“From then I wanted to learn English so I could learn to sing it and play on the piano,” says Kourova, who grew up in Russia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Hungary.

Now a speaker of five languages — English, French, German, Russian and Ukrainian — Kourova has been an associate professor of Teaching English Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at UCF for 13 years. She also has been teaching Russian for the past decade.

“I really love teaching and my students. Teaching is in my blood since my mom was a home economics teacher,” says Kourova, who received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Central Association of Russian Teachers of America.

As, she reflects on her passion and profession for the past 30 years. While the general focus of Kourova’s courses is language, she incorporates culture into her lesson plans because she knows it is essential for retention of the language.

Like many other teachers this year, she has had to adapt her instruction plan due to the pandemic. While she wasn’t able to host her typical summer trip with , she has been working to develop a virtual version of the experience, during which students usually spend mornings learning Russian and afternoons visiting local sites such as Red Square and the emperors’ Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

But for the past ten years, Kourova has included digital component in her intermediate courses — long before Zoom became a norm for teaching. Through a connecting classrooms project, these students email and video chat once a month with students in Russia while discussing a given topic, such as their backgrounds or schools. Kourova says interacting with their peers allows her students to learn Russian language and culture better and develop friendships that last long after they’ve earned their degrees. And since the pandemic she has been working with UCF’s to redesign and expand the project to include cultural games, interviews and more engaging practices through Zoom.

“[My American students] can see that Russian students are the same. They have the same ambitions in life and interests. People are people everywhere,” Kourova says.

At 10 a.m. on Nov. 20, Kourova open up a connecting classrooms video chatting session about the differences between American and Russian education systems to the . The event is part of , which will also include a virtual discussion on Nov. 18 with Don Gentile, Workforce Shaping Group chief, on the importance of Russian and four other critical languages in the U.S. intelligence workforce.

Kourova will be demonstrating how to make a Russian dish and dessert during a , which she has begun hosting this year for the Russian American Student Association, on Nov. 20 at 3:30 p.m. The student organization is mainly made up of American students who want to learn more about Russia, but also includes international students native to the county. As faculty advisor Kourova, helps members with language-based questions, applying for scholarship and fellowship opportunities, and consults on engagement opportunities.

“Dr. K is nice, kind and understanding,” says Alesia Lokshina, the former RASA president and Russia native and biomedical sciences major. “She cares about all her students and members in the organization. She is strict, but it’s because she really cares. She tries to make people do better, so she asks a lot of them.”

On Monday, Nov.6, Kouvora and RASA will also host a presentation on Russian culture and history through a virtual tour of the country’s embassy. and will include guest speaker Natalia Rydvanov from the Cultural Office of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington D.C.

Kourova, who studied at Moscow State ����ֱ�� and was a Fulbright Scholar at the ����ֱ�� of Montana, understands first-hand the high demands and struggles students may face with studying languages and cultures. While at UM, she learned new research methods that used computer data and published a book on the difference between Russian and American education systems. She also visited UCF for a language conference.

“Since that time it was my dream to live in Florida and teach at UCF because I was impressed by the university, the students and professors I met,” Kourova says. “I think I’m really blessed to have a really great group of people working with me.”

Learn more about how UCF Global is celebrating .

Sophia had been very particular about the color choice for her new accessories. She did not want flesh-colored hearing aids, which might have been less noticeable. Sophia was never one to hide her gifts.

“I have one foot in the hearing world, and one foot in the deaf and hard of hearing world.” – Sophia Grilla, UCF student

Sophia is proud to show off her hearing aids, which are now a snazzy purple, and also uses American Sign Language to communicate. She learned how to talk before she lost her hearing, so it is hard for the casual listener to discern any deficiencies in her speech.

“I have one foot in the hearing world, and one foot in the deaf and hard of hearing world,” Sophia says. “Sometimes I’m not considered deaf enough, and sometimes I’m not considered hearing enough.”

Communicating and Connecting with Others

Sophia has attended some of UCF’s ASL classes and begun formal instruction in ASL this month. The communication sciences and disorders student hopes to receive her interpreter certification while at UCF.

“She’s always been a child who has overcome and done things with a smile on her face,” says Franco Grilla ’92, Sophia’s dad a UCF criminal justice grad. “I can’t even explain it. It’s amazing what she’s had to overcome, and you would never know it.”

This quest to find her place in the world became crystal clear in middle school when she started acting with Shakespeare with Heart, a collaboration between UCP of Central Florida, the Exceptional Education Department of UCF and the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Here, students with and without special needs work together to produce a Shakespeare play.

“Involved in these productions are people with Down syndrome, people with autism, and/or people who use wheelchairs. It’s just so amazing, gratifying, and beautiful to watch and be a part of,” Sophia says.

Sophia performed in numerous plays with the group, alternating between using her voice and using sign language. Once, she taught the entire cast sign language to the closing musical number. Through this experience, Sophia learned that being able to bridge the gap between the hearing, deaf and hard-of-hearing population was a gift.

Parents Use Their Faith and Experiences as Athletes to Persevere

Wendy, who studied health services administration, and Franco met at UCF back in the ’90s when they were both student athletes. She was a cheerleader and he was the kicker for the football team.

Both say the lessons they learned as athletes helped them tackle life’s challenges: perseverance, hard work, trusting your coaches and the importance of teamwork. All these skills came in handy when finding the best care for their daughter.

They met their first “coaches” as parents when Sophia was born almost two months premature. Being first-time parents, they devised a game plan with the help of multiple healthcare professionals to help Sophia thrive.

Later, when Sophia was in preschool, they found another coach. Her teacher told Wendy and Franco that Sophia preferred to play independently and that sometimes her speech was “funny.” They brought these matters up at her next pediatric visit and asked the pediatrician for a referral to an audiologist.

Over the course of several months the Grillas pushed for answers. After many tests, Sophia received the diagnosis of mild-to-moderate progressive sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

According to the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), a SNHL is the most common type of permanent hearing loss. Doctors told Wendy that the hearing loss was most likely unrelated to Sophia’s premature birth and could not be fixed by medicine or surgery. They recommended hearing aids for 4-year-old Sophia.

“From physicians, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and deaf and hard of hearing itinerant teachers, this community of supporters is vital,” Wendy says. “We relied on this team of experts to help us bridge the gaps and provide the best care for Sophia.”

The Grillas realized that their daughter would benefit from speech therapy to help her overcome any deficits in that area. Sophia received speech therapy services for eight years.

Through it all, the Grilla family had faith in God’s plan for Sophia.  “His guidance was our best defense,” Wendy says.

Life Amplified

Sophia debuted her hearing aids at her father’s induction into the UCF Football Hall of Fame.

Franco was wearing a new accessory too — a receiver that linked directly to Sophia’s hearing aids, so she could hear her father speak.

As Franco was introduced and started talking about his UCF football career, a tiny — but mighty — voice came from the audience, “I hear you, Daddy!”

Sophia has been told that story ever since she can remember, but she says, “I don’t really remember when I got the hearing aids. They’ve just always been a part of who I am.”

While it might sound like a “fix” to wear hearing aids, users hear differently than their hearing peers.

“It can be hard to describe what the world sounds like to a person with hearing loss, because no two people hear exactly the same way,” says Linda I. Rosa-Lugo, an associate professor in UCF’s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the director of UCF’s Listening Center.

Rosa-Lugo met Sophia through community outreach events for deaf and hard of hearing individuals and their families. Rosa-Lugo noticed that Sophia was outgoing and welcoming to new families and cheerfully answered questions, many of which were regarding hearing aids.

Hearing aids are fine-tuned to each user’s specific hearing loss and only amplify sounds that are not naturally heard clearly.

“It’s never 100 percent perfect,” Rosa-Lugo says.  “There can be feedback and interference from ambient noise; there can be listening fatigue to the user because it can be difficult to keep background noise at bay.”

Listening to Her Calling

Sophia plans to major in communication sciences and disorders. Her ultimate goal? To become an audiologist.

She won’t be the first audiologist with hearing loss.

According to the American Speech and Hearing Association, advancements in hearing and assistive technology have made it possible for other individuals with hearing loss to enter the profession.

Sophia knows that her unique ability to relate to hearing loss will help others. But she says as she looks back over her life, she can see a path that had very little to do with her own will.

“This is God’s story through and through,” she says. “It’s amazing to look back and see where He’s been!”

Wendy says she hopes that Sophia can serve as an inspiration to others.

“She humbles me and makes my heart want to explode when I see her relating to other children who may have obstacles to overcome,” Wendy says. “I want other people to see that no matter what you can or can’t do, you can still have dreams and accomplish many great and wonderful things.”

But this week the 24-year-old will graduate from UCF with a Bachelor of Fine Arts as a member of the Tau Sigma National Honor Society – a huge accomplishment considering that foster care workers say only about 3 percent of young people coming out of foster homes graduate from a four-year college.

“I moved from city to city as a child because my parents moved every time a state started to investigate for child abuse,” says Thomas, whose artwork was recently featured in an exhibit at the . “I don’t know too much about my biological family, which is the sad truth for most children in foster care.”

The three paintings on display at the gallery exhibit were part of a very personal project: his life of isolation before entering into the foster care system.

Thomas,  who creates his artwork under the name Titus Cartwright, says he first became interested in painting because it was therapeutic. Now, however, he says it allows him to express himself and uncover past experiences.

“My artwork explores abandonment, memory loss, neglect, and isolation,” he says. “I hope to show the effects of child abuse and my experiences in the foster care system.”

In an online posting, the Heart Gallery, a Central Florida organization that advocates for the adoption of children, promoted his exhibit and what it said about giving hope to others in foster care:

“Art has been a healing way for Titus to express himself and his feelings, which prior to getting adopted was something that he struggled with greatly. His art has given him a voice and an outlet to share and shed light on not just the long-term effects of what he calls ‘unprepared parenting’ but also a platform to encourage and inspire our current foster youth to believe in their dreams and to stay open to the idea of being adopted. He has a specific message for those currently in foster care that may be afraid to open up and try again and it is this: ‘Don’t let the fear of your past keep you from the possibilities of your future. Learn to hope again, trust again and love again.’”

The student says he is grateful for his adopted family who gave him the love and acceptance he sought, and his UCF art instructors who kept him engaged with his work.

“They [his adoptive family] were very patient and understood that the impact of the traumatic experiences wouldn’t be fixed overnight,” he says. “They’re also dog lovers and would rescue dogs from the shelters. We would have six dogs at a time.”

As for his art professors, he says they have provided a great mix of experience and advice.

“They are all very different and I feel like they each make me more capable by making my artwork complete and more well-rounded,” he says.

After graduation, Thomas plans to move to Georgia to continue to build his body of work, apply for grants to open a gallery, apply for graduate school – and, not surprisingly, take the arts to underrepresented communities.

True story: A teenage girl sketches a drawing of a bionic arm on a piece of paper. It’s a princess arm, you might say, with gold swirls and strong, elegant fingers. Surely, this girl — Annika is her name — doesn’t believe the cute picture will go any further than a scrapbook of mementos … does she? The world of prosthetic engineering and design is cumbersome, complex and exorbitant. It’s never been a place for kids. Except Annika sends the sketch to Limbitless Solutions in Knights Plaza on the UCF campus. There, in a small office of computer desks and an even tinier manufacturing space, a team goes to work on Annika’s dream. Six months later, there it is: a bionic princess arm, designed, built and ready to use.

“One advantage of being small is that we can bring ideas to life quickly,” says Limbitless branding director Mrudula Peddinti ’18, who majored in emerging media and digital media. “It allows us to change the conversation about bionic arms for underserved kids.”

On Dec. 3, Peddinti and Annika Bryson-Emmert took the conversation to a stage no one could have imagined in 2014 when a group of UCF students founded Limbitless: the United Nations.

The United Nations in New York City … no pun intended, but how in the world did this happen?
It’s actually the second time we’ve sent someone from Limbitless to speak at the U.N. Our cofounder, Albert Manero ’12 ’14MS ’16PhD, went three months earlier. Annika was there, too. It says something that they’d invite us back.

They must have liked what they heard the first time.
The first conversation at the U.N. focused on empowering girls who need prosthetics. We’ve found that parents are far more willing to seek out options for boys, maybe because boys are perceived to be more physical. The ratio of prosthetics being sought and accepted is just one girl for every five boys.

How can your little place at the center of campus change that?
Design is one of the keys. The typical bionic arm looks just the way you’d imagine a bionic arm to look: robotic and mechatronic. The appearance feeds right into a stereotype that makes girls less likely to want a bionic arm.

And Annika has helped you break the stereotype?
When she drew up her idea for the ideal girls’ bionic limb, we didn’t know how it would be received. But think about it: who would know better how to design a bionic arm for girls than a bionic girl? We do the same thing for boys — empower them and give them a voice in what we create.

Bionic arms have been around for decades. Limbitless has only been around for five years. How did you even get into the conversation about changing the game, let alone lead it?
It’s because we’re different, and the time for a different approach is long overdue. The medical and tech industry has been focused on the research and development of bionic arms, and that’s important. But to make an impact we need to change the focus from technology to the voices of the underserved — the kids. It’s trying to imagine what it’s like to be that kid hiding behind mom or dad because I’m missing a hand and I don’t feel accepted for who I am. By letting a boy or girl create his or her own arm, it allows them to take control of their own story and to be more confident about themselves. That’s the dramatic change we want to lead.

You said kids are “underserved.” What do you mean by that?
The socio-economic barrier is enormous when it comes to prosthetics. A bionic arm typically costs between $40,000 and $100,000. Insurance companies often don’t consider an arm to be as necessary as a leg — you figure that one out. It’s worse for children because they’re still growing, and who wants to pay for a $40,000 arm every two years? For us, it costs about $10,000 to fully fund a child in a clinical trial, and the entire cost is donated. Plus, by personalizing the bionic arm they’re more likely to actually use it.

Why wouldn’t they use it?
A typical bionic arm is clunky. It’s frustrating for those trying to use them. Usage rates for upper-limb prosthetics are reported to be as low as 37 percent. Most users eventually abandon them. So we develop video games as training tools. It’s an immersive experience where you use your prosthetic on the controller. Kids don’t even realize they’re training themselves. We call that kind of learning experience “hiding the vegetables.”

You do all of this — the video game development, the design of the bionic arms, the manufacturing — here in this one space?
The small scale gives us some advantages. We collaborate with people from many disciplines on UCF’s campus — , , , digital media, and . We’re starting to do more with and too. It’s a busy place.

And how does an art enthusiast like you fit in?
It’s actually a perfect fit. I’m from a family of doctors and engineers, so when I entered UCF as a freshman in 2014 I privately wondered how I’d ever use art to make lives better … while also making a living for myself. Then I accepted an internship at Limbitless Solutions and connected right away to the mission.

As an artist, how would you create a picture of the mission?
I’d just point to kids like Annika. She’s playing soccer. She’s engaged with friends. And she’s now spoken at the United Nations twice. She has a really cool bionic arm, yes, but even more important is that society isn’t controlling her life story because of a physical challenge. She controls her own narrative, and that’s powerful beyond measure.

The first step to bridging this gap often starts with providing accessibility in its many forms to those who need it. Physicist Michael Lodge ’18PhD, who has used a wheelchair since he was 8 years old and is now a nanotechnology research fellow at Nanyang Technological ����ֱ�� in Singapore, is just one example of the difference that accessibility can make.

“Why should someone be excluded from a tradition as old as humanity itself simply because they’re disabled?” – Michael Lodge ’18PhD

“Science is fundamental to the pursuit of knowledge. It is how we have advanced as a species,” Lodge says. “Why should someone be excluded from a tradition as old as humanity itself simply because they’re disabled?”

Lodge was left paraplegic as a child after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor embedded in his spine. Since then, the Sanford native has used a wheelchair to navigate the world. While Lodge says he has learned to adapt to the challenges he faces, he encountered a major obstacle as he began to do experimental research.

“It’s a blow to the ego when your disability curtails your options, however it’s downright devastating when your disability is the sole thing preventing you from seizing a great opportunity that has been handed to you,” Lodge says.

Gaining Experience

After coming to UCF in 2007, Lodge began working as a graduate student in Professor of Masahiro Ishigami’s lab. In order to make sure Lodge could make use of the space, Ishigami worked with him to make the lab more accessible by moving things to a reachable distance and allow more room for the wheelchair’s movements. Improving accessibility for Lodge came naturally to Ishigami, as his father was a medical specialist who provides rehabilitation to patients who have been disabled by injuries, diseases, conditions or disorders.  The American Disability Act defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities.”

“For me, this is something we have to solve; it’s something I was familiar with. For me, he was just another person.” – Professor of Physics Masahiro Ishigami

“I use to tell Mike my weakness is I can’t actually see that he’s different from anyone else,” Ishigami says. “For some people this is an insurmountable problem. For me, this is something we have to solve; it’s something I was familiar with. For me, he was just another person.”

Lodge immediately demonstrated tremendous talent, Ishigami says. Within a few months he was able to teach himself to create graphene, a single-atom layer of graphite that is very difficult to make. Ishigami then arranged for him to participate in other research projects, but the lack of accessibility in other labs prevented Lodge from gaining experience.

“We realized at that point if he’s going to have a career in [the scientific field], he’s going to have to engineer solutions so that he can improve accessibility himself,” Ishigami says.

Engineering Solutions

At UCF, Ishigami continued to support Lodge’s experimental-research efforts and eventually was able to get a custom-designed $14,000 wheelchair, with the cost covered entirely by the wheelchair company, a grant from the National Science Foundation and UCF’s . The motorized wheelchair allows Lodge to increase his elevation by 11 inches, which enables him to use special microscopes and other tools.

“[The wheelchair] is essentially the difference between me being an independent person in the lab and me having to shelve projects until someone can help me do something mundane, like reach a canister of glue on a high shelf or look at a sample through the slightly too-high window on a vacuum chamber,” Lodge says.

Expanding Opportunities

Eventually, Lodge was able to use the wheelchair abroad for the first time when he was selected from a group of 199 candidates for a two-month research project in Australia at the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes. There, he got to enjoy the beautiful sites of region, while building important connections.

“For many disabled people, there are steps that can be taken to improve accessibility to a point that the person’s limitations become minor.” – Michael Lodge ’18PhD

“The people in and around the lab [in Australia] were very personable and knowledgeable, and they made it easy to really network with other scientists. In fact, I met my current boss while I was working there,” Lodge says.

After graduating in the summer, Lodge was able to keep the wheelchair Ishigami acquired for him.

“I think many of the issues that disabled people have with pursuing a career in science, and perhaps other aspects of life, is that they focus on the reasons why they would inconvenience or be rejected by a professor, a group, or their field of interest as a whole. The truth is that these perceived barriers are usually way less serious than they think,” Lodge says. “Masa [Ishigami] was not only able to look past my disability, he was considerate of it and actively made my life easier.”

Now working in his field, Lodge has become a researcher at the Nanyang Technological ����ֱ�� in Singapore. There he uses the skills he learned in Ishigami’s lab and in Australia, to study the electronic properties of materials that conduct electricity in unusual ways. The science he is developing will be used for future electronics that will be created over the next 20 years.

A new UCF Adaptive Community Project is seeking up to 70 participants to join sports teams, a theater production and/or a choir adapted to fit the needs of neuro-atypical conditions. Participants can join as many teams as they’d like for free.

The opportunity is open to greater Orlando residents and includes sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, softball, acting and script-writing positions in theater, and a choir for those with acquired speech disorders. Each activity will have modified equipment, such as beeping balls for those with visual impairments to detect where the ball is by sound, costumes made for those in wheelchairs, and more.

The Adaptive Community Project is an interdisciplinary effort developed and led by UCF neuropsychologist and clinical associate professor Megan Sherod. Her goal is to give members of the local neuro-atypical community a new outlet to socialize and exercise.

“What’s lacking in the community is this type of resource and opportunity for people who weren’t born with neuro-atypical conditions, but who’ve acquired them through accident, injury or disease,” she said.

Oftentimes, those diagnosed with neurological disorders end up feeling socially isolated from the rest of the community, she said.

Sherod consulted with Robert Pritchard, a former UCF football player who while at his home in Georgia, that led to speech and physical impairments. He helped guide Sherod in developing the sport aspect of the project.

Like Pritchard, survivors of strokes, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, West Nile Virus and other life-altering events that led to neurological disorders are the target of the program.

Participants will practice once a week for at least a semester, and will work up toward a tournament, concert or live theatrical performance.

Practices and script writing will begin by the end of September, but participants can join at any time. For more on how to join, see:

Through Sherod’s outreach, UCF Psychology, Theatre, Music, Student Health Services, Communications Sciences and Disorders, Physical Therapy, Student Development and Enrollment Services, and the Recreation and Wellness Center have all chipped in space and equipment, faculty expertise or student volunteers. For instance, graduate students studying how to become speech language pathologists will assist each team with communication.

“Students who volunteer in this initiative will have a better understanding of how acquired neurological impairments are more than just a label or a diagnosis. It affects the survivor’s bodily functions, their engagement with family, friends and the community,” said Amy Engelhoven, a lecturer in Communication Sciences and Disorders and director of the Aphasia House at UCF.

More than 60 volunteers from UCF, including students, faculty and staff, are needed to help run the program. Volunteers of all abilities are welcome.

Jonathan Trufant, for instance, will volunteer as coach for the wheelchair basketball team despite having cerebral palsy.

“When I was a kid, I needed a disabled role model to show me I can function in society, too,” said Trufant, a UCF psychology student. “It’s super important to have people within your community to connect with.”

A grant from the Office of the Quality Enhancement Plan at UCF will help Sherod purchase adaptive equipment for the program.

It’s intended that the program will be offered year-round. Ultimately, Sherod hopes to enhance UCF’s partnership with the local neurological community.

For more information, email theorganizedcoalition@gmail.com.

For me, the hashtag conjures up images of black men, women and children who have died due to senseless violence. I mourn daily for the black lives – all lives – lost because of these tragic events.

People are not racist for thinking the lives of black people should matter to everyone. I think the lives of all people are important. But in light of recent high-profile deaths of black men and the racial unrest in Baltimore, many in society need to be reminded that black lives do indeed matter.

But why focus on deaths, if black lives matter?

As a little girl growing up in Shreveport, La., during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, I had no idea what was happening in the world around me. I had two parents – a seamstress and a mechanic – who were my providers and protectors. I felt safe in a black community. A year after high school, I joined the military and was stationed in Germany. I lived in a small military town where I continued to feel safe and protected.

One day my mother phoned with panic in her voice. She told me there was a riot in our neighborhood and she was afraid. She said people were throwing bottles, breaking into stores and burning down buildings. I did my best to calm her down but I can clearly recall her saying, “Somebody ought to do something.” That was 27 years ago.

I later learned the violence erupted after a white woman killed a young black man, an innocent bystander in a park, after a drug deal had gone awry. Earlier that day, there was a hearing on a case of the death of a 17-year-old who was killed leaving a diner by a white man. Although both were later convicted, I could only imagine what the people in that community were feeling.

Today I’m excited to see young people getting involved to peacefully drive social change. Yet I’m concerned about our society’s inability to sustain the conversation beyond the immediate aftermath of a crisis, or address seemingly entrenched inequalities in health, education, employment, housing, policing and sentencing.

I’m afraid #BlackLivesMatter may stop trending, and if it does, will black lives still matter? As a whole society, we need to sustain the movement as a focal point to eliminate the inequalities faced by blacks in America.

Although #BlackLivesMatter reminds me of tragic deaths, I believe the focus is also about the conditions faced by blacks in communities across the country. When I see what is happening in Baltimore and I think about what happened in my own childhood neighborhood, I am uncomfortable knowing this could happen anywhere in America.

And surely, “Somebody ought to do something.”

Vanessa Lopez-Littleton is a lecturer and internship programs director in UCF’s School of Public Administration. She can be reached at vlittlet@ucf.edu.

UCF’s efforts to recruit, retain and graduate Hispanic students earned it a spot on the magazine’s list of 100 best colleges for bachelor’s degrees.

Using data from the U.S. Department of Education, Hispanic Outlook rated public and private universities throughout the country for its May 7 issue.

More than 1,600 Hispanic students earned their bachelor’s degrees from UCF in the 2010-2011 academic year. UCF awarded 220 master’s degrees to Hispanic students that year.

UCF also placed in the top 10 for degrees awarded to Hispanics in several categories. UCF ranked 10th for education; ninth for biological and biomedical sciences; sixth for business management and marketing; seventh for engineering and engineering technology; fourth for health professions and related programs; and fourth for psychology.

Hispanic Outlook is sent to high schools around the country with large Hispanic student enrollment to provide students and parents with information about what schools might offer them the best opportunities for higher education.

The rankings demonstrate UCF’s commitment to helping students of all backgrounds succeed. The university provides support services such as tutoring and counseling, and looks for innovative ways to engage students and their parents.

For example, UCF offers orientation sessions in Spanish for parents who feel more comfortable speaking their native tongue. In addition, UCF’s Board of Trustees last year approved an undergraduate program in Latin American Studies. The program, which began in the fall, prepares students to understand, study and work with Hispanic populations throughout the world.

UCF was academic co-host of the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corporation (HENAAC) Conference in Orlando, organized by Great Minds in STEM. CECS faculty, staff and students joined UCF leaders at the conference and later toured a U.S. Navy submarine.

The event came on the heels of CECS being named the nation’s third-best engineering grad school for Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine.

Rabelo received the HENAAC Education Award for his career accomplishments.

He joined CECS’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management in 2001 with expertise in control engineering, artificial intelligence, simulation and technology management.

Originally from Panama, Rabelo said he was born to be an engineer. At age 7, he gazed into the sky with a telescope, in awe of NASA sending astronauts into the universe and wanting to be a part of it someday. When he was a high school sophomore, he enrolled — and excelled — in summertime college math and engineering courses. He later earned bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering at the ����ֱ�� of Panama, and then headed to the United States to continue his education.

He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Florida Institute of Technology, a master’s and a Ph.D. in engineering management from the ����ֱ�� of Missouri, and dual master’s degrees in engineering and management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In addition to his academic work, he is living his childhood dream as a NASA project manager. He also holds three aerospace industry patents.

“The HENAAC Education Award is important to me because it allows our Hispanic students to see that faculty who look like them — people who understand their culture and background — are real-life examples of Hispanics in higher education achieving success,” said Rabelo. “It also encourages universities to seek out outstanding Hispanic educators who can serve as role models and encourage young Hispanics to pursue engineering and other STEM disciplines.”

“This award allows the world to see our accomplishments, and brings important recognition not only to the Hispanic community but in the engineering and science communities as well,” he added.

CECS Students and Faculty Tour Navy Submarine

Also during the HENAAC conference, 45 CECS students and two faculty members enjoyed a tour of a new U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarine. The Navy (a HENAAC Conference sponsor) encouraged invited guests to marvel in the vessel’s engineering and technology, and interact with young sailors for a glimpse of submarine life.