�����’s leading space medicine experts, valued strategic partners and an astronaut who holds NASA’s record for spacewalks will gather April 10 in Lake Nona’s Medical City to discuss how they can work together to keep space travelers healthy and use that research to create groundbreaking clinical innovations on Earth.

The “Star Nona 2026” event is led by the Lake Nona Research Council, which is focused on encouraging interdisciplinary scientific partnerships between industry, academia and healthcare.

The council includes physicians and researchers from UCF, Orlando Health, AdventHealth, the , the Orlando VA Medical Center, Nemours Children’s Health, business and industry.

Star Nona 2026 Event Details

“Our goal is to bring together space medicine leaders and experts from academia, medicine and the space industry to find more ways we can work together to research the health impacts of space flight and how our discoveries can also improve healthcare on Earth,” says Michal Masternak, UCF professor of medicine.

An anti-aging and cancer researcher, Masternak leads the Lake Nona Research Council’s space medicine research group. He also leads the College of Medicine’s program that processes astronaut samples so physicians and scientists can analyze the immediate impact of space travel on astronauts’ bodies.

Sessions will include presentations on:

• Microgravity and radiation exposure and their impact on human physical and mental health
• How space travel affects muscles, bones, cells, vision and the brain
• Protecting muscles in space (led by AdventHealth researchers)
• Next generation of the space station
• New technologies for diagnosing how space travel impacts human cells.

These presentations will feature UCF researchers from medicine, , and . UCF graduate students and post-doctoral scientists will also present research posters on space medicine.

The plenary speaker is NASA astronaut Robert Curbeam, a U.S. Navy captain who completed four spacewalks during space shuttle Discovery’s 2006 mission to the International Space Station.

The Space Coast’s College of Medicine

Located 45 miles west of the Space Coast and Kennedy Space Center, �����’s College of Medicine is the perfect partner to chart a new frontier in healthcare as humans prepare for longer missions to the moon and Mars, and commercial space flights take more civilians into space.

The goal: explore how factors such as microgravity, radiation and isolation impact the human body in space and how that knowledge can drive innovation into diagnostics, treatment and disease prevention on Earth.

To further those efforts, UCF has created a new Center for Aerospace and Extreme Environments Medicine (CASEEM), which includes UCF faculty experts in medicine, engineering, computer science, psychology, arts and educational leadership. This interdisciplinary group will work together to research and develop new technologies for keeping space travelers healthy, as well as soldiers on military missions, deep sea explorers and mountain climbers.

About the Lake Nona Research Council

Edward Ross, the College of Medicine’s chair of medicine and assistant dean for research, leads the Lake Nona Research Council.

Ross says Star Nona and the partnerships it creates will help solidify UCF and Medical City’s reputation as a premier center for space medicine.

“When people think of keeping space visitors healthy, we want them to immediately think UCF.” — Edward Ross, College of Medicine’s chair of medicine

“As a university, UCF was born to create the workforce to send humans to the moon,” he says. “We’re continuing that legacy with space medicine. When people think of keeping space visitors healthy, we want them to immediately think UCF.”

Event Registration

Star Nona 2026 will be held at the UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center, with registration beginning at 8:15 a.m. Star Nona is made possible by support and sponsorships from Dr. Jogi Pattisapu and the Hydrocephalus and Neuroscience Institute, Tavistock Development Company and the Florida Space Institute. To sign up to attend the event, please visit .

Nov. 13, 2025, 3:55 p.m.��Jillian Gloria ’22 stands on a balcony at Blue Origin headquarters in Cape Canaveral, Florida, her eyes fixed on the horizon at Launch Complex 36 — the very launchpad her grandfather helped construct as a NASA engineer in the 1960s.

Engines ignite. Gloria’s breath catches as she wills the rocket to climb. Then she hears those crucial words: “Liftoff detected. New Glenn has cleared the tower.”

The Blue Origin rocket scientist has just witnessed the launch of her first NASA mission. It’s a goal the Orlando native has dreamed about since childhood; one marked by visions of the space shuttle soaring upward as she commuted to school and the roar of sonic booms when it returned to Earth’s atmosphere.

What makes this milestone even more rewarding is the determination, the hard work and the relentless tenacity it took her to get here.

“Your dreams are possible,” Gloria says. “All you need is passion and persistence. As long as you keep going, you can do anything in this world. You’re always going to end up where you’re meant to be.”

“You’ll Never Graduate”

Gloria’s college journey began outside of Florida despite the numerous space-related research and partnerships available in her backyard at UCF. Like many of her peers, she thought she had to branch out from her hometown to gain the most out of her college experience.

She realized quickly she had made a mistake.

Not long after arriving at the ����ֱ�� in Texas at Arlington, an academic advisor told her she would never graduate with an engineering degree if she started her academic career in algebra. She would need an additional 1.5 years of math and science classes alone before she could set foot in an engineering class.

Rather than catch up on the mathematics education and credits she needed to pursue engineering, he advised she’d be better off going after “something more realistic for her current path like a business degree.”

“As an impressionable 18-19 year old, you listen to your adviser, right?” she says. “I just remember dropping the business class a few weeks in because I thought, ‘This is not what I want to do, and I don’t care how long it takes me, I’m going to do get an engineering degree.’ ”

Opportunity Comes Calling

She course-corrected and enrolled in the program at Valencia College. Valencia provided her the academic resources and tutoring she needed to overcome her initial struggles in math and science.

In 2018 ahead of transferring to UCF, she applied to the Central Florida Physics Research Exchange Program, a former initiative for undergraduate students to participate in a 10-week funded research project over the summer with �����’s physics department.

She remembers doubting her chances of acceptance. After all, she was an aspiring aerospace engineer, not a true physics major. But the program came with the promise of $5,000, and for someone who was working her way through school, what did she have to lose?

As part of her application, she wrote a compelling letter to Professor of Physics William Kaden about his space weathering effects research for NASA and how much she’d love the chance to work in his lab.

The letter worked. Kaden would go on to become Gloria’s mentor throughout her 2.5 years at UCF and kickstarted her hand in research that yielded projects on finding water on the moon, collaborations with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), work with �����’s and a co-authorship on a NASA-funded paper published in 2021 in the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology.

“The world of research at UCF really provided me the actual work experience and opportunities to turn me into an engineer and a candidate that these companies sought after.” — Jillian Gloria ’22, Blue Origin engineer

“The world of research at UCF really provided me the actual work experience and opportunities to turn me into an engineer and a candidate that these companies sought after,” says Gloria, who keeps her senior-year textbook Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion, Second Edition on her office desk. “I worked with industry hardware, a vacuum chamber that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at NASA, flew a payload on a Masten Space Systems Xodiac rocket to track rocket plumes during launch and landing on the moon. I was a published author before I graduated. It all was such an amazing opportunity. That was the first time when I felt like I was actually doing the work I had dreamed about. The things I was exposed to at UCF really  just opened my eyes onto what’s available out there in terms of my career.”

Building a Road to Space

Since graduating in 2022, Gloria launched over a dozen successful missions across three launch-vehicle programs (Atlas V, Delta Heavy, Vulcan Centaur) at United Launch Alliance as a propulsion systems test engineer.

In January 2025, she joined the Blue Origin team as an integrated vehicle test engineer, specializing in the integration, testing, refurbishment, and optimization of complex fluid and pneumatic systems for her fourth launch vehicle, New Glenn.

In other words, she validates the build of the rocket, ensuring its integrity and functionality through every build stage before launch.

She is energized every day by the opportunities available to her to grow and learn within the company, who in addition to their rocket program is also developing a lunar lander and space station.

“This work matters. It’s the future.” — Jillian Gloria

“We’re all working together for the benefit of Earth, and you feel it every day you go to work at Blue Origin,” she says. “This work matters. It’s the future, it’s the next generation launch vehicle, and it just plays a hand in Blue’s mission statement that we want to build a road to space.”

Every milestone they hit — like the recent successful launch and first-time landing of the New Glenn rocket that ferried NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft to begin their journey to Mars — helps get them closer to that goal.

While current generations may not see it, she knows the work she is doing at Blue Origin is developing the infrastructure for future generations who will one day consistently travel to and live on other celestial bodies.

“The stars are the final frontier. It calls to us,” Gloria says. “You can’t really explain it, but when you look up at the sky, it kind of touches your soul. It just makes me feel more connected to something that’s so far away and so beautiful. It’s everything.”

They had been tasked in a semester-long class assignment to build a carbon fiber rocket that would successfully carry the professor’s payload. While their design may have failed epically — while being broadcast live on the internet — they noticed one very important element that turned out to be the spark for their future company.

“When we walked up to the rocket, we saw that the motor had gone through a 2-inch-thick steel plate, but the carbon fiber that we had made was intact and still super strong and actually protected the professor’s payload after exploding and crashing,” Saltzman says. “We said, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good at manufacturing this [carbon fiber] stuff.’ ”

They took it as a sign to change their majors from aerospace engineering to materials science and engineering, and the earliest roots of Soarce were planted.

Sustainably Strengthening Industries

Soarce is at the forefront of bio-based nanomaterials and seeks to solve society’s greatest climate challenges by leveraging natural materials to create products that can outperform those made synthetically.

Drawn from seaweed, hemp and elephant grass, their nanocellulose coating can be applied to and fortify carbon fiber structures — everything from hockey sticks to electric vehicles to rocket ships.

“That allows engineers to design parts that are lighter, stronger and more efficient,” Saltzman says. “For electric vehicles, they can now go farther. In the world of aerospace, we’re making those materials stronger so now you have more payload mass that you can put into space.”

Their innovation has so much promise it has already secured $3.2 million in funding.

“UCF is about dreaming big, going as big as you can. And that’s how we feel.” — Derek Saltzman

“UCF is about dreaming big, going as big as you can. And that’s how we feel,” Saltzman says. “We’re on pace to what we feel is going to be the largest global nanocellulose producer in the world. And we are not afraid to say that and stand behind it. That’s a big dream, but that’s kind of what we’re here to do — make big changes.”

UCF-Backed Entrepreneurship

Their entrepreneurial journey has gone through several iterations since Saltzman and Mincey were randomly assigned as roommates in during their freshman year. The pair dabbled in enterprises involved with agriculture and drone racing, cutting their teeth on the business side of running a company through resources UCF offers including the ’s .

To this day, they’re still partnering with the UCF ecosystem, utilizing the UCF Business Incubation Program’s Life Sciences Incubator in Lake Nona, which gives Soarce access to a fully equipped, Biosafety Level II wet lab to foster their work in advanced materials.

“UCF has really strong partnerships and connections to industry that allow you to funnel your idea from a lab-benchtop scale all the way to integrating into a Fortune 500 company to get that product off the ground,” Saltzman says.

Now, along with fellow UCF alums and Soarce co-founders Matthew Jaeger ’22, an actuarial science alum, and Patrick Michel, a former management student, they’re looking forward to expanding their operations into an 8,000-square-foot facility in partnership with Tavistock and heading into pilot trials with Fortune 500 companies.

“It’s really cool to see how far we’ve come, from an idea in a notebook that we started eight years ago to now within the next three to five years, we’ll have that material not only created, but actually being flown into space and amongst the stars,” Saltzman says.

The Soarce co-founders were recognized on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Manufacturing & Industry list in 2026.

“… knowing that I contributed to a program that became part of lunar history was deeply satisfying and fulfilling.”

Rehder is one of 700 people whose name appears on a plaque commemorating Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission I, the first fully successful commercial moon landing. The plaque, mounted on the lunar lander, was unveiled through a social media post in January.

“It was incredibly exciting and honestly unexpected,” Rehder says. “Finding out that my name was etched on the Blue Ghost lunar lander after I had already left Firefly came as a complete surprise, since I was no longer with the company and had not been aware that the plaque would be included on the spacecraft.”

Rehder contributed to the mission as a composite manufacturing engineering intern, assisting with manufacturing work orders, work instructions and post-curing walkdowns to support flight hardware readiness. Although his internship ended before Blue Ghost launched, Rehder says that the mission’s success makes his experience with Firefly much more meaningful.

“Even in a small way, knowing that I contributed to a program that became part of lunar history was deeply satisfying and fulfilling,” he says. “As a college student and early-career engineer, it reinforced how impactful collaborative engineering efforts can be.”

Launching a Career Through Aerospace Internships

At Firefly, Rehder also supported work on the Eclipse launch vehicle before moving on to an internship at SpaceX. There, he served as a structures engineering intern for the Dragon program. Rehder says he was treated like a member of the team, given ownership over his work, and trusted with design and project management responsibilities. The best part of the internship, though, was meeting some of the astronauts who would eventually fly in the Dragon spacecraft.

“Having the chance to interact with them and hear their perspectives made the work feel very real,” Rehder says. “It was a constant reminder that the structures we were designing and testing would ultimately be protecting human lives, which reinforced the importance of careful design, attention to detail and engineering accountability.”

Rehder completed a third internship with United Launch Alliance (ULA) before graduating from UCF with his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in Fall 2025. He now works for ULA as a mechanical engineer, supporting payload fairings for the Vulcan and Atlas launch vehicles.

Prepared by UCF, Powered by Persistence

�����’s resume workshops are what Rehder credits with helping him stand out among candidates during the application process, but he says persistence ultimately was key to earning so many internships with major aerospace companies.

Want to connect with top aerospace companies in Central Florida? Don’t miss UCF’s Spring 2026 Internship and Career Expo on Tuesday, March 10.��.

Rehder’s advice to current students seeking internships is not to be discouraged by rejection, having applied to more than 100 internships before being accepted to Firefly. He also encourages getting involved in UCF student organizations to gain the hands-on experience employers value. He says that the mix of academics and applied learning is exactly what drew him to pursue his undergraduate degree at UCF — the No. 1 supplier of graduates to the nation’s aerospace and defense industries (Aviation Week Network).

“Being surrounded by space-related programs, student projects and industry connections made it easier to turn classroom knowledge into practical engineering skills,” Rehder says. “That environment played a big role in preparing me for internships and to contribute confidently to real-world aerospace programs.”

UCF Trustee Chair Subith Vasu and postdoctoral scholar Justin Urso ’15 ’22PhD have been awarded a $750,000 grant from NASA to study the effects that AAM may have on communities. The UCF researchers have partnered with Ocala International Airport on this project, which will specifically explore the effects of pollution and noise on the surrounding neighborhoods.

“We partnered with Ocala International Airport because of the air traffic around that community,” Vasu says. “Anything that flies makes noise, and it can be annoying for residents. We’re looking at how to minimize the risk so the community isn’t bothered.”

Ocala International Airport was a prime partner due to its potential for implementation. Vertiports are the specialized launch pads for electrical air vehicles such as drones and air taxis. Companies like Amazon are interested in using AAM technology for fast and convenient home deliveries while organizations like NASA aim to develop this new transportation system that will deliver both goods and people around the world, safely and efficiently.

“If you live in Ocala and want to take a flight to Europe, California or New York, where do you go?” Vasu says. “The Tampa and Orlando airports are two hours away by car. Depending on where you live, AAM can be very helpful.”

Urso says we could see the development of a vertiport at the Ocala International Airport by 2035. The City of Orlando also has a vested interest in AAM and is working with NASA to develop an air transportation system plan. Vasu says, in the future, they may expand their project to include Orlando International Airport.

An additional partner on the project is Yingru Li, a professor of sociology at UCF, who will conduct community assessments to provide important data on the City of Ocala. Vasu says the goal is to put UCF at the forefront of this developing industry.

“There’s a lot of opportunity within AAM for UCF and the state of Florida,” Vasu says. “We just want to push UCF as a leader in that field.”

Founded in 1963 with the mission to provide talent for Central Florida and the growing U.S. space program, the university’s extensive involvement in space research and education not only drives innovations in space technology but also prepares the next generation of leaders in the field.

With more than 40 active NASA projects totaling more than $67 million in funding, UCF continues to push the frontiers of space research, and its contributions promise to help shape the future of humanity’s presence in the cosmos.

�����’s cutting-edge areas of space expertise include:

Space Medicine

�����’s College of Medicine is pioneering new frontiers in aerospace medicine, positioning itself as a leader in space health research and education. Spearheaded by initiatives to create an interdisciplinary curriculum, UCF is integrating expertise from engineering, medicine and nursing to address the unique health challenges of space exploration.

The college is building on existing research in space health, including innovative studies on the effects of microgravity on bone health, which could lead to improved protection for astronauts. Collaborations across disciplines, such as testing therapeutics for radiation protection and developing antimicrobial solutions for space station environments, highlight �����’s commitment to advancing astronaut health and shaping the future of space medicine.

Space Propulsion and Power

UCF is advancing space propulsion with groundbreaking research that could make space travel more efficient and viable for future missions. Researchers are developing innovative hypersonic propulsion systems, such as rotating detonation rocket engines, which harness high-speed detonations to increase propulsion efficiency and reduce fuel consumption — an advancement that could significantly lower costs and emissions associated with space travel, creating new commercial opportunities in the industry. UCF is taking its hypersonics research even further with its recently launched Center of Excellence in Hypersonic and Space Propulsion — the HyperSpace Center.

Additionally, UCF teams are exploring novel power systems for spacecraft venturing far from the sun, where solar energy becomes impractical. With funding from NASA, researchers are creating storable chemical heat sources capable of providing essential heat and power in extreme environments, from the icy surfaces of distant moons to the intense heat of Venus.

Space Technology and Engineering

UCF is forging the future of space technology with innovations that push the boundaries of lunar and deep space exploration. Through advancements in lunar resource utilization, UCF has developed methods to efficiently extract ice from lunar soil so that it can be transformed into vital resources like water and rocket fuel, while new techniques for processing lunar soil drastically reduce construction costs for infrastructure such as landing pads.

UCF researchers are also pioneering 3D-printed bricks made from lunar regolith that withstand extreme space conditions, setting the foundation for resilient off-world habitats. Lunar regolith is the loose dust, rocks and materials that cover the moon’s surface.

�����’s Exolith Lab, part of the , continues to lead in space hardware testing, advancing resource extraction and lunar construction technologies. Meanwhile, FSI’s CubeSat program is opening new doors in space exploration with compact, affordable satellites that give students and researchers access to microgravity and beyond.

Space Commercialization

UCF’s new space commercialization program — led by , College of Business professor of practice and associate provost for space commercialization and strategy — positions the university as a leader in space-related business education.

Autry will guide the college’s efforts to deliver Executive and MBA programs in space commercialization, driving curriculum development and establishing space-focused programs that equip students to lead in the growing commercial space industry.

In addition to the space commercialization program, Autry will be working with external stakeholders, including NASA, the U.S. Space Force and commercial firms like Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, to develop opportunities to advance mutual interests in space.

This includes working with Kennedy Space Center to lead a State ����ֱ�� System partnership with the state of Florida to develop the necessary talent to maintain and expand Florida’s leadership in space exploration and commercialization.

Autry will also be leading �����’s effort to develop and execute a roadmap for the university’s SpaceU brand through targeted investments in talent and facilities.

Space Domain Awareness

UCF is advancing space domain awareness research to protect critical assets in orbit by developing sophisticated algorithms for tracking and predicting the movement of objects such as satellites and asteroids, so they don’t collide with spacecraft. Under the guidance of aerospace engineering expert Tarek Elgohary, UCF researchers are creating a computational framework to rapidly and accurately track space objects in real time. This initiative is backed by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Dynamic Data and Information Process Program.

UCF is also addressing the growing issue of orbital debris through a NASA-funded study that includes researchers from �����’s FSI and . This project seeks to increase public awareness and support for managing space debris, a hazard to satellites and potential space tourism ventures.

Workforce Development

UCF is propelling students toward dynamic careers in the space industry with hands-on programs and sought-after internship opportunities. Through the new engineering graduate certificate in electronic parts engineering, developed in collaboration with NASA, students are gaining essential skills in testing and evaluating space-ready electronic components — a key advantage for aspiring space professionals.

Additionally, UCF students can benefit from hands-on internships at Kennedy Space Center, where they gain real-world experience in various fields, from engineering to project management.

At the , students gain direct experience in microgravity research and robotics. The center embodies �����’s commitment to democratizing space access, offering pathways for students from all backgrounds to participate in and contribute to the growing space industry.

FSI’s CubeSat program further immerses students in satellite design and operation, offering direct involvement in active space missions.

Planetary Science

UCF’s planetary science program is driving breakthroughs in space exploration with projects spanning the moon, Mars and beyond. The NASA-funded Lunar-VISE mission, led by UCF, will explore the Gruithuisen domes on the far side of the moon to understand their volcanic origins, potentially unlocking insights crucial for future space exploration.

Complementing this, UCF researchers are contributing to NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission, which will map water ice deposits on the moon — an essential resource for sustained stays in space. On another front, UCF scientists are studying dust behavior in microgravity through experiments that flew on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, potentially leading to strategies for mitigating lunar dust, a challenge for electronics and equipment on future missions.

Expanding its reach beyond the moon, �����’s planetary science research involves asteroid studies, including the high-profile OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu and examining seismic wave propagation in simulated asteroid materials to understand asteroid evolution and early planetary formation. UCF is also home to the , a node of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, which facilitates NASA’s exploration of deep space by focusing its goals at the intersection of surface science and surface exploration of rocky, atmosphereless bodies.

Additionally, UCF researchers are studying trans-Neptunian objects and using the James Webb Space Telescope to explore the solar system’s outer reaches, analyzing ancient ices to uncover clues about the solar system’s history, while also investigating exoplanets to advance our understanding of other planets and to search for life beyond Earth.

In parallel, UCF researchers are also advancing bold ideas for terraforming Mars through nanoparticle dispersion to create warming effect, making the Red Planet potentially more habitable.

UCF researchers have also contributed their expertise to multiple high-profile NASA missions, including Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Curiosity, and New Horizons.

Advancing Astrophotonics, History and Policy

�����’s space research spans pioneering astrophotonics technology, studies in space history and critical analyses in space policy, each offering unique insights into the universe. The within CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, is pushing the boundaries of photonics and astronomy, using tools like photonic lanterns, fiber optics, and hyperspectral imaging to detect cosmic phenomena and address profound questions about dark energy.

Meanwhile, delves into space history, exploring the cultural and scientific impacts of milestones like the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttle program, helping illuminate humanity’s journey into space.

The contributes to this comprehensive approach with its broad studies of space policy, both domestically and internationally, including examining military space policy and rising space powers. The work involves studying space law, international agreements, and policy frameworks that guide space activities, which is essential for addressing the governance and strategic planning needed for space exploration and utilization.

Pioneering Tomorrow’s Space Exploration

UCF is pushing the frontiers of space research and education, tackling today’s challenges while preparing for the demands of future space missions. As the new space race continues, �����’s forward-thinking approach will continue to drive progress, inspire new possibilities and expand humanity’s reach into the universe.

In a first-of-its-kind mission for the United States that spanned over seven years, the unmanned spacecraft mapped and studied the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, then retrieved a sample for researchers to study the asteroid’s composition.

Topping the list was a story on the world’s first energy-saving paint inspired by butterflies. The plasmonic paint utilizes a nanoscale structural arrangement of colorless materials — aluminum and aluminum oxide — instead of pigments to create colors. The paint can contribute to energy-saving efforts and help reduce environmental impacts.

Other stories included a $12.6 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grant looking to create self-repairing, biological and human-engineered reef-mimicking structures. UCF is helping design reef structures that will be used to mitigate coastal flooding, erosion and storm damage that threaten civilian and Department of Defense infrastructure and personnel. Another story featured new research on the earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia, pushing back the presence of humans in that part of the world by at least 20,000 years and a human presence in the region for at least 56,000 years.

Here are the Top 10 UCF Research News Stories of 2023:

1. UCF Researcher Creates World’s First Energy-saving Paint – Inspired by Butterflies

2. The Long Journey of NASA’S OSIRIS-REx

3. Human Migration Timeline Redrawn by Fresh Fossil Analysis

4. New UCF-developed Battery Could Prevent Post-hurricane Electric Vehicle Fires

5. UCF Researchers Are Advancing AI-assisted Drug Discovery

6. UCF is Designing Self-repairing Oyster Reefs to Protect Florida’s Coastlines

7. New DOD-funded Project Will Develop Morphing Hypersonic Engine

8. UCF Researchers Create Bioabsorbable Implants for Better Bone Healing

9. UCF Team Awarded $2.3M Grant for Innovative Intervention to Prevent Falls

10. Deadly Frog Disease More Prevalent in Central Florida Than Expected, UCF Study Finds

The annual top 10 list is based on UCF Today page views and coverage UCF research received by global, national, state, and local media. The stories were generated by news releases and pitches from UCF Communications and Marketing, �����’s Office of Research and �����’s colleges.

Raytheon Technologies, a research partner of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, was so impressed with the work of recent intern Sydney Giannuzzi that they honored her with an Innovation Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to their research and to the team.

“Sydney’s work ethic and enthusiasm for the project are remarkable, and it has been a pleasure to have her be our intern this summer,” the awarded certificate reads. “We are looking forward to continued collaboration with her throughout her Ph.D. work.”

Giannuzzi, an aerospace engineering doctoral student, completed the internship this past summer at the defense company’s Hartford, Connecticut, location. She worked on the design and analysis of a novel flow valve that can more easily test operating conditions for aircraft engines. The goal is to better understand the damping process so that aircraft engine designers can prevent the dangerous conditions that could lead to engine failure.

The project is funded through a $899,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research, which facilitated the collaboration between Raytheon and UCF. Jeffrey Kauffman, director of �����’s aerospace engineering program, is the principal investigator of the project, which includes two 10-week internships at Raytheon.

Although other UCF students have assisted with the research, Giannuzzi is the first to work on the project as a Raytheon intern. She says she’s thrilled with the progress her team made and with the recognition it garnered.

“I am honored that my team and supervisor appreciated my contribution and thought to submit me for this award,” Giannuzzi says. “It means a lot to be recognized by such a talented group of individuals.”

The project taught her the value of collaboration and how to work with various teams to produce a viable result — a lesson that will stay with her as she embarks on her career.

“I learned how valuable it is to get to know the people you work with and to identify everyone’s strengths,” Giannuzzi says. “We can accomplish so much more together if we utilize each other’s knowledge and experience.”

After graduation, Giannuzzi plans to work in the aerospace industry with a focus on structural dynamics for aircraft and spacecraft. She says that UCF was always the top choice for her doctoral education due to the location and its reputation for being a partnership university with relationships with aerospace engineering companies.

“Connecting with Dr. Kauffman helped to solidify my plans when I learned about his research focused on structural dynamics and adaptive structures,” Giannuzzi says. “I don’t think I could have found a better fit for me in regard to my research interests and the connections that I have made through my research at UCF.”

This year, 165 students from 68 U.S. institutions were selected for this fellowship, which lasts for three years and covers tuition and fees for any doctoral program in the country. Participants also receive a monthly stipend and are paired with a research mentor who will guide them through their chosen project. At the end of the fellowship, students have the chance to present their research at the annual NDSEG Conference.

Since the program’s inception in 1989, more than 4,500 fellowships have been awarded to college students. This year’s UCF awardees are:

• Andrew DeRusha ’22, aerospace engineering
• Daniel Dyson ’21 ’22MS, aerospace engineering and Burnett Honors Scholar
• Alphonse Marra, physics

Andrew DeRusha ’22

DeRusha may not have his career path solidified yet, but he’s already following in his father’s footsteps. His dad worked as an engineer while DeRusha was growing up and introduced him to the ultimate space saga, Star Wars. His interest in the franchise, paired with the influence of his father’s career, led him to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering.

DeRusha walked across the UCF stage in Spring 2022 and has already completed the first year of his aerospace engineering doctoral degree. He says the NDSEG fellowship will help him explore his interests and entertain future engineering and research possibilities.

“The fellowship is the perfect opportunity to help me find out what I want to do,” DeRusha says. “All I know is that I love engineering and am passionate about research. I hope that whatever my career ends up being, I can continue to work in a research role.”

DeRusha will flex his research skills as he develops a multi-species laser-absorption sensor, used in diagnostics for combustion systems. He’ll also continue to work in the Vasu Lab, led by Professor of Aerospace Engineering Subith Vasu, an experience that led him to the NDSEG fellowship.

“I am incredibly excited and honored to have been selected for the fellowship,” DeRusha says. “It’s incredibly satisfying to receive recognition, but it also reminds me to be thankful for all the people who helped me on the path to being given this award.”

Daniel Dyson ’21 ’22MS

Like many aerospace engineering students, Dyson was drawn to the field of astronautics through the space shuttle program and the burning questions it posed in his young mind: How does a rocket function? How can it carry a payload from Earth to space?

His career path was set after attending the Florida Space Grant Consortium Engineering Academy, which allowed him to tour the UCF engineering labs, design and test model rockets, build popsicle-stick bridges, and code in Java.

“These projects and my mentors from this program encouraged me to pursue a degree in engineering and really kickstarted my development as an engineer and a researcher,” Dyson says.

After earning two degrees in aerospace engineering, interning at Northrop Grumman and working on research projects with Vasu, Dyson is now a full-fledged engineer and researcher. He’ll use the skills he’s honed at UCF to complete his NDSEG research project, which aims to reveal new insights regarding combustion and explosion dynamics.

Dyson will specifically study the combustion of burning fuel droplets that contain nitrogen and their effects post-detonation as well as the combustion process of nitromethane. But perhaps his most compelling discovery will come from the experience itself. Dyson says he looks forward to future mentorship from scientists and engineers and learning more about careers in research.

At UCF, the two-time alum will still be mentored by Vasu as he completes his doctoral degree in aerospace engineering. Dyson says he chose to attend UCF not only for its location and tuition support, but its reputation as SpaceU.

“Most importantly, I recognized �����’s reputation as a leader in providing the Space Coast with new engineers ready to tackle the biggest challenges in industry,” Dyson says. “Remembering that it was outer space that initially encouraged me to pursue engineering in the first place, it seemed like I was destined to pursue engineering in Central Florida and become a Knight.”

Alphonse Marra

Physics doctoral student Marra’s research began with ultrafast physics during his undergraduate studies at the ����ֱ�� of Wisconsin-Madison. He became fascinated with the use of lasers to study phenomena at very short timescales.

“To me, physics is all about pushing the limits of our knowledge of the physical universe,” Marra says.

After graduating with his bachelor’s degree, Marra began working at UCF on a new project to build a laser alongside a well-respected group with a history of success. Marra’s focus on physics is attosecond science, and he works with Pegasus Professor Zenghu Chang. The next step in their research is to focus on generating few-cycle pulses capable of driving single-isolated attosecond pulses.

The NDSEG fellowship he’s received will give him greater flexibility with his research and allow him to travel to conferences like a seminar at the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he is presenting this fall.

“I’m grateful for the staff members in the Department of Physics and the sense of community in the department, Marra says. “I have a lot of people from UCF to thank, from machinists to fellow students to professors and many others. I especially am grateful to my PI (principal investigator), professor Chang, for his dedication to our research.”

Hypersonic propulsion would allow for air travel at speeds of Mach 6 to 17, or more than 4,600 to 13,000 mph, and has applications in commercial and space travel. Although the technology has been around since the 1960s, countries including the U.S., Russia and China, are racing to improve the systems to achieve more efficient and longer, more sustained hypersonic flight.

The $450,000 Naval Research Laboratory grant-funded project will develop a hypersonic engine that can morph or transform its configuration during flights to optimize performance.

“Most hypersonic engines are structurally fixed due to the challenging flight environment,” says the project’s principal investigator Kareem Ahmed, a professor in �����’s . “Our research will show the performance gains from an adaptable engine configuration that would self-optimize its surfaces to maximize performance power, thrust and travel distance which is the first of its kind for hypersonic engines.”

Ahmed is a leading researcher in the field of hypersonics, achieving the first stabilized and sustained rotating detonation wave for hypersonic travel and heading a $1.5 million U.S. Department of Defense award to develop high-performance fuels for hypersonic propulsion.

This new research project is based off Ahmed’s work on “scramjet”, or supersonic combustion ramjet engines. The key feature of a scramjet engine is its ability to combust air at supersonic speeds without slowing it down to subsonic speeds, as is done in traditional jet engines.

Ahmed and his research team have developed an aerothermodynamic model for the hypersonic, morphing scramjet engine and are currently in the stage of experimental testing it to assess the performance. Aerothermodynamics analyzes the interaction of gases at high speeds and elevated temperatures.

“We are very happy for being selected for the program,” Ahmed says. “Our lab has been a leader and innovator in high-speed and hypersonic propulsion and this program gives our group the opportunity to contribute and make an impact.”

Ahmed joined �����’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, part of �����’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 2014. He is also a faculty member of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research and the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion. He served more than three years as a senior aero/thermo engineer at Pratt & Whitney military engines working on advanced engine programs and technologies. He also served as a faculty member at Old Dominion ����ֱ�� and Florida State ����ֱ��. At UCF, he is leading research in propulsion and energy with applications for power generation and gas-turbine engines, propulsion-jet engines, hypersonics and fire safety, as well as research related to supernova science and COVID-19 transmission control. He earned his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the State ����ֱ�� of New York at Buffalo. He is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics associate fellow and a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research faculty fellow.