Since its inception in 2017, the Shining Knights Alumni Awards have honored individuals whose impact transcends campus and community. The inaugural awards were presented to former UCF President John C. Hitt and his wife, Martha, who became the university’s first Honorary Alumni. Among the most prestigious distinctions is the Michelle Akers Award, presented to alumni whose achievements have brought global acclaim to UCF — named for the legendary 1989 graduate, Olympic gold medalist, and one of the greatest soccer players of all time.

“This year’s honorees are nothing short of inspiring,” says Heather Junod, associate vice president for Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving. “Each has illuminated their field with brilliance, carried UCF’s values into the world, and uplifted the lives of others in ways that make our entire Knight Nation proud. They are proof that when Knights charge on, the world takes notice.”

Distinguished Alumni Award

The highest honor bestowed annually upon a UCF graduate.

Kenneth Dixon ’75
A visionary leader and champion of UCF, Dixon’s influence spans more than five decades — from founding the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting to advancing UCF Athletics and student career development. His generosity has elevated UCF’s reputation and inspired generations of Knights to pursue greatness. Dixon’s steadfast commitment has shaped UCF into a powerhouse for academic and athletic achievement, leaving a legacy that will transform both individuals and the university for generations.

Kevin ’92 and Christine Wydra ’93
For more than three decades, the Wydras have enriched UCF through leadership, generosity and vision. Their commitment inspires students and alumni to carry the torch forward. From supporting scholarships to advancing programs that fuel innovation and community impact, Kevin and Christine have left a lasting mark on campus life and cultivated a culture of giving that will inspire Knights for years to come.

Jason Eichenholz ’95MS ’98PhD
Eichenholz is a serial entrepreneur, executive, philanthropist and recognized pioneer in laser and optics. Over the past two decades, he founded multiple companies that have raised over a billion dollars of investor funding. He is the current CEO and founder of hollow core fiber company Relativity Networks. When he’s not reshaping industries, Eichenholz dedicates himself to serving others — both as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, and through his greatest passion: the Jonathan’s Landing Foundation, a nonprofit creating a comprehensive community for adults across the autism spectrum.

Cathleen Wheatley ’17DNP
As president of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Davie Medical Centers, Wheatley leads with excellence while championing nursing education through the Knightingale Society. Her leadership has touched thousands across North Carolina and the world. Known for her vision and compassion, she has strengthened healthcare delivery and inspired the next generation of nurses and healthcare leaders.

John C. and Martha Hitt Honorary Alumni Award

The highest honor for a friend of UCF

Mary Palmer
A global educator and founder of the Florida Alliance for Arts Education, Palmer has enriched generations through teaching, philanthropy and advancing arts education statewide. Her advocacy has opened doors for countless students, while her mentorship and leadership have cultivated a community that values creativity as central to learning and growth. Palmer’s vision continues to inspire students and educators to pursue excellence and innovation in the arts.

N. Donald Diebel Sr.
A retired physician whose leadership sustains the UCF College of Medicine’s KNIGHTS Clinic, Diebel ensures vital healthcare for various communities. Beyond his clinical work, he has championed programs that train future physicians in service and empathy. His dedication has improved countless lives and inspired students and colleagues to embrace medicine as both a science and a calling.

Young Alumni Award

The highest annual honor for a recent 30 Under 30 honoree.

Padmavathi Ganduri ’21
From first-generation college student to serving in the Department of Homeland Security, Ganduri is now pursuing her juris doctor at George Washington ����ֱ�� with ambitions to return to public service and make an even greater impact.

Distinguished Student Award

The highest honor for a current UCF student.

Ossyris Bury
An aerospace engineering major and Burnett Honors College Scholar, Bury has mentored hundreds of STEM students, welcomed thousands of prospective Knights and earned national recognition for her research in structural dynamics. Her leadership and excellence embody UCF’s bold future.

“I can confidently say it’s been the perfect fit for my career,” says Eichenholz , a College of Optics and Photonics alum.

Lately, Eichenholz has channeled much of his entrepreneurial energy into something very close to home. He calls it Techtonic, and it’s a culmination of everything he values most: family, service, inventiveness and lessons learned as a father.

“I’ve had a chance to step back, gain perspective, and build something to truly help families facing the same struggles I once did,” he says.

The mention of struggles provides insight into his mind, which is one filled with as much empathy as ingenuity. To comprehend, it’s best to ask a few questions and let the man share his thoughts, starting with his next innovative idea-turned-innovative enterprise.

Of all the inventions you’ve been a part of, why is Techtonic so important to you?
The inspiration comes from my adult son, Jonathan. When he was a child, we found out he’s on the autism spectrum. Over the years, he’s broken more devices than I can count — we were regulars at iFixYouri. But what stood out to me was Jonathan’s natural ability with technology. No one can complete a software update faster than him. Being a tech enthusiast, I saw this as an opportunity to make a meaningful impact. Everyone has a device and the industry can’t keep up with the demand for repair technicians. At the same time, up to 85% of adults with autism and a college degree are underemployed (according to the Autism Society of America). Given the right training and support, they can help fill the gap. Everybody wins.

This sounds like more than a business concept.
It’s about more than jobs, too. Yes, we can provide employment to fit the strengths of individuals with autism, but Techtonic also builds their pride through meaningful work. What you have then is an overlooked workforce earning paychecks and solving a growing problem in the tech industry. But most importantly, Techtonic challenges the norm.

What norm are you referring to, and why are you the person to challenge it?
In our society, we ask neurodiverse individuals to adapt to a world that is not designed for them. We set up accommodations in hopes we can get them to “fit in.” Techtonic builds pathways into meaningful careers so these people are genuinely valued and embraced.

Why am I the guy to challenge the norm? Because I’ve lived this journey. I’m a parent who has experienced the gaps, questions and fears of what comes next for my child. I’ve seen firsthand how much untapped potential exists and how much better our world could be if we just shifted our perspective.

You say you’ve lived this journey. What do we not know about you whenever we read about your accomplishments in technology?
There was a time in my life when everything felt uncertain. I was raising two children, one with special needs. At times, I was struggling financially, trying to make it as an entrepreneur. I was running a startup, sometimes wondering if we’d be able to make payroll and how I’d be able to manage the co-pays for Jonathan’s therapy. Every night, as I lay in bed, one question consumed me: What’s going to happen to my son after I’m gone?

Then Luminar — a company I helped create that develops LiDAR technology for autonomous vehicles — went public on NASDAQ and suddenly I had the means to secure my family’s future. But I also knew the same questions that kept me awake at night were keeping countless other parents awake. So I saw my new financial security as a means to create something more powerful: an opportunity to help alleviate the fear of those families with children on the spectrum. That opportunity became the next chapter in my life, and I dedicated all of my resources to it.

You dedicated all of your resources to one innovation?
I’m talking about my time, brainpower, social capital and network. I put all of it into architecting Jonathan’s Landing Foundation. When you go through life with a child who has autism or special needs, you eventually come to the “services cliff.” This is where your child ages out of traditional support systems, like tutoring and social programs. Families are left financially and emotionally depleted. They’ve drained their savings, spent retirement funds and exhausted every resource to make sure their child has had enough guidance to take each small step through life. And then the child reaches an age where the support stops. The world expects them somehow to just suddenly fit in, and the family is left staring into the abyss, asking, “What’s next?”

That’s why I started Jonathan’s Landing Foundation. The model is designed as the senior living and care model run in reverse. It’s a place where individuals on the spectrum feel connected instead of isolated and can progress toward the most independent living situation possible. I want it to be a comprehensive answer for families who don’t know where to turn next and don’t have the resources to navigate this alone.

All of this comes full circle, doesn’t it?
Techtonic and Jonathan’s Landing are where my entrepreneurial drive meets my personal mission. Any profits generated from Techtonic go directly back into Jonathan’s Landing Foundation to help reduce the cost of housing and services for individuals and families who need it most. My ultimate goal is to create the kind of sustainable ecosystem we’ve never had for individuals with autism and to see them thrive.

Recently, Techtonic launched its Million Device Drive. All donated devices will provide neurodiverse adults with hands-on training as part of Techtonic’s workforce development program. Profits from refurbished and resold devices will support costs for future residents of Jonathan’s .

We think of an innovator motivated by the future, but how motivating is your past?
I’m approaching all of this from an abundance mindset without forgetting the scarcity of my earlier years. Just being a father changed me, too. I have two amazing kids, Ella and Jonathan. When they were young, my job required nearly 150,000 miles of travel per year. I’ve always been go-go-go. I’m even a volunteer firefighter.

To be a present dad, I had to teach myself to be more patient, especially when Jonathan would struggle or get frustrated. Situations would escalate and I’d want to fix them as quickly as they started. Jonathan taught me why it’s important to pause, take a breath and reassess before moving forward with intention. I can honestly say Jonathan has made me a better father and a better leader.

From revolutionizing the automotive industry and scaling a company from two employees to over 1,000, to raising a billion dollars in capital, my personal mantra, “Why not change the world?” has consistently fueled my drive to think bigger. Today, I have the opportunity to channel that same passion and momentum into Techtonic and Jonathan’s Landing Foundation.

“We’re well positioned to redefine the optical network of the future,” Eichenholz says.

That’s the vision for Relativity Networks, founded by Eichenholz and UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) Professor Rodrigo Amezcua Correa. As the artificial intelligence (AI) industry grows, so does its need for data processing, which requires large amounts of energy. By 2026, data centers in the U.S. are expected to consume more than twice their current energy usage, and more than 40% of facilities are expected to face power shortages by 2027.

“Currently, new data centers can’t be built fast enough to satisfy the rapidly expanding AI-driven economy and the lack of available power is an existential threat to fueling that growth,” Eichenholz says.

Their solution? A patent-pending hollow-core fiber (HCF) cable that can transmit data nearly 50% faster than conventional glass fiber. The company has raised $4.6 million in pre-seed funding, and has already deployed the technology in multiple installations.

This large-scale innovation is familiar territory for Eichenholz. The holder of more than 90 U.S. patents was recently inducted into the National Academy of Inventors and the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida. He co-founded and served as chief technology officer of Luminar Technologies, one of the leading providers of lidar technology in driverless vehicles.  As a CREOL courtesy faculty member, he also maintains close ties with UCF, which he considers a key part of the first of three “life chapters” so far.

“I thought I was closing out my ‘chapter two’, but when I saw this technology, I realized this chapter is still being written,” Eichenholz says. “Being able to partner with UCF, which is near and dear to my heart, makes it that much better.”

The Power of Hollow Core

Since HCF can move data with less delay than conventional fiber, it can travel 1.5 times farther without adding additional latency, which can throw data centers in multiple locations out of sync. Traditional fibers usually limit these centers to being within 37 miles of each other. Relativity Networks’ HCF cable expands this to 56 miles.

“Basically, we are doing things you cannot do with any other conventional fibers,” Amezcua Correa says.

The vision affords the new AI economy more geographic optionality for data centers, which means they can be built closer to already-existing power sources. Relativity Networks, already backed by multimillion dollar contracts, aims to give the right partners the ability to rapidly scale their production.

Amezcua Correa, who originally developed the HCF used by Relativity Networks, says HCF continue to push the boundary of what’s possible. “We have been working on hollow-core fibers for almost 20 years,” Amezcua Correa says. “We are excited to leverage the unique optical properties of hollow core fibers to design the optical networks of the future.”

A Partnership for the Future

The launch of Relativity Networks is another example of innovation fostered by industry partnerships with UCF.

“This breakthrough demonstrates a decade of dedicated research by our team,” says Winston Schoenfeld, UCF’s vice president for research and innovation. “UCF strongly values industry partnerships and this is a wonderful example of how collaboration between academia and industry can lead to accelerated innovation that translates into significant societal impact.”

UCF is actively forging new relationships with industry partners, by matching the university’s research strength and academic expertise with the strategic priorities of entities of all sizes, from brand-new startups to major corporations. This relationship fostered Relativity Networks from concept, to collaboration, to company.

Eichenholz says the vision for the future of photonics, or light-based technology, is shining brightly in Central Florida.

“My mantra has been ‘Why not change the world?’ and I think we are doing that,” Eichenholz says.

About the Researchers
Eichenholz is a serial entrepreneur, executive and recognized pioneer in laser and photonics-enabled innovation. With a Ph.D. in optical sciences and engineering from CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics at UCF, Jason has spent more than over three decades at the forefront of transformative technologies.

As the co-founder and former chief technology officer of Luminar Technologies, Eichenholz helped redefine autonomous vehicle safety with lidar technology. Under his leadership, Luminar became a publicly traded company on Nasdaq, raising approximately $1 billion in funding. Eichenholz’s expertise in turning groundbreaking research into scalable solutions is now driving Relativity Networks’ mission to revolutionize fiber optics with hollow core fiber technology.

When he’s not reshaping industries, Eichenholz dedicates himself to serving others — as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, and through his greatest passion: the Jonathan’s Landing Foundation, a residential community he founded for his son Jonathan and 500 other adults with autism.

Amezcua Correa is a professor at UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics, where he leads the Optical Fiber and Fiber Devices Laboratory. He received his doctorate from Southampton ����ֱ��. After that, he joined the ����ֱ�� of Bath and worked at Powerlase Photonics developing industrial lasers. His main interests are advanced fiber design and fabrication, hollow core fibers, space division multiplexing optical fiber communications, high-power fiber lasers, nonlinear fiber sources, optical sensors and laser components.