Team to Receive Revolutionary Microscope
The fastest detecting and most advanced electron microscope in the world is coming to the Department of Physics thanks to researchers at the University of Central Florida. The group researches properties within materials that could be used in a variety of fields from medicine to engineering. There is the potential of discovering novel ways to […]
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New Ways to Colonize Mars
Two researchers at the University of Central Florida were featured in an article published by The Atlantic titled ‘The Low-Tech Way to Colonize Mars.” The article focuses on the research conducted by Philip Metzger, Ph.D., an associate in planetary science research at the Florida Space Institute, and his team. Daniel Britt, Ph.D., professor in the Department of […]
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Physics Student Wins International Prize
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today One of the world’s leaders in liquid-display technology has selected a UCF project led by professor Debashis Chanda, Ph.D., and physics graduate student Daniel Franklin for its “2016 Displaying Futures Award.” The Germany-based company Merck selected UCF’s plasmatic full-color display project as its top pick from 30 others in […]
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UCF Physics Revamps Student Society
Twenty-five UCF undergraduate physics students gathered for the first Society of Physics Students (SPS) meeting of the fall semester. A once thriving chapter, UCF’s SPS has died down the past few years according to Conrad Troha, recently appointed chapter president. Troha, a UCF senior studying physics on the astronomy track, hopes to change this. “Our […]
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UCF Research Team Seeks to Improve Classroom Learning
Three University of Central Florida professors are teaming up to improve classroom learning for students who struggle with attention deficit disorder, autism and learning disabilities. The National Science Foundation awarded $300,000 to fund Project Adapting College Classrooms to Equally Support Science Students (ACCESSS), led by UCF professors Jacquelyn Chini, Ph.D., Cherie Yestrebsky, Ph.D., and Eleazar […]
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Research Team Discovers New Behavior of Friction
A group of physics students and their faculty advisor recently tested a theory that was thought untestable and observed an atomic behavior that had never been seen before. Their findings could mean big things for the future of friction and wear-reduction technologies. The team, advised by Masahiro Ishigami, Ph.D., associate professor of physics and nanoscience […]
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Physics Team’s Research Paper is Editor’s Pick
A UCF research team just had its paper on how to improve graduate student teaching methods chosen as an Editor’s Pick in “Physical Review.” The journal is the flagship series of the American Physical Society, the largest society of physicists in the U.S. Among its newest offerings, added in 2005, is an open access online […]
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Physics Professor Achieves Astronomic Dream
Story by By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today Humberto Campins grew up looking at the night sky and reading The Little Prince. The children’s story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is about a man who crashes his plane in the middle of the Sahara Desert. While he’s making repairs, a boy shows up. He is the […]
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Physics Professor Sheds Light on New Planet
The discovery of the new exoplanet Proxima Centauri b seems like a story out of a science fiction novel – maybe because it actually is. The plot of science fiction author Stephen Baxter’s 2015 book Proxima is about an expedition to the actual red dwarf star Proxima Centauri and the colonization of an Earth-sized planet […]
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The Distinguished Speaker Series is Back!
The UCF College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series is back with exciting new topics presented by renowned experts in their fields. This year’s 2016-17 series will be held monthly at Tuscawilla Country Club at 6:00pm, on the last Wednesday of each month, from September 2016 to April 2017 (excluding December). The Distinguished Speaker Series includes seven […]
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Physics Student Wins with Research
UCF Physics doctoral student Jenna Crowell was the winner of the best student poster award at the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) annual meeting this summer. Supported by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), Crowell attended the annual meeting in Beijing, China from July 31- August 5. Her presented poster won the top […]
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For the Love of Halley’s Comet
The beauty of Halley’s Comet streaking through the night sky in 1986 is responsible for launching Yan Fernandez, Ph.D.’s, career, which next month puts him smack in the middle of a historic NASA mission to explore a nearby asteroid. The University of Central Florida associate professor of physics is one of the scientists working on the […]
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Outstanding Physics AlumKnight
UCF Physics alumnus Howard Bender, Ph.D., ’98, has stayed connected to his alma mater in more ways than one. Most recently he was recognized as a 2016 College of Sciences Outstanding AlumKnight as well as founded an endowed scholarship in the UCF College of Nursing. Dr. Bender graduated from UCF in 1998 with a doctorate […]
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Physics Faculty Lead Conference
UCF Physics professor Daniel Britt, Ph.D., who was recently selected to take part in the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) New Horizons extended mission, continues to make waves in the world of physics. Most recently, he assisted in organizing the International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos hosted by NASA […]
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A Summer of STEM
This summer, UCF hosted its STEM Summer Institute (SI) camps for Central Florida middle and high school students. The STEM Summer Institute (SI) offers a mix of activities designed to maximize learning through hands-on, individualized instruction in an effort to provide science, technology, and math related summer opportunities to students. The SI currently offers camps in […]
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Dirt in Space
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today As NASA and private space companies look to explore other planets, they are turning to one of the world’s best dirt experts – UCF’s Phil Metzger. Metzger, who works at UCF’s Florida Space Institute, knows his dirt. He has wall to ceiling spice rack shelves in his office that […]
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UCF in CLASS of Its Own Studying Space
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today UCF has diligently and methodically been making a name for itself in the world of planetary exploration, and it’s beginning to pay off in big ways. Not only are two UCF professors part of the upcoming NASA OSIRIS-REx mission to collect asteroid samples – a first for the United […]
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UCF and the Next Space Frontier: Making the Case for Mars
Story by UCF Today Many feared the United States’ role in space exploration was over after an accident took the lives of a second space shuttle crew in 2003. After another long grounding of the shuttle fleet, flights restarted briefly but by 2011 the program was retired and no manned missions were on the horizon. […]
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Knights in Space
In the latest issue of UCF’s magazine, Pegasus, there are many stories focusing on UCF’s involvement with space. Many of these stories feature researchers from the UCF Physics Department. In the page One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for UCF, a timeline traces UCF’s history with space. From Citronaut, UCF’s first mascot in […]