COS Professors Receive UCF’s Most Prestigious Award

To be recognized as a Pegasus Professor is the most prestigious award a faculty member can receive at UCF, and this year the College of Sciences was privileged to have three of its professors honored with this accolade. Deborah Beidel, Humberto Campins and James D. Wright were chosen from the College of Sciences for their ... Read more

Scientists Capture First Direct Proof of Hofstadter Butterfly Effect

This is a guest post from Zenaida Kotala, UCF Today. A team of researchers from several universities – including UCF –has observed a rare quantum physics effect that produces a repeating butterfly-shaped energy spectrum in a magnetic field, confirming the longstanding prediction of the quantum fractal energy structure called Hofstadter’s butterfly. This discovery by the ... Read more

Science Cafés featuring UCF scientists

As part of our celebrations for the UCF 50th Anniversary the College of Sciences will be hosting several Science Cafés to showcase our Pegasus Professors and discuss Science Beyond UCF with the Central Florida community. Admission is free, and you need no reservation—just come ready to listen and contribute. Each speaker will begin their presentation at ... Read more

Physicist’s Research Gains International Attention

Dr. Zenghu Chang, UCF Distinguished Professor of Physics & Optics, recorded the shortest pulse of light in his UCF lab. Physics World recently interviewed Chang for their publication, which you can view here. Physics World is the British equivalent of Physics Today, which is published in the US. “Dr. Chang’s success in making ever-shorter light pulses helps ... Read more

UCF Mentor of the Year

Congratulations, Dr. Josh Colwell, Professor Department of Physics Planetary Sciences Group, on your UCF Mentor of the Year Award. Dr. Colwell got his Ph.D. from the Department of Astrophysical, Planetary, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Colorado in 1989 and remained in Colorado as a Research Associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics until ... Read more

COS Teams Up With Knights Pantry

The College of Sciences has been keeping busy this semester with numerous activities in celebration of UCF’s 50th Anniversary, including an on-going collaboration with the Knights Helping Knights Pantry. The College of Sciences Dean’s Office brainstormed ideas for ways faculty, staff, and students could give back while also celebrating the anniversary. The Knights Helping Knights ... Read more

Graduate Research Forum Winners

Several College of Sciences students won awards this week at the Tenth Annual Graduate Research Forum.  The Pegasus Ballroom was packed with a record number of graduate students presenting posters. Part of UCF’s Student Research Week, the Research Forum showcases the latest research from students, including cutting-edge technology and discoveries in arts, education, health and science. Throughout ... Read more

KSC Open For Business, Looking for Partners

Space research is a part of our everyday life, from microwave food to robotic surgery. “Where do you think robotic surgery came from?” asked Esther Beltran, a medical doctor who’s treated astronauts at Johnson Space Center and an advisor to UCF’s Institute of Simulation and Training. “It came from the robotic arm that Canada developed ... Read more

Students Launch Space Balloon, Watch on YouTube

More than a dozen University of Central Florida students played at being NASA engineers recently, launching a high-altitude balloon the size of a refrigerator into space.  The students, studying a variety of fields from physics to accounting, designed the mission, made all necessary calculations and executed the launch from a public park in Safety Harbor. ... Read more

New STEM Internship Program

Workforce Central Florida and the University of Central Florida are partnering to serve a specific need in the community:  offering an internship program to job seekers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields to build their resumes. The program is open to people 18 years and older that have experience in STEM fields, but ... Read more

Closest-Ever Asteroid Flyby Thrills Large UCF Crowd

More than 800 people packed the Pegasus Ballroom at the University of Central Florida on Friday to watch a live video feed of an asteroid zip by Earth, coming within 17,500 miles from the planet. It was the closest flyby on record, with the half-city-block sized asteroid squeezing in between the Earth’s surface and orbiting ... Read more

Asteroid Expert on ABC World News

By Ned Potter, ABC World News It begins to get on your nerves. Every now and then — a few times a year, depending on what you count — an asteroid goes whizzing past Earth at fairly close range, reminding us that sometimes outer space isn’t quite as, well, spacious as we may like to think. This ... Read more

Asteroid Encounter at UCF

An asteroid, the size of half a city block, will buzz Earth’s surface on Feb. 15, squeezing by communication satellites orbiting the planet. The University of Central Florida will host a free 1 p.m. viewing party for the public to watch this event via feeds from telescopes in Spain, where it will be nighttime. UCF’s Humberto ... Read more

Graduate Research Forum abstracts due

The Tenth Annual Graduate Research Forum, a part of Student Research Week, is open for submissions! The College of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Student Association invite UCF graduate students to submit your proposals now. Scheduled for Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in the Student Union, the Graduate Research Forum is an excellent opportunity for you to ... Read more

BP’s chief scientist kicks off physics conference

BP’s Chief Scientist, Ellen D. Williams, visited UCF January 18 to kick off the three day Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics. SCUWP was one of six conferences being held all across the country that weekend. Although this is the third annual SCUWP, this is the first time one of the conferences has been held in ... Read more

NASA executive, UCF grad named FSI Director

A veteran NASA executive, most recently director of the John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, has been named director of the University of Central Florida’s Florida Space Institute.  Ramon “Ray” Lugo III, ’79, is taking over as the space institute begins a new era of positioning Florida and the nation to be leaders in ... Read more

UCF, Cornell, partner to promote women in physics with first conference in Florida

The University of Central Florida joins Cornell University, the California Institute of Technology and three other institutions to host the Women in Physics Conference at UCF beginning Friday, Jan. 18, in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union. The three-day event will feature a diverse array of female speakers including Ellen Williams, chief scientist at ... Read more

Founders’ Day Honors Convocation 2013

The annual Founders’ Day Honors Convocation will be held beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, in the Pegasus Ballroom at the Student Union. We will recognize faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, advising, research, professional service, and librarianship. We will also recognize those members of our faculty who have completed ... Read more

2013 Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics at UCF

The Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (SCUWP) is a three-day conference for undergraduate physics majors in the southeastern United States. The 2013 conference will be held from the evening of Friday January 18th to the afternoon of Sunday January 20th. SCUWP’s goal is to help undergraduate women continue in physics by providing them ... Read more

BP’s Chief Scientist visits UCF

BP’s Chief Scientist, Ellen D. Williams, will be speaking to UCF students, staff, faculty and guests on January 18, 2013 as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series, which is hosted by the College of Sciences. The event will start at 11 a.m., is free and open to the public and is in the Pegasus Ballroom, which is ... Read more