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Pegasus Professor Accepted Into National Academy of Engineering
More than 30 years in the lab advancing our understanding of lasers recently earned Pegasus Professor Peter Delfyett, Ph.D., one of the highest recognitions in his industry: membership in the National Academy of Engineering. While there are other NAE members on UCF’s faculty, this is the first membership earned from work completed at the university […]
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NASA Selects UCF Honeybee-inspired Spacesuit Material Design for Further Development
NASA has selected a University of Central Florida nanotechnology team as one of seven university groups from around the country tasked with developing ways to stop the negative effects of moon dust during lunar missions. The selection, which was announced recently, is part of a year-long initiative known as the Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge, […]
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A UCF Aerospace Engineering Student Has Out-of-This World Dreams
Jillian Gloria of Orlando has always been inspired by space exploration, and as a junior pursuing aerospace engineering at UCF she has held multiple research positions and worked with industry as she prepares to someday become an astronaut. Her most recent project came out of her involvement with UCF physics Assistant Professor William Kaden’s Research […]
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UCF Society of Physics Students Awarded the 2019-2020 Outstanding Chapter
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL UCF’s Society of Physics Students (SPS) Chapter has received the 2019-2020 Outstanding Chapter — the highest possible distinction. The Outstanding Chapter Award recognizes high levels of outreach, as well as unique approaches to fulfilling the mission of SPS: “help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community.” “SPS has […]
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UCF Satellite Launches Successfully into Space from Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Rocket
University of Central Florida planetary science continues its ascent as a leader in space research with another high-profile flight, this time aboard Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne, which was blasted into orbit Sunday from the company’s 747 carrier aircraft, Cosmic Girl. The launch took place at 10:50 a.m. at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. […]
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UCF Faculty Collaborate to Provide Students Free Course Materials
Textbooks and other required course materials can add significantly to the cost of a college degree, and UCF faculty are doing what they can to help. During the Fall 2020 semester, at least 31 faculty members provided their required course materials at no cost to students through the use of open educational resources (OER). These […]
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UCF Developed Sensor Passes First Test, On Track for Future Moon Missions
A prototype sensor that detects Moon dust by shooting lasers through the sky has successfully completed its first hurdle. That means UCF is one step closer to building the real instrument that could fly to the moon on a future mission. UCF researchers designed the Ejecta STORM instrument to scan the area around a lunar […]
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Rare Bethlehem Star, Geminids and More Delight Stargazers this Month
Stargazers are in for a very rare treat on Monday. If the clouds cooperate, they’ll be able to see the “Bethlehem Star” — an event that hasn’t been seen in about 800 years. The moniker applies to the Christian description of the “Bethlehem” or “Christmas Star” that was said to have appeared in the night […]
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UCF Researchers Earn Top Spots in Their Fields in New Ranking of Scientific Impact
Three University of Central Florida researchers are among the world’s top 25 scholars in their field, and 100 are in the top 2%, according to a new study ranking career-long scientific impact of researchers from around the globe. The study, which appeared recently in the journal PLOS Biology, used a composite indicator based on six […]
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Research Paves the Way for Next Generation of High-Speed Wireless Communication
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL While the rest of the world is preparing devices for the advent of ultrafast, 5G wireless service, one UCF physicist has already set his sights on 10G. Today’s network speeds have evolved at an incredible pace, but they’re still grounded in the same fundamental radio wave technology that was used, for instance, […]
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Founder of UCF Nanoscience Center Inducted Into National Academy of Inventors
Founding Director and Professor of the UCF Nanoscience Technology Center, James J. Hickman, Ph.D., has been honored as an inductee of the National Academy of Inventors for his outstanding contributions in the fields of both biological and non-biological nanoscience. UCF recruited Hickman in 2004 to establish the NanoScience Technology Center following recognition for his work […]
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President Cartwright Returns For Second Tour of Department of Physics
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL UCF President Alexander Cartwright, Ph.D., and First Lady Melinda Cartwright recently toured the Department of Physics for a second time, with a focus on the research laboratories. Leading the Nov. 13 tour was Department Chair Eduardo Mucciolo, Ph.D., along with students and faculty who shared details of their research with the Cartwrights. […]
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New Book Provides Lifeline for Students Learning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL Students interested in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) now have another good reference book to help them get started: the Fundamentals of Recoupling and Decoupling Techniques in Solid-State NMR. The book by Physics Associate Professor Physics faculty Bo Chen, Ph.D., was just published by the American Institute of Physics, LLC (AIP). The book […]
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UCF Researcher Part of New NASA Mission to Map Water on Moon
NASA today gave a team of researchers the green light to begin building instruments that will be launched on a satellite to scan and create high-resolution maps of water on the moon. In June 2019, NASA selected the Lunar Trailblazer mission, along with three other proposed missions, for further study under its Small Innovative Missions […]
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Arecibo Observatory’s Telescope Collapses
The instrument platform of the 305-meter telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico fell at approximately 7:55 a.m. Puerto Rico time today, Dec. 1. No injuries were reported as a result of the collapse, but it caused damage to the observatory dish and surrounding facilities. Extent of the damage is being assessed. “Safety of personnel […]
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Research Takes Early Steps Toward Handheld Cancer-Scanning Device
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL A handheld device that could allow individuals to screen themselves for cancer is one potential outcome of ongoing research into the power of terahertz lasers. The work comes from the lab of Richard Klemm, Ph.D.,in collaboration with the Kadowaki-Kashiwagi-Tsujimoto and Minami groups at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. They recently published […]
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Arecibo Observatory Telescope to be Decommissioned After Second Cable Break
Following a review of engineering assessments, the U.S. National Science Foundation today announced it will begin planning the controlled decommissioning of the 1,000-foot-wide telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The observatory, which UCF manages for NSF under a cooperative agreement, has for 57 years served as a world-class resource for radio astronomy and […]
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A Second Cable Fails at NSF’s Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico
A main cable that supports the Arecibo Observatory broke Friday at 7:39 p.m. Puerto Rico time. Unlike the auxiliary cable that failed at the same facility on Aug. 10, this main cable did not slip out of its socket. It broke and fell onto the reflector dish below, causing additional damage to the dish and […]
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UCF Professor Briefs Planetary Sciences Community about NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission During Conference
UCF physics Professor Humberto Campins is today (Thursday, Oct. 29) giving the science community a look at the evolving OSIRIS-REx mission to collect an asteroid sample and return it to earth. Astronomers and other scientists from around the world are attending the 52nd annual Division of Planetary Sciences meeting to learn and discuss the latest […]
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McKnight Fellowship Aids Research on Defining Science Success
A Physics graduate student is redefining what success looks like with the help of minority academics and the McKnight Dissertation Fellowship. Brian Zamarripa Roman traces his fascination with the cosmos to childhood, but it was only recently that he noticed the lack of representation in the scientific community — specifically, scientists who looked like him. […]
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OSIRIS REx Ready to for Touch-n-Go Maneuver on Tuesday, Oct. 20
Four years after it launched, NASA’s OSIRIS REx NASA mission is closing in on its big day. On Oct. 20, the spacecraft is scheduled to complete its touch-and-go move to collect a sample of asteroid Bennu. University of Central Florida Physics Professor and asteroid expert Humberto Campins is counting down the days. He is part […]
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3 UCF Researchers Part of Nature Astronomy Articles Chronicling Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy
To understand the significance of the Spitzer Space Telescope on the understanding of our solar system, think of what the steam engine meant for the industrial revolution. A national team of scientists today published in the journal Nature Astronomy two papers that provide an inventory of the major discoveries made possible thanks to Spitzer and […]
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Physics Alumna Named Interim Dean At Connecticut Community College
Fatma Salman’s journey in physics starts with dismantling battery-powered devices as a child and leads up to her recent appointment as interim dean of academic and student affairs at Manchester Community College (MCC) in Connecticut. Along the way, she raised five children, picked up two master’s degrees, a doctorate degree and became a U.S. citizen. […]
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Telecomms Pioneer Recognized With Prestigious Schawlow Award
Video conferencing has kept the remote workplace humming during this year’s pandemic, and it was made possible through the work of researchers like Peter Delfyett, Ph.D., the 2021 winner of the prestigious Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Sciences. Specifically, Delfyett, a Pegasus Professor of optics and photonics, studies the application of semiconductor lasers to […]
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Asteroid Bennu Continues to Surprise Scientists
If UCF physics Professor Humberto Campins was a betting man, he should run out and play the lottery. The planetary scientist, who is an international expert on asteroids, predicted a finding from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu — remnants of another asteroid scattered across its surface. The spacecraft took images and made observations of […]
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UCF Researcher to Build a System that Identifies Habitable Planets Based on the Color They Emit
Only a handful of the roughly 4,000 identified planets outside our solar system can potentially support human life — what experts call “habitable exoplanets” — but astronomers are certain there are many more. The best candidates were found when they crossed in front of the star they orbit. A silhouette is hard to analyze for […]
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UCF Researcher Awarded NASA Grant to Study Little Understood trans-Neptunian Objects
Florida Space Institute Planetary Scientist Estela Fernández-Valenzuela has been awarded a $315,700 NASA grant to use modern day technology to analyze one of the oldest and least understood objects of our solar system. The first trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) — objects that orbit the Sun beyond Neptune — was discovered more than 25 years ago. Some […]
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New Equipment Expands Testing Capacity of REACT Cluster
By WILLIAM KADEN, PH.D. An interdisciplinary team of faculty led by Physics Assistant Professor William Kaden, Ph.D. has received funding to bring a new piece of equipment to UCF’s Materials Characterization Facility (MCF). The state-of-the-art Near-Ambient Pressure Xray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) apparatus – the only of its kind in the southeast U.S. – is made […]
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Semi-Metal Research Earns Physics Assistant Professor First NSF Career Grant
Physics Assistant Professor Yasuyuki Nakajima, Ph.D, has received his first National Science Foundation CAREER grant for research on semi-metal materials with characteristics of nematic superconductivity. “We are exploring materials that could potentially revolutionize information technology,” said Nakajima. “I formed the hypothesis that an unusual superconducting state called nematic superconductivity could be a key research ingredient […]
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Broken Cable Damages Arecibo Observatory
One of the auxiliary cables that helps support a metal platform in place above the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, broke on Monday (Aug. 10) causing a 100-foot-long gash on the telescope’s reflector dish. Operations at the UCF-managed observatory are stopped until repairs can be made. The break occurred about 2:45 a.m. When the three-inch […]