Under a high-stakes, simulated cyberattack and mounting pressure, the UCF Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition (C3) team proved it can defend, adapt and outperform — earning first place at the 2026 Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC).

The team rose above nine competitors, including Tennessee Tech șŁœÇֱȄ, Clemson șŁœÇֱȄ, the șŁœÇֱȄ of South Florida and the șŁœÇֱȄ of Florida. With the win, UCF advances to the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, which will be held virtually next month.

Twelve students make up this year’s C3 team: sophomore information technology (IT) majors Gabriel Edwards and Maksim Shostak; junior IT majors Logan Autry, Anthony Donnelly, Joseph Durand, Adam Raczynski and Jonathan Styles; senior IT major Ardian Peach; sophomore computer science major Tyler Waddell; junior computer science major Benjamin Williams; cyber security and privacy master’s student Andy Pompura ’23; and senior prelaw major Noah Magill, who serves as team captain.

UCF’s Legacy of Cybersecurity Success

Their stellar performance marks ±«°äčó’s ninth first-place finish at the Southeast CCDC regional since 2013. UCF earned runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2025, along with first-place titles in special at-large CCDC regionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

“UCF has historically maintained high service availability levels while under attack by the red team.” — Tom Nedorost ’02MS, senior instructor and C3 team coach

The team not only clinched the top spot but also swept all three categories, winning Best in Uptime Service, Best in Business and Best in Defense.

“UCF has historically maintained high service availability levels while under attack by the red team,” says Tom Nedorost ’02MS, C3 team coach and senior instructor of computer science and IT. “We lived up to that expectation again this year, which resulted in winning the Best in Uptime Service award.”

Nedorost adds that the team strengthened its ability to complete technical service requests while hardening systems against vulnerabilities to protect their network, key improvements that led to the two additional category wins.

Putting Cyber Defense Skills into Practice

At each competition, teams are tasked with defending a fictional company’s network against cyberattacks launched by red team members attempting to infiltrate it. All the while, competitors must maintain business operations and respond to customer service requests.

Each obstacle mimics real-world scenarios cybersecurity professionals face, allowing competitors to demonstrate their technical skills, business acumen and ability to collaborate.

It’s fun to go up against people [who, collectively,] would be a force to reckon with in the cyber world .” — Noah Magill, prelaw major and C3 team captain

Magill says the Southeast CCDC is among the most competitive, with red team members from leading companies such as Amazon Web Services and Cisco.

“All of them put together make up one of the scariest real-world life adversaries,” Magill says. “It’s fun to go up against people [who, collectively,] would be a force to reckon with in the cyber world — and a lot of [them] are [UCF] alumni.”

Next Up: Nationals

As the team sets its sights on the national competition, the work is far from over. Magill says a few more 100-hour weeks are likely ahead.

“Everyone on the team is incredibly adept at what they do and world-class [in] their specialty,” Magill says. “Leading this team [and relying] on such amazing teammates with such a diverse amount of skills has been really awesome.”

UCF civil engineering students sailed to the top of the Concrete Canoe Competition at this year’s American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Southeast Student Symposium. ±«°äčó’s ASCE student chapter clinched first place, defeating a field of 13 teams that included Georgia Tech and the șŁœÇֱȄ of Florida, which has placed first for 13 of the past 14 years.

The victory qualifies UCF to compete at the ASCE Civil Engineering Student Championships in June in West Virginia where nearly 20 teams from North America will compete for the top crown.

“Many of the other schools were chanting ‘U-C-F’ with us when we won because of how significant the moment was.” — Edward Collazo Borges, UCF ASCE chapter president

“Winning first place in the Concrete Canoe Competition was exciting, but doing it in such a competitive region and against a program like UF — which has such a strong history in the event — made it even more meaningful,” says Edward Collazo Borges, the president of the UCF ASCE chapter. “From the outside, it may not seem like a lot, but this was huge — not just for UCF, but for every school in our region. During the awards ceremony, many of the other schools were chanting ‘U-C-F’ with us when we won because of how significant the moment was.”

History of the Competition

ASCE is recognized as America’s oldest national engineering society and sponsors student chapters in all 50 states and internationally. ±«°äčó’s chapter was established in 1972 and is the largest engineering organization on campus.

ASCE’s Concrete Canoe Competition was first officially held in 1988, but the history of Concrete Canoe goes back to the 1960s, when a small number of ASCE Student Chapters began holding intramural concrete canoe races.

This elite competition — known as The America’s Cup of Civil Engineering — combines engineering excellence, hydrodynamic design and racing technique as students are tasked with building a canoe from concrete and racing it against their competitors. Students are judged on the final product, race performance, technical design paper and oral presentation.

A Breakthrough Year

Jacob Quinones, the UCF ASCE vice president and project manager for the Concrete Canoe Competition, says the team’s performance at this year’s Southeast competition was a result of steady progress from lessons learned during previous races.

“Extra time was poured into every aspect of the project to maximize quality and performance,” Quinones says. “This would not have been possible without the entire team’s passion and dedication. It was apparent that everyone involved wanted to be there and contribute their absolute best.”

UCF ASCE took home a total of 12 awards from the symposium, including two additional first-place wins in the Concrete Cornhole and Temporary Traffic Control competitions. The group says they last won the concrete canoe competition in 1995.

In addition to the competitions, the symposium offers professional and personal development opportunities and networking.

“I learned just how much it takes to manage a project through the different ways that it tests you and pushes you past your limits,” Quinones says. “I feel that I grew as a leader and gained so much respect for those in similar positions across the entire industry.”

For Borges, this victory represents a historic win for the university and sets an example for other ASCE student chapters.

“You always have the opportunity to achieve something great,” Borges says. “I think this experience shows if you keep pushing, keep learning and keep striving to improve, you can surprise yourself with what is possible.”

Our students are groundbreaking national and global scholarship winners, researchers, athletes, teaching assistants, residence assistants and leaders in campus organizations, including Student Government, LEAD Scholars and the President’s Leadership Council. The honorees include transfer students, those from first-generation and international backgrounds and members of the Burnett Honors College.

Aside from focusing on academics and campus causes, many of the student honorees volunteered at hospitals, schools, parks, food banks, shelters, clinics, youth clubs and with many community service organizations — at times as organizers and coordinators for support drives and campaigns.

“When you look at this group, you see trajectory.” — John Buckwalter, UCF’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs

“The students we recognize at our Founders’ Day Student Honors Celebration are extraordinary not just for what they’ve achieved, but for how they’ve shaped their time at UCF. They’ve pursued opportunities, challenged themselves and lifted others along the way,” says John Buckwalter, UCF’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “When you look at this group, you see trajectory — students whose experiences here are opening doors in meaningful ways and changing the direction of their futures, the trajectories of their families and the communities they inhabit.”

Student award categories highlight new inductees of the Order of Pegasus, ±«°äčó’s highest student honor; graduate awards for outstanding master’s thesis and outstanding dissertation; undergraduate awards for honors thesis; and individual college awardees as chosen by the respective college deans. All honorees earned financial awards.

This year’s 37 inductees into the Order of Pegasus mark the 25^th anniversary class of top-achieving Knights. The average GPA of the 2026 class is 3.912.

The campus community is invited to attend the Student Honors Celebration on Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Student Union’s Pegasus Ballroom. A brief reception will follow.

Here are the students to be recognized.

Order of Pegasus Inductees

• Fatima Alziyad, College of Health Professions and Sciences and Burnett Honors College
• Andy Ayup, College of Sciences
• Megan Bailey, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College
• Stacie Becker ’23, College of Arts and Humanities
• Akash Hari Bharath ’25MS, College of Engineering and Computer Science
• Swati Bhargava ’25MS, College of Optics and Photonics
• Sanjana Bhatt, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
• Griffon Binkowski ’24, College of Sciences and Burnett Honors College
• Ossyris Bury, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College
• Nico Chen, College of Arts and Humanities and Burnett Honors College
• Kyle Coutray, College of Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College
• Allyson Crighton, College of Nursing and Burnett Honors College
• Nyauni Crowelle-Feggins, College of Health Professions and Sciences and Burnett Honors College
• Cameron Cummins, College of Arts and Humanities and Burnett Honors College
• Andrew “Drew” Hansen ’25, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
• Andrea Hernandez Gomez, College of Sciences
• Lindsey Hildebrand, College of Health Professions and Sciences
• Ariana Johnson, College of Medicine
• Sanjan Kumar ’23, College of Medicine
• Kworweinski Lafontant, College of Health Professions and Sciences
• Meera Lakshmanan, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
• Abrianna Lalle, College of Nursing
• Ilana Logvinov, College of Nursing
• Hannah Lovejoy, College of Business
• Taiel Lucile, College of Health Professions and Sciences and Burnett Honors College
• Robin Marquez, College of Sciences
• Shanel Moya Aguero, College of Community Innovation and Education and Burnett Honors College
• Gabrielle “Gabby” Murison, College of Sciences
• Varun Nannuri, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
• Natalie Otero, College of Business and Burnett Honors College
• Om Pathak, College of Medicine, College of Arts and Humanities and Burnett Honors College
• Pritha Sarkar ’24, College of Engineering and Computer Science
• Jacob Vierling, College of Community Innovation and Education
• Janapriya Vijayakumar, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
• Ornella Vintimilla, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
• Om Vishanagra, College of Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College

Undergraduate Student Awards

College Founders’ Award

• Liam Pivnichny, Burnett Honors College
• Antonella Bisbal Hernandez, College of Arts and Humanities
• Jordan Nell, College of Business
• Jude Hagan, College of Community Innovation and Education
• Ossyris Bury, College of Engineering and Computer Science
• Timothy Horanic, College of Health Professions and Sciences
• Sun Latt, College of Medicine
• Abrianna Lalle, College of Nursing
• Jacob Silver, College of Optics and Photonics
• Emily Willis, College of Sciences
• Fabian Rodriguez Gomez, Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis

• Edwin Garcia ’25, College of Arts and Humanities, Outstanding Honors Thesis in Arts, Humanities and Creative Inquiry
• Eric Haseman ’25, College of Sciences, Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis in Social Sciences
• Shreya S. Pawar ’25, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis in Natural Sciences
• Andrea C. Molero Perez ’25, College of Medicine, Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis in Health Sciences
• Nicholas Rose ’25, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Outstanding Honors Thesis in Engineering and Technology

Graduate Student Awards

Outstanding Dissertation

• Jessica Moon ’25PhD, College of Health Professions and Sciences
• Michael Pierro ’20 ’23MS ’25PhD, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Following a competitive national search and rigorous interview process, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs John Buckwalter selected Colwell on March 13, citing his steady leadership during his nine-month tenure as interim dean.

“Under his leadership, the college fostered an environment where students, faculty and staff can thrive, while strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration and expanding research and community impact,” Buckwalter says.

As interim dean, and now as dean, Colwell oversees the university’s largest college, serving more than 16,000 students across a wide range of disciplines, including the physical, biological, social, behavioral and computational sciences. The College of Sciences plays a central role in advancing ±«°äčó’s research enterprise and preparing graduates to address complex global challenges through scientific discovery and innovation.

Colwell’s bold vision for the College of Sciences builds on ±«°äčó’s reputation as Florida’s Technological șŁœÇֱȄ.

“We have cutting-edge research ranging from human-machine communication and interaction to new materials for clean energy, as well as the societal and political aspects of space exploration,” Colwell says. “We are uniquely positioned to prepare students for a rapidly evolving technological landscape and the economy of the 21st century.”

Among his key focuses are improving student preparedness after graduation, ensuring students have the knowledge and skills to thrive in an increasingly competitive job market shaped by advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.

“It’s a top priority to make sure our researchers understand the rapidly changing technological landscape so they can carry out transformative work.” — Joshua Colwell, COS dean

“It’s a top priority to make sure our researchers understand the rapidly changing technological landscape so they can carry out transformative work,” Colwell says. “We also want to ensure our faculty have the support needed to deliver a world-class education.”

Colwell emphasizes the importance of keeping key stakeholders informed and including them in decision-making when appropriate.

“I’ve found that transparency and strong communication among all parties go a long way toward building trust and commitment to a shared vision,” Colwell says. “I want to make sure my team and I are available and actively engaging with faculty, students, staff and the community to discuss challenges, opportunities, and how to navigate them.”

Colwell joined UCF as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics in 2006. He later served as chair of the Department of Physics and associate dean for research for the college. In these roles, he was instrumental in advancing academic planning, supporting research growth and leading initiatives that strengthen student success. His leadership contributed to expanding faculty capacity, modernizing instructional laboratories and enhancing research opportunities across the college — experience that has shaped his approach as a leader.

“The breadth of those experiences has given me valuable insight into the challenges our faculty and staff face and how administration at the college level can support their work,” Colwell says. “I’ve also taught both large and small classes and supervised undergraduate and graduate students, so I feel very connected to the UCF student experience.”

“I’ve also taught both large and small classes and supervised undergraduate and graduate students, so I feel very connected to the UCF student experience.” — Joshua Colwell, COS dean

Colwell says the multidisciplinary nature of the college’s work, which touches every part of the human experience, makes it an exciting place to be.

“From transforming energy production and human-computer interaction to shaping entertainment, managing information, and coexisting with our environment, our work is exciting, impactful, and innovative,” he says. “Above all, we are preparing our students to thrive and make a positive impact in the world.”

Colwell earned his doctoral degree in astrophysical, planetary and atmospheric sciences from the șŁœÇֱȄ of Colorado Boulder and his bachelor’s degree in physics from Stetson șŁœÇֱȄ. In 2019, he was named a Pegasus Professor, ±«°äčó’s highest faculty honor. His research on planetary rings, comets and the evolution of planetary systems has supported experiments flown on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. He also served as a co-investigator on Cassini–Huygens and has worked closely with students on spaceflight experiments in collaboration with commercial partners such as Blue Origin.

Computer science students Brian Barak ’25, Thomas Meeks and Benjamin Prins competed as UCF Triangulate, one of the 52 university teams at the NAC who earned the chance to compete for a spot internationally from an original field of about 1,000 from the U.S. and Canada. UCF placed No. 5, earning the opportunity to head to Dubai in November to compete at the 50th annual ICPC World Finals.

The trio placed ahead of the Georgia Institute of Technology and șŁœÇֱȄ of Florida, the other two schools in the contest’s southeast region. They also beat Ivy League universities and colleges with notable computer science programs, including California Institute of Technology, Harvard șŁœÇֱȄ and Carnegie Mellon șŁœÇֱȄ.

“The contest has grown from a few hundred students to almost 100,000 students. It’s getting harder and more challenging each year to outperform others,” says UCF programming team faculty advisor Ali Orooji.  “We are very proud of our students and coaches who put in the time and effort to do well in the contest.”

ICPC student programmers are among the best in the world. At UCF, competitors are often recruited for their contest experience by companies such as Google and Microsoft, attracted by contestants’ proven ability to collaborate under pressure on advanced algorithms.

“The training offered by [our computer programming teams’] coaches is exceptional, and our competitors’ commendable work ethic and skills continue to draw the attention of the tech industry to our college.” — Michael Georgiopoulos, CECS dean

“Our programming team continues to make us proud with their latest accomplishment,” says College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Michael Georgiopoulos. “They are establishing a legacy of excellence in programming for UCF. The training offered by their coaches is exceptional, and our competitors’ commendable work ethic and skills continue to draw the attention of the tech industry to our college.”

During the contest, the competitors have five hours to answer a series of logic problems that require developing algorithms to solve. The problems are based on real-world scenarios such as modeling air traffic flow, optimizing security for an art gallery, and tracking animals in a wildlife preserve. Teams of three collaborate on one computer to solve the most problems in the least amount of time.

Barak, Meeks and Prins solved nine out of the 13 problems, and were the first to solve problem K.

“I think we had several advantages over other North America teams going into the contest that played a part in our team’s performance: a phenomenal support structure with the dedicated coaches, especially our team’s coach Glenn Martin ’92 ’95MS ’12PhD; access to the programming team lab; and support from the rest of the team,” Meeks says.

He adds that frequent and consistent twice-weekly practice and training on challenging problems from ICPC training camp sets and the Universal Cup, a nonprofit organization that provides resources for competitive programmers, also contributed to their success.

“Several years of being on a team together helped us form a strong and efficient team dynamic,” he says.

Hosted by UCF for the past six years, the NAC attracts a number of sponsors who recognize the contest as an opportunity to meet the next generation of talented programmers. This year’s contest sponsors included Jane Street, OpenAI, JetBrains, Jump Trading, Citadel, the National Security Agency, Hudson River Trading and Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society.

UCF is the first medical school in Florida offering Spanish language certification through the national Physician Oral Language Observation Matrix exam.

The exam establishes the physician has demonstrated comprehension, vocabulary and pronunciation skills in Spanish to provide care to patients without an interpreter.

Three students have passed the exam already, four are awaiting results and 11 more are on the path to complete it. Two of the certified students recently found out on Match Day they are staying in Florida for their medical residency programs.

“The exam represents a meaningful milestone because it validates that a student can provide safe, language-concordant care in clinical settings,” says Analia Castiglioni, assistant dean and director of the Spanish language program.

Elevated Care for Florida’s Patients

Data shows that communications problems are the most frequent root cause of serious patient safety events such as mismanagement of medications. Patients with limited English language proficiency face higher levels of such risk.

The College of Medicine offers Spanish as its language focus to meet the state’s healthcare needs. Florida ranks as one of the top four states in the country for in Spanish speakers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 22% of Floridians report speaking Spanish at home.

“When the care team and the patient share a common language, something important happens,” Castiglioni says. “Trust develops more quickly, patients share more complete information, and care becomes safer and more compassionate.”

Not Your Average Spanish

Fourth-year medical student Rodolfo Rodriguez came to Florida from South America when he was young and spoke Spanish and English at home. While he is bilingual, he needed to learn medical Spanish to be a more effective physician.

“Household Spanish is much more casual and you’re not using terms that are prevalent in the medical field,” Rodriguez says. “There are also words that don’t directly translate the same, like ‘stroke.’ In Spanish, you wouldn’t say ‘stroke’ you’d say ‘accidente cerebrovascular’ which literally means ‘cerebrovascular accident.’”

He wanted to specialize in rehabilitative medicine after witnessing his father recover from a motorcycle accident. Last week, he matched into the șŁœÇֱȄ of Miami’s physical medicine and rehabilitation program.

“I’m overjoyed, and I know my dad is too,” he says. “Many people here in Florida don’t speak English as a first language, so being able to use my medical Spanish to help these patients feel comfortable through the rehab process is something I know will make a difference.”

The training is equally as valuable to non-native speakers like fourth-year M.D. candidate Elizabeth Durkin. She says ±«°äčó’s structured program helped strengthen the Spanish skills she studied throughout her education, and she wants to continue building her proficiency. She passed the national certification, and this summer will begin her neurology residency in neurology at HealthONE in Englewood, CO.

“Being able to speak directly with non-English speaking patients has been a goal of mine for a long time,” says Durkin, who used to translate doctor’s visits for her Russian-speaking grandparents. “I’d like to say I did this to honor my family and my grandparents.”

Certification Program Details

Students are eligible to take the Medical Spanish electives in the summer before their second year of medical school, before they go into clerkships at hospitals and clinics, and/or in their fourth year.

In addition to formal Spanish language education, they practice obtaining patient histories and provide treatment plans in Spanish with standardized patients in the College of Medicine’s Clinical Skills and Simulation Center. Every patient encounter is taped and evaluated by Brenda Perez, who is a Certified Healthcare Interpreter in Spanish, the medical curriculum program manager at the College of Medicine and a casual Spanish interpreter at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Lake Nona.

The college hopes to expand the program to continue meeting the community’s needs.

“My vision is for the program to continue growing,” Castiglioni says. “That means building strong partnerships with clinical sites that serve Spanish-speaking communities and creating opportunities for our students to rotate in those settings, where their language skills can directly enhance patient care.”

College of Medicine students interested in learning more about the medical Spanish program may email commedspanish@ucf.edu.

Tomorrow’s leading video game developers are being built today at UCF.

The university’s graduate video gaming program, , and undergraduate program continue to develop a pipeline of talent to fuel Florida’s economy at a standard of excellence few can match, affirmed by The Princeton Review and PC Gamer’s Top Video Game Design Schools 2026 rankings.

The Princeton Review and PC Gamer has recognized FIEA as one of the top two programs of its kind in the world six of the past seven years.

GaIM improved two spots from last year to its highest ranking, rising to No. 3 in the world. Both programs continue to hold the title of No. 1 in the South.

Strategy for Success

Since their inception, FIEA and GaIM have modeled their classrooms as close to a real-world, studio-like environment as possible, led by faculty with industry experience. That real-world perspective shapes every course, every project and every student who graduates.

“Our program intentionally emulates a collaborative ecosystem with a range of diverse talent in artists, designers and programmers, which is crucial to developing products and intellectual property,” says Nicholas Zuccarello, a 3D art instructor at FIEA who has previously worked for Sony Online Entertainment and Electronic Arts Tiburon. “We even structure projects to emulate real-world development pipelines as closely as possible within an educational setting.”

Orlando: A Leading Tech Hub

With Electronic Arts (EA) and Iron Galaxy Studios located less than a mile from the programs’ home base in downtown’s , Orlando is the perfect setting to transition from college to career and now mentioned in the same breath alongside traditional tech-giant territories San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles.

Many alums go directly into the game industry including Epic, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and more.

FIEA has graduated 1,160 students since its first class in 2006 — about 100 of whom worked on several of the most popular games sold in the U.S. in 2025, including EA SPORTS College Football 26, EA SPORTS Madden NFL 26 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

But it’s not just the gaming companies that eagerly hire FIEA and GaIM graduates. The skills taught in the two programs align perfectly with some of Orlando’s top industries.

Graduates land roles in the modeling, simulation and training sector. Others find their footing in medical technology, where interactive systems and game-based design are transforming how clinicians train and how patients heal. Knights can be found at many of the region’s big-name employers, including Disney, EA, Lockheed Martin, and Universal Destinations & Experiences, among others.

“Our students don’t just make games, they develop the creative and technical fluency to work wherever those skills are needed.” — Associate Professor Peter Smith ’05MS ’12PhD

“Our students don’t just make games, they develop the creative and technical fluency to work wherever those skills are needed,” says Associate Professor Peter Smith ’05MS ’12PhD, who serves as the associate director of GaIM. “That’s what makes GaIM graduates competitive across industries. It is a true honor to see The Princeton Review recognizing this accomplishment of our students and faculty.”

Nitin Bakshi ’21, who joined FIEA’s faculty as a technical art instructor after graduating with his master’s in interactive entertainment, says the program takes great pride that many of our alumni continue to live and work in Florida, contributing directly to the local economy.

“These companies rely on artists, designers and programmers who understand real-time production,” he says. “That is exactly the kind of training our program is built around.”

Serious Business

Interest in the program has risen in the past year. FIEA recently drew its largest applicant pool with more than 200 applicants resulting in 90 new enrollees, the largest cohort to date.

For good reason.

The average starting salary for a FIEA graduate is $83,000, and 80% of graduates are in their desired fields at over 400 companies around the world.

The global market size for gaming, hardware and software sales is more than $189 billion (NewZoo’s 2025 Global Games Market Report), overshadowing music and movie industries combined.

“Adapting to the needs of the industry has always been one of our strengths,” Bakshi says. “Whether it is new real-time technologies, new platforms, or new ways of collaboration, we work hard to make sure the program grows along with the field. Seeing the program attract more talented students each year, while continuing to evolve with the industry, is what makes me most excited about the future and about the impact these programs will continue to have.”

Climbing the Leaderboard

±«°äčó’s GaIM improved two spots from last year to its highest ranking, rising to No. 3 in the world and continues to hold the title of the No. 1 program in the South.

The bachelor’s in digital media with a track in game degree design blends theory and practice with a sharp focus on industry readiness. The program stands out as one of the few programs that combine a strong emphasis on both art and technology.

Students develop skills in programming, game design, game programming, as well as 2D and 3D art and visual effects.

The GaIM Maker Space lab, located on the UCF Downtown campus, reflects that commitment in concrete terms: nearly $500,000 in mixed-reality technology including augmented and virtual reality, motion capture, physical computing, 3D printing, and web and mobile development equipment, alongside dedicated research space for applied work.

The impact on the quality of the students’ education and training is undeniable.

“The tools the maker space provides are integrated deeply into virtually every class in GaIM,” Smith says. “Students in early classes are printing board games and 3D printing game pieces, seniors are recording audio and motion capture sequences that are integrated directly into their capstone projects.”

The Rankings’ Methodology

The Princeton Review and PC Gamer’s game design school rankings are based on more than 40 data points derived from the company’s survey of administrators at 150 schools offering game design courses and/or degrees. Most of the institutions are in the U.S., with two in Canada and four abroad. The 50-question survey covered four areas: academics, faculty, technology and career topics.

UCF is setting the standard, earning a 99% match placement rate, compared with a national average of 93.5%.

Knights matched into specialties that include internal and family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology, surgery, pathology and emergency medicine, with 46 of the 108 completing some or all their training in Florida.

Nationally, students are headed to programs that include Brown, Duke, Emory, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Vanderbilt. In Florida, students are going to Orlando Health, Miami, șŁœÇֱȄ of Florida and șŁœÇֱȄ of South Florida. Nine will further strengthen their ties as Knights in UCF-HCA Healthcare residencies in Greater Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee.

Medical school students cannot practice medicine immediately after graduation but must do three to seven years of residency training, depending on their specialty. Match results are kept secret until noon on the third Friday in March.

“At noon, as you open your match envelope, you are opening the door to your future,” Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and dean, said moments before the long-awaited unveiling.

A Match Day Tradition

Friday’s Match Day was particularly meaningful for German, who recently announced she is transitioning away from her role leading the medical school. During her 20 years as dean, German has conducted the first class of medical school for each new cohort. Called, “The Good Doctor – A UCF Tradition,” she asks students to think of the person they love most in the world and describe the characteristics of the doctor they want treating their loved one.

She writes those traits on a blackboard, which stays in the College of Medicine lobby as a contract between students, their faculty, patients and community.

Class of 2026 students designed decorative boxes to hold their Match Day envelopes. The boxes contained their Good Doctor words from four years ago, including grateful, humble, compassionate and resourceful.

Finding Their Match

Ariana Johnson began to cry even before she opened her envelope and learned she will be doing her otolaryngology residency at Old Dominion șŁœÇֱȄ. A recipient of ±«°äčó’s highest student honor, the Order of Pegasus, Johnson says the tears came as she realized she was finally achieving her dream after four years of hard work in medical school. As an ear, nose and throat specialist, she will be able to combine excellence in surgery with clinical patient care.

“I’ll be providing longitudinal care for patients,” she said. “With this specialty, you get to know patients for their whole lives.”

“I’ve wanted this since I was in middle school.” — Brandon Molligoda

Brandon Molligoda matched into neurology at Duke. He says his match result “means everything to me. I’ve wanted this since I was in middle school. I was always fascinated with how the brain works.”

Holly Moots ’17 ’24PhD is the third M.D./Ph.D. graduate in ±«°äčó’s history. She researched pancreatic cancer during her joint degree and was thrilled to match into internal medicine at Lakeland Regional Hospital because of the residency’s focus on research and clinical trials.

“With my background, I want to take what I’ve learned in the labs and translate that into a clinical setting,” she said. “I can finally use all of this knowledge I got here at UCF and apply it to help patients.”

Addressing Florida’s Physician Shortage

The UCF-HCA Graduate Medical Education Consortium is the fastest growing residency and fellowship program in Florida and by this summer will be training more than 800 physicians in Greater Orlando, Sanford, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Ocala, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. UCF-HCA filled all their residency programs during National Match Day, adding 310 new physicians.

“As the need for physicians grows in the state of Florida, with an estimated 18,000 physician shortage projected over the next decade, we are helping to meet those needs,” says Stephen Cico, ±«°äčó’s associate dean for graduate medical education and the UCF-HCA consortium’s designated institutional official. “We are focused on medical specialties that are or are going to be in the highest demand.”

Primary care is one of those specialties.

Victoria Millington ’21, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences before pursing her MD, is one of five Knights who will be staying in Orlando to serve their residences. She matched into her first-choice, internal medicine at the UCF-HCA Healthcare program in Greater Orlando.

Millington says she chose the specialty because it allows her to have long-term relationships with patients and coordinate with specialists to “bring all of the pieces of care together.”

“We are excited to welcome the next generation of physicians who will carry forward our mission — above all else, to care for and improve human life — and deliver compassionate, patient-centered care in the communities we are honored to serve,” says Cheryll Albold, who serves as vice president of graduate medical education for HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division.

They credit the College of Medicine’s required research module and their mentor, an Orlando pediatric plastic surgeon, with inspiring them to seek new knowledge that will help patients in the future.

Fourth-year medical student Hannah Brown and third-years łą±đłÙŸ±łŠŸ±ČčÌęłą±đČ԰쟱łÜÌę’20Ìęand Rose Meltzer presented their research at the biennial International Society of Craniofacial Surgeons (ISCFS) in Shanghai. The society is comprised of surgical leaders from 30 countries worldwide, and it focuses on plastic and reconstructive surgeries that correct congenital malformations of the face, jaw, neck and skull.

It marks the first time UCF students have presented at the conference, and it is rare for student researchers of any university to receive an invitation to participate at this level, says Raj Sawh-Martinez, chief of pediatric plastic surgery at AdventHealth for Children and the students’ mentor.

“From a career standpoint, you’re on the ultimate stage trying to demonstrate your work,” he says. “I’ve known them since they started as first-year medical students, and their growth has just been astronomical.”

The students’ research began during their Focused Inquiry and Research Experience (FIRE) module, which requires every UCF med student to complete a two-year scientific study to advance medical knowledge. Some students continue their projects throughout all four years of medical school.

Sawh-Martinez praised ±«°äčó’s research-based curriculum and says the FIRE experience is helping train better doctors for the future.

“We’re learning about science, sure,” he says of the research experience. “But we’re learning how to develop as leaders and how to accomplish a goal as a team.”

The three students worked with collaborators at the College of Medicine and AdventHealth for Children.

A “Passion Project” To Help Children

Brown has spent the last four years studying whether robotic surgery can be a more efficient and effective way to repair a child’s cleft lip and palate.

After connecting with Sawh-Martinez, Brown learned that while robotic surgery is excelling in other areas of medicine, it wasn’t used for plastic and reconstructive surgery.

“Robotic surgery has just been introduced for microsurgery and delicate tissues in the U.S., and so I wanted to see how it could do with cleft surgery,” she says.

“I’m really glad to have had the space to grow, and that UCF offers FIRE to engage students in research.” — Hannah Brown, UCF med student

She concluded that these microsurgical robots lack the physical strength to do some portions of the cleft surgery and took longer than procedures done by a doctor’s hands alone. But robotic surgery also offered benefits, including improved precision, visualization, ergonomics and better surgery site handling during the delicate portions of the surgery.  Brown’s findings provide a foundation for further research on how to make robotics clinically relevant for cleft surgeries.

“You put in so many hours into something that might not even work, and you’re just taking a leap of faith to test a hypothesis,” Brown says. “I’m really glad to have had the space to grow, and that UCF offers FIRE to engage students in research.”

High-Tech Imaging to Improve Pediatric Surgery

Lenkiu’s projects also examined emerging technologies to enhance pediatric care.

She and her collaborators studied using interoperative MRI (iMRI), 3D modeling and augmented reality to improve a surgeon’s ability to visualize and plan specialized cleft palate surgery. The iMRI creates real-time images during surgery and is used frequently in brain surgery to help guide doctors as they remove tumors and surgically treat epilepsy.

The iMRI is already used in older cleft patients, but Lenkiu’s project scaled the technology for use in infants and proved it could be a viable resource, Sawh-Martinez says.

“This is really the first time we’ve objectively analyzed cleft palate anatomy immediately before and after surgery this thoroughly,” he says. “We looked at the tiny muscles before and after the repairs, and we saw that we could adjust our approaches as we got to understand the anatomy much better. [Lenkiu’s] research got some of the biggest applause because I think this was the first time we’re seeing those objective outcomes in babies at the time of their cleft repairs.”

A Better Surgical Approach for Cranial Compression

Meltzer’s research project focused on surgery for craniosynostosis, a birth defect where a baby’s skull bones fuse too early, before the brain stops growing. This condition can cause the child’s head to be abnormally shaped and place increased pressure on the brain. Children with the condition usually require surgery – either directly into the skull or a less invasive endoscopic procedure.

Meltzer’s hypothesis: What if combining the two surgeries would better help the infant’s brain and skull develop correctly?

“We were looking at starting with the early endoscopic surgery and then following up with an open approach that slowly expands the skull,” Meltzer says. “The hope is that this will result in better outcomes for these patients with very severe cases of restriction, where many of the skull growth plates are stuck together.”

Their analysis found that the two-part surgery was feasible and safe, but they recommend further research for long-term outcomes.

“This has been an ongoing debate on how to approach these kinds of surgeries,” Sawh-Martinez says. “It has always been one or the other, but we thought that those children with severe cases would benefit from a more comprehensive approach.”

Brown, Lenkiu and Sawh-Martinez attended the conference. Sawh-Martinez presented Meltzer’s work.

“It took a lot to feel comfortable going on stage and sharing your work with people who know it better than anyone,” Lenkiu says. “It greatly impacted my confidence, not just as a student and future doctor, but also as someone who is actively contributing to the broader science. It’s such a specialized conference, and to be included in the conversation is humbling.”

As a 67-year-old retiree, Amy Lendian wants you to know it’s never too late. Never too late to start over; to go for your dream career; to earn your college degree.

When the UCF Online history student assumes her spot at the console at Kennedy Space Center to lead the facility systems engineers for the upcoming historic Artemis II launch, that affirmation will echo within her once more.

“I always believed in myself and felt that I could do this,” she says. “It really is never too late.”

Turning a Setback Into a Comeback

Lendian spent the majority of her adult life building her career as a fire protection engineer, helping design sprinkler systems and other fire safety infrastructure.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The construction industry came to a screeching halt. In her 60s, she suddenly faced unemployment.

“I thought, ‘Who is going to want to hire me in my 60s?’ ” she says. “But I made it my job to find a job. And not just any job. I set out for my dream job in the aerospace industry.”

She logged in every day on her home computer to research job listings, dressed as if she was headed to an office. She sought career counseling. She joined virtual seminars to learn new software and online tools she knew she’d need to master if she wanted to break into the field. She learned how to rework her resume to leverage her relevant skills.

Her strategy and persistence paid off. She got a call back for a fire protection systems engineer position on base at Kennedy Space Center.

Finding Her Place in Space

On her first day at KSC, she attended a briefing where they discussed etiquette while serving on the console. She says it took her a moment to process what she was hearing.

“I stayed up to watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. I have a photo of myself as a kid standing in front of an Apollo rocket. And you’re saying you want me to be on the console during a launch?!” she says. “I thought, ‘I’m here. I arrived.’ ”

Lendian served on the console for the Artemis I launch in November 2022.

Although she has since retired from her formal position with KSC and moved to Chicago, she is still employed as a part-time consultant and will be there again for Artemis II managing the fire protection systems on the launchpad.

Finishing What She Started

Her late-stage career change inspired her to consider other dreams she had yet to realize. A big one has been nearly 50 years in the making.

Lendian was 19 years old when she attempted college the first time. She enrolled in the șŁœÇֱȄ of South Florida’s electrical engineering program in the late 1970s. But after three years, she stopped her studies because she got married and needed to support her new family.

In 2021, she decided to resuscitate her dream of a college degree. She transferred her old credits into the program at Eastern Florida State College, earned her associate’s degree and looked to enroll in one of UCF Online’s degree programs so she could manage school with her full-time job.

The history degree she is working toward is affiliated with one of the top online institutions. UCF ranks No. 6 for Online Bachelor’s Programs nationally according to the U.S. News & World Report.

“I want that bachelor’s degree,” Lendian says. “I am doing this for me. I am going to do something that I love (history). And I am going to graduate.”