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LifeLens application has success in its blood
A UCF graduate, along with a team of students, decided to come up with a new use for his smart phone: a virtual microscope. After developing an application to detect malaria from a digital snapshot, Team LifeLens placed third at Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2011 on July 13, a worldwide competition that gives students a chance to demonstrate a truly […]
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Students create film about fame
A team of UCF film school students and graduates began shooting a feature-length film titled 15 Minutes of Faye in Bradenton, Fla. this week. Once completed, the low-budget production, which is part of writer and director Joshua Ingle’s master’s thesis, is to be submitted to film festivals worldwide with hopes of gaining recognition from a film distribution […]
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Pushing past the world of prejudice
It occurred to me the other day that the mindset others have about people with disabilities might be antiquated. We are now in 2011, and the disabled population has overcome many obstacles since the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are not a population that is taking up space or sucking up taxpayer […]
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Student shares her Washington experience
Junior psychology major Amirica Nicholson spent the last two months in Washington, D.C., as a congressional intern for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. As an intern, Nicholson listens to hearings on government topics, responds to calls from constituents and keeps up with current political events. The Central Florida Future had the opportunity to speak to Nicholson […]
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Students become botanists for a day at the local zoo
The animal division of Volunteer UCF took their first trip to the zoo and became botanists for the day to help maintain the environment for the zoo’s wildlife. “We have a very diverse group of people,” Chelsea Balkam, director of the animal unit of VUCF, said. “Everyone is doing different majors, studying different things, but just love animals.” The 10 […]
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Professor seeks to fill knowledge gap
A UCF professor is in the midst of helping to develop a national database of self-learning modules to teach medical students how to treat patients with mental illnesses. “Let’s say a student gets through a psychiatry clerkship and never sees a case of dementia,” said Dr. Martin Klapheke, professor of psychiatry and co-chair of the Clinical Simulation Initiative […]
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UCF makes donation to Cardin Home
The Concerned Taxi Drivers Foundation (CTDF) in collaboration with the University of Central Florida (UCF) did great deeds today (July 20) with not one but two donations of linens to both the Cardin Home and the JNF General Hospital. The first stop was the Cardin Home where members of the CTDF and UCF gathered and […]
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Board of Trustees elects new leaders
Two University of Central Florida alumni and longtime supporters are the new leaders of the UCF Board of Trustees. Trustees elected Michael J. Grindstaff to serve a two-year term as chair of the board on Thursday and Trustee Olga Calvet to a two-year term as vice chair. Grindstaff, of Winter Park, is a partner in […]
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Student help animals and receive real-world practice
As long as Samantha Hynes has a watermelon in hand, Koko, a rescued emu, will strut toward the fence intently. On other days, Hynes lets a baby possum, mostly blind and in poor health, loose from his cage to play in the grass. Hynes and six other University of Central Florida students are spending their […]
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Alumni open spacious downtown bistro
Kyle Israel experienced plenty of success during his four-year tenure as a quarterback for the UCF football team, leading the team to its first conference championship. Now, he looks to find similar success in the business world, along with partners Travis Barr and Carey Sobel, by opening the American bistro, Terrace 390, in the heart […]
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Program helps future female leaders
The University of Central Florida’s Young Women Leaders Program has received the 2011 Donna Allen Award for Feminist Advocacy. The Donna Allen Award recognizes women or groups who demonstrate feminist advocacy through media activism by promoting the rights and freedoms of women and minorities across the world. Donna Allen founded the Women’s Institute for Freedom […]
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Grad gains shot at $1 million
A UCF alumnus has a 1-in-25 shot at a million dollars. Chris Yarn, who graduated in 2005 with a degree in communications, entered the Gain “Smell Like a Million Bucks” contest on Facebook just a few days before the July 7 deadline. Contestants were required to film a 60-second or less video and say “I […]
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Save the date: Summer Commencement is Aug. 6
More than 3,200 University of Central Florida students are expected to graduate during two commencement ceremonies Saturday, Aug. 6 at the UCF Arena. The anticipated graduates include 2,593 who filed intents to receive bachelor’s degrees, 546 for master’s degrees, three for education specialist degrees, 10 for educational doctoral degrees and 82 for doctoral degrees. The […]
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Psychiatry modules win national award
The UCF College of Medicine’s participation in developing a national database of online instruction in psychiatry helped win the 2011 “Outstanding Innovation in Medical Education Poster Award” from the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP.) Dr. Martin Klapheke, Professor of Psychiatry at the College of Medicine, and Co-Chair of the Clinical […]
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VP honored by international optics center
UCF’s vice president for research & commercialization has been honored by one of the world’s foremost independent optical science research centers for his integral role in establishing and supporting the organization. M.J. Soileau, who served as the first director of UCF’s Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) before being named vice […]
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UCF alumna writes new book
UCF alum Kelle Groom is garnering critical acclaim with her newest book. I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl: A Memoir, from Free Press/Simon & Schuster, was recently selected by Oprah Winfrey for O Magazine’s 2011 summer reading list. In stirring, hypnotic prose, I Wore the Ocean explores the most painful aspects […]
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Canadian minister meets with Hitt
In a sort of high-tech show and tell, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and Canada’s minister of state for science and technology met with UCF President John Hitt and other officials. The talks centered on commercializing university research to create new companies and new jobs. Hitt noted that some projections call for the Medical City development […]
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Obama initiative notes UCF group
The University of Central Florida’s efforts to go “green” have earned the attention of the White House, which this week is showcasing the student organization I.D.E.A.S. as a “Champion of Change.” The Obama Administration’s “Champions of Change” series highlights Americans making positive changes to better their communities. UCF was among the eight students and institutions […]
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Knight crowned Miss Florida
For the third consecutive year, a UCF student has been crowned Miss Florida. In addition to that, 11 students competed in the competition, a record-high for UCF. “UCF really does strive for excellence,” said Stephanie Ziajka, a graduate of the actuarial science program at UCF and Miss Florida semi-finalist. “I feel like all of the 11 girls are all so talented, and […]
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UCF featured in the Orlando Sentinel
A gifted soccer player in his youth and a successful coach as an adult, Tim Luby thought he had a winning idea with his patented practice tool, The Soccer Shot, but scoring in business was a skill yet to be mastered. Luby, 49, whose product teaches soccer players how to perfect a free kick, knew […]
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Tom O’Neal testifies in D.C.
The University of Central Florida’s Tom O’Neal appeared before the Subcommittee on Science & Space of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation in Washington recently to provide insight into the commercialization and potential for nanoscience technology. O’Neal, associate vice president of research in the Office of Research and Commercialization at UCF, said […]
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Students feel worse off than parents
Ask college senior Brooke Steiner if she thinks her generation will be worse off than her parents’ and she doesn’t quibble or hesitate. “Definitely,” said the 21-year-old UCF marketing major from Davie. This is astonishing for a number of reasons, but mostly because it conflicts wildly with the expectations we have for ourselves and our […]
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New UCF trustees
Walt Disney World Resort President Meg Crofton, local attorney Marcos Marchena and veteran investment manager Robert A. Garvy are the newest members of the University of Central Florida’s Board of Trustees. Crofton, Marchena and Garvy were appointed to UCF’s 13-member board by the Board of Governors of the State University System. In her 30 years […]
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Saving habitat makes “heroes” of UCF team
University of Central Florida Biology Professor Linda Walters and her team of students and community volunteers are featured on Field and Stream magazine’s website today as part of the Hero for a Day campaign. A video highlights the team’s effort to save Turtle Mound, a Native American shell mound within the Canaveral National Seashore in […]
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Senate taps UCF expert for testimony on nanotechnology
University of Central Florida’s Thomas O’Neal testified Thursday, July 14, about the revolutionary nature of nanotechnology before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space. The Subcommittee is part of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Committee Chairman, John Rockefeller IV invited O’Neal to provide his expert testimony as the group considers reauthorizing the National […]
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Winter Springs woman’s love for UCF lasted a lifetime
Nancy Burnett Gerber worked at the University of Central Florida only a short time, but her love of the university lasted a lifetime through her membership in clubs that promoted UCF. The longtime wife of a UCF associate professor, she was a member of the UCF Women’s Club during its founding and the Town and […]
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Zinc-Oxide NanoWires could mean better DVDs
A breakthrough in semiconductor laser technology could potentially lead to a new way to kill viruses and increase the storage capacity of DVDs. Researchers from the University of California at Riverside in collaboration with a team from the University of Central Florida have figured out a way to increase the use of ultraviolet semiconductor diode […]
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Disney Parks president and UCF grad retiring
Al Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Disney Parks and Resorts, a former president of Walt Disney World, and graduate of both University of Central Florida and Rollins College, is retiring. Weiss announced his retirement with a letter to cast members Wednesday. Weiss has been with Disney for 39 years, starting at Disney as a […]
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UCF professor featured in CBS article about Casey Anthony
The defense’s third witness of the day was Dr. Michael Sigman, a University of Central Florida (UCF) chemistry professor, who said he was asked by Orange County sheriff’s officials in July 2008 to take air samples from Anthony’s car. Sigman detailed how he and a colleague transferred 1 liter of air into a bag and […]
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Self-thinking aquatic bot earns second place
After spending nearly every day of the last 10 months in the lab, the UCF robotics club finally perfected their latest creation: an aquatic robot capable of making its own decisions. “We basically spend an entire year building these robots that we send to competition,” said Kiran Bernard, recent graduate from the electrical engineering program […]
