News

The Army Research Lab has awarded the University of Central Florida a $4.5 million grant to develop a smart, computer vision-based navigation system for when GPS is unavailable or jammed. The system will be like a cyber co-pilot that supports navigation of ground vehicles by using artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess computer imaging…

Students pursuing a career in optics and photonics will benefit from the generosity of California-based photonics company Lumentum. The endowed scholarship begun by Lumentum is open to undergraduate and graduate students, and is intended to foster “a more diverse learning and working environment,” according to a news release. In addition to underrepresented students, the scholarships…

By ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded UCF a grant to purchase and install an almost $2 million high-peak-power, high-repetition-rate ultrafast infrared laser system — a first of its kind in the world. The money is an investment in the cutting-edge research being conducted at UCF, which is advancing knowledge and…

The September edition of the American Ceramic Society’s (ACerS) Bulletin publication features Pegasus Professor Kathleen Richardson, Ph.D., one of three people recognized in 2021 as a Distinguished Life Member. Richardson will officially accept ACerS’ highest distinction at an awards banquet in October. The award recognizes a lifetime of achievement that has earned Richardson a worldwide…

By ROBERT WELLS One of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations – the W. M. Keck Foundation – has awarded the University of Central Florida a $1 million Science and Engineering Research grant. The money is for a project led by University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics Professors Ayman Abouraddy and Demetrios Christodoulides. The project…

  Josh Kaufman’s journey to full-time faculty member this fall begins as a self-described “nerdy kid” reading engineering magazines. Kaufman, Ph.D., ’14, chose CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, for his terminal degree based on those magazines, and it’s proved a prescient choice. It’s given him not only an education and training, but the…

Pegasus Professor David Hagan, Ph.D. recently assumed responsibility as the third dean of CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics. Hagan has a ground floor perspective on the college as one of the original faculty to join CREOL shortly after its founding in 1986. In this interview, Hagan shares the beginning of his career and…

Richard DeSalvo, Ph.D. ‘93, takes wireless communications further into the future every day, but it’s the people of his past that inspire his every step — beginning with Neil Armstrong. DeSalvo credits the 1969 moon landing and his mother for steering him toward the sciences in general, but it would take years of starts and…

By ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA Five UCF researchers have been awarded more than $450,000 in SEED funding thanks to a new collaboration between the UCF Office of Research and the international nano and digital technology research and development company imec. Researchers from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Optics and Photonics, College of Sciences, and College of…

A new device demonstrated by the laboratory of Professor Shin-Tson Wu, Ph.D. offers a novel method for expanding the capabilities and accuracy of non-mechanical laser beam steerers. The method, detailed in a new article in Light Science & Application titled “Miniature planar telescopes for efficient, wide-angle, high-precision beam steering,” addresses the inherent limitations of current…

The Dean’s List is compiled in recognition of scholastic honors to degree-seeking undergraduate students who earn a minimum 3.4 GPA, complete a minimum of 12 credit hours, earn no grade less than “C” (2.0) and no “I,” “U,” “N,” “NC,” or “WF” grades during a term. We congratulate these students who have achieved this high…

Two students from CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, will accomplish their dreams while traveling the world through the Imaging and Light in Extended Reality (IMLEX) Fellowship program. Teodor Malendevych ’20 and Ilina Sunkara, a third-year undergraduate student, will pursue their master’s degrees in extended and augmented reality at three international universities in Finland,…