Alumni News

CREOL Alum Continues Growth in Central Florida After Graduation Alejandro Lopez Zelaya ’25 is one of many UCF engineering and technology alums who power industry across Florida. By Layla Wall and Aaron Eades | November 7, 2025 Photonic science and engineering alum Alejandro Lopez Zelaya ’25 Facebook LinkedIn Photonic science and engineering alum Alejandro Lopez…

CREOL Alum’s Biomedical Engineering Research Aims to Improve Treatment for Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases A foundation in optics and photonics could be the key to unlocking major advancements in biomedical imaging technology By Aaron Eades | July 17, 2025 Jian Zhao in his lab at The University of Oklahoma. Facebook LinkedIn It’s easy to see…

After developing more than 90 U.S. patents and several tech companies, Jason Eichenholz ’95MS ’98PhD has launched a personal endeavor that could make the most meaningful impact of all.

A Strategy for the Future: CREOL’s Growth Continues with New Research Leadership Dr. Eric Johnson will wear many hats at CREOL, including Interim Associate Dean for Research By Aaron Eades | May 9, 2025 Eric Johnson, Interim Associate Dean for Research Facebook LinkedIn The way Dr. Eric Johnson ‘89MS sees it, the best is yet…

The honor recognizes outstanding young alumni who continue to reach for the stars in their professional and personal lives.

CREOL Announces 2025 Distinguished Alumni of the Year Winner Zhibing Ge ‘04MS ‘07PhD will be honored as the 2025 Distinguished Alumnus during CREOL’s annual Industrial Affiliates Symposium in April. By Aaron Eades | March 5, 2025 Facebook LinkedIn Measuring Zhibing Ge ‘04MS ‘07PhD by the numbers takes quite a bit of counting: one technical book,…

CREOL Alum Awarded Fellowship to Continue Research at Los Alamos National Laboratories Layton Hall ’23PhD will spend the next three years collaborating with scientists in New Mexico By Aaron Eades | February 26, 2025 Facebook LinkedIn After earning his doctorate at CREOL, Layton Hall says his job search got a little inspiration from Hollywood. “I…

New technology developed in partnership with UCF aims to boost the AI economy by removing barriers created by location and distance.

Recently realized UCF results published in the journal Optica could lead to a new generation of fiber-based laser beam delivery systems with applications in directed energy, precision machining, medical sciences and power beaming over fiber. Matthew Cooper, who completed his optics and photonics doctorate from CREOL, tested the power, efficiency and quality of laser transmission…

A team of researchers from the University of Central Florida and the University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Technologies Office to develop a novel metallization process that could improve the efficiency and lower the cost of solar cells, making solar energy…

Mr. Smirnov pioneered the early development of volume Bragg grating(VBG) technology in PTR glass. He was the principal investigator of ten + research projects on technology development of volume Bragg gratings for spectroscopy, high energy femtosecond lasers, and spectral beam combining. He is cofounder of OptiGrate Corp in 1999, coauthor of 10+ US patents and…