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Special small, mobile cameras help detect more snakes and could lead to an automated python tracker.  

CREOL, College of Optics and Photonics, often serves as a launchpad for students to decide the direction they want to take their career and studies. And, often, it’s a distinguished and notable direction. That was certainly the case with Latifah Maasarani, who moved on to Duke University for graduate studies in biomedical engineering after successfully…

A deep knowledge of wave band sensors and a sturdy pair of hiking boots are both important to Roger Rose’s job. A self-described “underachiever” in high school, Rose ’21 MS failed intermediate algebra three times in community college. Realizing he needed a change, Rose made a life-changing decision and moved to Tallahassee Community College. There he…

Mistrust of the COVID-19 vaccine is rooted partly in its rapid introduction, the seemingly new technologies involved and the long list of ingredients with mysterious names like “N-ditetradecylacetamide.” But the purpose behind “monobasic potassium phosphate” in the vaccine can be understood with chemistry principles UCF students learn all the time, according to Professor of Chemistry…

A new astrophotonics program launching this fall in CREOL, College of Optics and Photonics, will be led by an equally new faculty member, Stephen Eikenberry, Ph.D. While Eikenberry is a UCF rookie, he brings extensive experience studying the cosmos to the college, including credit for discovering one of the brightest and largest known stars with…

The dawn of the Information Age and the advent of high-speed internet coincided right around the time Carl Kutsche, Ph.D., ’98, enrolled in CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics. “I was all about optical systems—self processing, information storage, 3D holography. You could feel the energy buzzing around the growth of this field,” said Kutsche,…

Pegasus Professor Peter Delfyett, Ph.D., was recently awarded the title “University Distinguished Professor” by UCF President Alexander Cartwright. Cartwright’s citation acknowledges Delfyett’s “exceptional teaching, research and service, which are evident throughout his career and UCF is grateful for the lasting impact he will have on our university and students.” Delfyett most recently earned high distinction for…

Pegasus Professor Martin Richardson, Ph.D., was recently admitted as a fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS), one of only a handful of academics to do so. Richardson, a CREOL professor of optics and founding director of the Townes Laser Institute, was chosen for his “longstanding commitment to directed energy through globally recognized academic…

The power of spectroscopy is proving a gamechanger for identifying pollutants in nature and building a career for Ty Olmstead, Ph.D., ’11. Olmstead was first hired at Ocean Insight five years ago as an application scientist with a Ph.D from CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, supporting the endeavor. He was recently promoted to…

BY ALLISON HURTADO ’12 The Founders’ Day Awards celebrate the outstanding academic achievements of our faculty members and students. As we recognize these achievements, we remember the efforts of those women and men who made this university a reality, and we prepare for the accomplishments of the future. In an extraordinary time, our faculty and…

A highly regarded name in the field of optics was recruited a year ago to CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, for his expertise in multiple areas of research. Yehuda Braiman, Ph.D., brings more than 20 years experience as a distinguished research and development scientist at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, along with a…

A broad vision for scientific progress and the growing experience to bring that vision to life recently earned Ricardo Bustos-Ramirez the honor of CREOL’s 2021 Student of the Year. The Ph.D. candidate’s research focuses on chip-scale optical frequency combs. Potential applications include LIDAR measurements and the search for exoplanets. Bustos-Ramirez has co-authored and published over…