Okaty is a business lawyer and managing partner of Foley & Lardner LLP鈥檚 Orlando office who joined the UCF Board of Trustees in 2019.

鈥淲e are grateful to vice chair Okaty for his leadership and willingness to serve in this capacity,鈥� UCF Board of Trustees Chair Alex Martins 鈥�01惭叠础 says. 鈥淚 am proud of all of the talented individuals who serve on this board and the shared commitment to the work we are doing together to make UCF a preeminent university for the state of Florida.鈥�

鈥淚 am looking forward to working with vice chair Okaty in his new role, alongside chair Martins and the rest of our board,鈥� says 香港六合彩开奖结果 President Alexander N. Cartwright. 鈥淲e are fortunate to have a fantastic group of highly accomplished trustees who challenge us and push us to do better, and I am confident we will continue to do great things on behalf of UCF.鈥�

Okaty鈥檚 practice focuses on a wide variety of corporate transactions, governance and counseling.鈥疕e was a first-generation student at UCF, earning bachelor鈥檚 degrees in finance and accounting and graduating鈥�magna cum laude. He also attended the New York University School of Law, where he received both his juris doctorate and master of laws degrees.

鈥淯CF has been a big part of my personal and professional life, and I care deeply about the success of the university,鈥� Okaty says. 鈥淚 am honored to serve in this role, and I am looking forward to continuing to work alongside chair Martins, president Cartwright, the board, and members of the university community to move 香港六合彩开奖结果 forward in alignment with the best interests of our stakeholders.鈥�

Okaty鈥檚 term as vice chair will conclude on June 30, 2025. His Board of Governors appointment to the Board of Trustees expires Jan. 6, 2025, and he is eligible for reappointment by the BOG.

Under the Florida Constitution, each state university is administered by a board of trustees consisting of 13 members.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the administration of UCF in a manner that is dedicated to and consistent with the university鈥檚 mission and with the mission and purposes of the State University System. This responsibility includes cost-effective policy decisions, the implementation and maintenance of high-quality education programs, and oversight of university performance, financial management and accountability, personnel, the reporting of information and compliance with laws, rules, regulations and requirements.

Learn more about the board at鈥�.

Michael Rohr 鈥�22PhD spent eight years in medical school, doing research on better ways to detect and prevent colon cancer. Amanda Renfrow 鈥�16 鈥�22PhD spent seven years at UCF, researching therapies to stop breast, lung and pediatric cancers.

鈥淪cience is what got me interested in medicine,鈥� Renfrow says. 鈥淎nd then the people are what makes me want to stay.鈥�

鈥淚 really love what I鈥檓 doing,鈥� Rohr says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a long, long journey, but I think it鈥檒l pay off.鈥�

Students in the combined program develop a Ph.D. dissertation project in the first two years of medical school, while they take the required M.D. program courses. Once they pass a national licensing exam in their second year, they enter the Ph.D. program full time for at least three years. Then they return to medical school for the final two years of clinical education.

Renfrow鈥檚 medical journey began in a high school science classroom where she heard a heartbeat for the first time. She earned her undergraduate, graduate and medical school degrees all at UCF. She credits the support of her parents, husband, siblings, fellow students and her research mentor, College of Medicine Professor and Cancer Division Head Annette Khaled, for helping her reach her combined degree.

A valuable lesson that she learned was to continue to have patience with herself. 鈥淚t鈥檚 okay to take a step back, relearn it, and be patient, and then move forward again,鈥� Renfrow says.

After commencement, she will go to West Virginia University for her internal medicine residency. She says she wants to become a physician who can provide personalized care for each patient and identify research studies that suit their specific needs. She also hopes to spark a research interest in other physicians.

Rohr discovered his passion for medicine and research during his undergraduate studies at Florida Atlantic University and a Scholar Program at the Cleveland Clinic.

He credits his wife, who also graduates from the College of Medicine Friday, with helping him navigate the M.D./Ph.D. journey.

鈥淚鈥檝e been very fortunate in having gone through this track with my wife, Trina,鈥� he says. 鈥淗aving her has made it a lot easier.鈥�

Rohr鈥檚 research journey had both personal and scientific challenges. He says one of the most stressful periods was when his research mentor, Sampath Parthasarathy, died after the two had worked together for two years. He switched labs and mentors, joining Associate Professor Deborah Altomare. Under her guidance, he received a National Institutes of Health grant to support his research into ways to suppress early onset colon cancer.

鈥淚 definitely would not be where I am currently without her help,鈥� he says. 鈥淪he did more than mentor me. She took me under her wing, so I very much appreciate that.鈥�

Rohr hopes to become a gastroenterologist and will continue his medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he will be do a combined internal medicine-research residency.

Steven Ebert, a cardiovascular researcher at the College of Medicine鈥檚 Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, directs the M.D./Ph.D. program. He says

“[Renfrow and Rohr] have done a remarkable job throughout this arduous journey with numerous high-quality publications, conference presentations and even an NIH pre-doctoral fellowship,” Ebert says.鈥�”I don鈥檛 think we could鈥檝e asked for finer examples of pioneering efforts than those represented by these extraordinary students.鈥�

The two will be among 117 M.D. candidates who receive their degrees in Addition Financial Arena.

But the process of detecting and observing space objects, known as space domain awareness (SDA), faces challenges with the extensive volume of cislunar space.

鈥淐islunar space is vast,鈥� says Tarek Elgohary, an associate professor of aerospace engineering. 鈥淭he current SDA infrastructure, which is mostly Earth-based, is not equipped to provide the needed coverage in cislunar space. There is a need for fast and accurate solutions to quantify uncertainties to improve predictions and provide SDA information in the absence of continuous coverage.鈥�

Elgohary and his team will develop those solutions with the support of a $350,000 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Dynamic Data and Information Processing Program. They will create a computational framework to rapidly and accurately track space objects in real time, onboard spacecraft or satellites like the Air Force Research Laboratory鈥檚 Oracle, which is designed to increase SDA capabilities in cislunar space. The algorithms will allow Oracle and other spacecraft to operate autonomously without intervention from Earth.

Those same algorithms could also have an impact on maritime domain awareness (MDA). Just as spacecraft might need to identify space junk or track the orbit of a satellite, watercraft need to identify other vessels, predict target trajectories and detect suspicious behavior in real-time.

鈥淪pace and maritime domains share a lot of similarities in terms of the lack of continuous coverage of spacecraft or vessels, the large size of the search domain, and the need for the capability to predict maneuvers,鈥� Elgohary says. 鈥淢aritime domain awareness may require shorter time scales; however, with the expansion of space missions, space domain awareness operations have been reduced from weeks and days to hours and minutes.鈥�

Elgohary will use his expertise in space to develop a similar computational framework for the sea. The algorithms developed for uncertainty quantifications will advance MDA and allow sea vessels to detect objects in real time and predict their future location.

This work is funded through a $150,000 grant from Lockheed Martin.

About the Researcher

Tarek Elgohary joined UCF in 2016 as an assistant professor. He manages the Astrodynamics, Space and Robotics Laboratory (ASRL) in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering from the American University in Cairo and a master鈥檚 degree and doctoral degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University.

Hou, a professor of in the College of Community Innovation and Education, has been named the 2024-25 Fulbright-Saastamoinen Foundation Distinguished Chair in Health Sciences.

The U.S. Fulbright Program partners with universities worldwide, inviting leading scholars to study and teach abroad in short-term appointments. The Distinguished Chairs Program is one of its most prestigious awards. Candidates are typically senior scholars with significant publication and teaching records.

On her upcoming trip, Hou will visit the University of Eastern Finland to work on the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability project, also known as the FINGERS study. This study shows that five lifestyle changes 鈥� nutrition, exercise, mental stimulation, social activities and cardiovascular risk management 鈥� can protect and promote brain health and slow cognitive decline.

Building on insights from the original trial, Hou will help the FINGERS research team explore the effects of digitally enhanced lifestyle interventions.

鈥淩esearchers have found that these lifestyle changes are linked to better thinking and problem-solving abilities,鈥� Hou says. 鈥淭hey emphasize the importance of sticking to these changes for lasting benefits.

With ongoing concerns about global aging and increased digital communication post-pandemic, we need new trial designs based on the successful FINGERS model. Although the original study was very successful, transitioning these lifestyle interventions to a digital format presents new challenges.鈥�

One of these new trials will study the correlation between hearing impairment and cognitive decline. Hou will evaluate the digital self-assessment tool using mixed-methods research, her area of expertise.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 typically link hearing impairment with mental decline, but the team is trying to study how personalized hearing rehabilitation may impact the cognitive function so we can better understand how older adults use digital tools,鈥� she says.

This study is a natural extension of Hou鈥檚 research on aging in community, which focuses on helping older adults live independently while fostering connections with their communities to improve their sense of belonging and well-being. Hou has presented her research at numerous universities overseas through hundreds of presentations, workshops and seminars.

She also has previous experience as a Fulbright Specialist. In December 2022 she traveled to Ben-Gurion University in Israel, where she studied local aging-in-community models and led mixed-methods research workshops at the Israeli Center for Qualitative Research.

Hou says she is fascinated by different countries鈥� cultural perspectives on aging-in-community.

鈥淭he cultural differences have always stood out to me whenever I鈥檝e traveled or collaborated with colleagues around the world,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited to see how Finland鈥檚 perspective contributes to healthy aging-in-community.鈥�

Hou will complete her appointment in Finland over two one-month visits 鈥� the first in late August 2024 and the second in May 2026.

She says she is thrilled to help the FINGERS team bring worldwide attention to brain health and believes this experience will lead to many positive developments.

鈥淚 foresee more opportunities through this Fulbright Distinguished Chair program, which I鈥檓 really honored and grateful to be part of,鈥� she says.

Inspired by desire to give back, this summer, Alvarez and Wysolmierski will teach art classes to prisoners in the Florida Prison Education Project (FPEP), a UCF initiative founded in 2017 that seeks to offer a high-quality undergraduate education to people incarcerated in Central Florida. From October 2022 to September 2023, 香港六合彩开奖结果 faculty volunteers for FPEP taught 12 face-to-face classes in three prisons to 180 incarcerated students.

“FPEP is thrilled to have Alex and Jim join the team,鈥� says Keri Watson, executive director of the Florida Prison Education Project and assistant director of UCF鈥檚 School of Visual Arts and Design. 鈥淥ur incarcerated students are eager for more classes and are always excited to learn more about visual art.”

For Alvarez, beginning his new role as FPEP program coordinator is an incredible opportunity to work with and help incarcerated people. Growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts, he witnessed and experienced the injustices that impact impoverished communities, such as police brutality, the drug epidemic and systemic racism.

As a troubled youth, he was in and out of the juvenile justice system. At 17, he eventually spent three months in an adult correctional center, which he says 鈥渟cared [him] straight.鈥�

鈥淲hen I was arrested and ultimately locked up for a short amount of time, that definitely broadened my perspective on how your rights can be taken away in a second,鈥� Alvarez says. 鈥淭he dark side of people鈥檚 personalities is escalated when you鈥檙e in there and are treated the way that you are. It鈥檚 a life-changing experience.鈥�

Changing Life for the Better

After incarceration, Alvarez was focused on changing his life鈥檚 trajectory for the better. He would later become a truck driver for 21 years, traveling across the lower 48 states and seeing various inner cities like the one he grew up in. As a kid, Alvarez always drew and read comic books such as X-Men, Spawn and the Fantastic Four. Now an adult, Alvarez wanted to use art to share his story and use it as a vehicle to start conversations and create change within his community and ones like his.

In 2019, Alvarez started enrolled at UCF. There were multiple options for schools to attend, but he wanted somewhere completely new to have a fresh start. UCF鈥檚 campus and the people there were appealing, but it was the quality of the work created in the art program that attracted him the most.鈥淸When I saw] all the student work 鈥� in the hallways when I took the tour, I was like 鈥榃ow, this is pretty awesome here,鈥� 鈥� Alvarez says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what drew me to Orlando and UCF in general. Compared to everywhere else that I went, UCF really stuck out.鈥�

During his time at UCF, Alvarez has created works with a theme of redemption. The Best Things in Life Aren鈥檛 for Me is a work featuring a body bag filled with tar pigment and trash gathered from gun violence sites. Another work, Head Space, contains a series of sculpted heads and painted boxes with a sculpture of a mother鈥檚 head and a rosary in the middle. The work is representative of the impact Alvarez鈥檚 mom had on him as he aspired for a better life.

鈥淚 like to have the mother figure as the hub that grounds you within this whole world of chaos and disorder,鈥� Alvarez says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the guiding light.鈥�

At UCF, Alvarez found guiding influences for his future as an artist through former FPEP program coordinator Jason Fronczek 鈥�16 and Watson. Seeing the impact Fronczek and Watson made through FPEP, sparked Alvarez鈥檚 interest to get involved with the community more. While Alvarez was still guarded about his personal story, reading more about FPEP and encouragement from Watson has led him to join the project鈥檚 team to help incarcerated people.

A Story of Transformation

Wysolmierski鈥檚 journey to UCF began in the Sunshine State, where he was living in Gainesville as part of a punk band that toured the world. Through his time in the band, he developed acute alcoholism and was hospitalized on multiple occasions. He was incarcerated a few times for alcohol-related offenses, with his longest sentence being six months. At one point, Wysolmierski was even living behind a Taco Bell dumpster. It was at that point 聽he wanted to change his life and started turning things around.

He entered Alcoholics Anonymous, and in 2020 he earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in studio art from USF, furthering an art background that used in making T-shirts and record covers for the band. When he looked at schools for his master鈥檚 degree, he says he wanted to stay close to his parents, as he was taking care of his mother with dementia and his father with cancer. Caring for his parents was the beginning of Wysolmierski鈥檚 desire to use adverse situations as a chance to give back, he says.

Transformation is a key theme in Wysolmierski鈥檚 art, whether it鈥檚 transforming materials to represent a theme or showing the story of someone transforming from negative experiences to making a positive impact. An example is a piece featuring a blanket made from hospital and club wristbands.

Another artwork is a pile of HVAC tubes filled with material representing bile and corrosive material. The work symbolizes alcohol鈥檚 effect on the intestines, and was inspired by Hurricane Ian, which damaged the HVAC units in Wysolmierski鈥檚 Orlando apartment complex and forced Wysolmierski to evacuate in 2022.

鈥淲hen I was able to move back into my apartment, a work crew was installing new units and removing the temporary ones. In this process, there were piles and piles of AC ducts all over the place. I thought, 鈥楾hose look like intestines. That reminds me of what I did to my body,鈥� 鈥� Wysolmierski says. 鈥淚 also thought of the temporary comfort that the units were providing, and I thought of the temporary comfort that alcohol used to provide me. There was a connection between the pain of my alcoholism and the adversity of being displaced from my complex. It all tied together for me, and I really, I’m happy with that work.鈥�

It was during that time that faculty and staff at UCF impacted Wysolmierski outside of the classroom, with those in the art program providing a place for him to stay.

鈥淚 felt this sense of family and that was the biggest positive experience that UCF gave me,鈥� Wysolmierski says. 鈥淚t was a sense of community that everybody was there for me as I am for them.鈥�

Wysolmierski has also given back at UCF through teaching, first as a graduate teaching assistant and then as a graduate teaching associate. As he came upon the last final of his beginning sculpture and 3D-design class last week, he thought about the students and what he gets out of teaching.

鈥淚 get this bond and being able to see them grow throughout the semester is so cool,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 love it when I’m like, 鈥楾hey get it.鈥� I just think that to myself, 鈥楲ook at what they did in the first day to what they’ve done now.鈥� It’s amazing.”

The Possibility of Change

As Wysolmierski prepares to teach at FPEP, he says he hopes the students there get some sort of release. In his thesis work, he wrote about how sometimes verbal depictions don’t come across as well as making art about it. As an artist, it’s easier for Wysolmierski to express himself through sculpture, and he wants to help other artists in the program to express themselves through their mediums.

Alvarez says he wants to inspire those he teaches in the program to find purpose and use art as a vehicle to teach them the possibility of change, fostering within them the passion to pursue a better life. He also wants to use his experience to provide perspective and inspire.

鈥淚 definitely want to encourage the prisoners to change their mindset,鈥� Alvarez says. 鈥淚 know that right now they’re confined physically, but mentally, you can open your whole world up to all kinds of possibilities. I really want to encourage them to create their own world, talk about their own culture, situation, identity, to help inspire others as well.鈥�

Harvison recently pored through a library of infrared telescope data to analyze the spectral composition of 25 members of the Erigone family of primitive asteroids and help fill in the gaps in our understanding of the creation of our solar system.

The data on the Erigone asteroids, which are located in the main asteroid belt found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, was collected as part of the PRIMitive Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (PRIMASS) project co-led by 香港六合彩开奖结果 planetary scientist Noem铆 Pinilla-Alonso.

Harvison鈥檚 work, which was published recently in the journal Icarus, lays the foundation for future research, and may get scientists closer to concluding if asteroids brought water to Earth and if so, how much.

鈥淭here are theories that the Earth could have received a fraction of its water from primitive asteroids in the early Solar System,鈥� says Harvison, who is also a researcher at the . 鈥淎 big portion of these theories is understanding how these primitive asteroids were transported into Earth鈥檚 path. So, exploring primitive asteroids in the Solar System today could help paint a picture of what was going on all those years ago.鈥�

Some of these cosmic travelers, including the asteroids within the Erigone family, have hydrated silicates. The existing hydrated bodies that continue to move throughout our solar system could tell us more about those that collided with Earth.

It is one of the many outstanding questions that Harvison鈥檚 work is hoping to address.

鈥淲e mainly wanted to see if there were primitive asteroid families similar to the Erigone and Polana asteroid families,鈥� Harvison says. 鈥淲e used spectroscopy to study what kinds of minerals were on the surface to understand their composition.鈥�

From the study, Harvison and her co-authors saw that the Erigone and Polana families are different from one another聽in the near infrared but that the other primitive families have their own levels of red color in their spectral distribution along with their own unique levels of hydration.

In other words, the primitive families in the inner solar system show a variety of redness and hydration. The analysis and comparison show evidence that these families are not linked聽to the proposed Erigone-like or Polana-like groups, challenging the previously held theories as to where they fit in. Also, one particular asteroid, (52246) Donaldjohanson, seems to belong to the Erigone family based on its spectrum.

Piecing Together History

Due to the importance of understanding the nature of primitive objects, numerous spacecraft have targeted primitive asteroids, such as JAXA鈥檚 Hayabusa2 and NASA鈥檚 OSIRIS-REx, which visited, studied, and returned samples from Ryugu and Bennu, respectively.

Bennu and Ryugu prompted researchers to further study primitive asteroids and figure out where they came from, Harvison says.

Erigone was one of the final pieces of the large library of PRIMASS data that existed, but had yet to be studied, Harvison says. PRIMASS aims to understand the diversity of surface properties amongst primitive collisional families in the asteroid belt and map their composition.

A collisional family of asteroids refers to a group of asteroids that are believed to have originated from the breakup of a larger parent body due to a collision. The members of a collisional family provide information about the interior of the intact body they were part of before the impact.

The PRIMASS project is characterizing the collisional families of primitive asteroids in the main belt, and particularly those that could be the origin of the primitive near-Earth asteroids such as Bennu and Ryugu.

The conclusions drawn by studying collisional families like Erigone are critical puzzle pieces in the greater endeavor of understanding the creation of our solar system.

鈥淭he larger scope was to look at primitive聽families in the inner part of the main asteroid belt, where Ryugu and Bennu are thought to have likely originated,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he聽Erigone family was the last piece of the puzzle to be placed into the PRIMASS library to provide full context on primitive asteroids in this region and allow other scientists to analyze the data.鈥�

Harvison鈥檚 research provides supplemental context for the upcoming NASA Lucy mission, which will have the eponymous spacecraft visiting (52246) Donaldjohanson in Spring 2025 before it moves on to examine eight Trojan objects (space rocks trapped in Jupiter鈥檚 orbit) in 2027 through 2033.

Looking to the Future

Study co-author M谩rio De Pr谩, an assistant scientist at FSI, served as a research assistant and Harvison鈥檚 co-supervisor. Co-author Pinilla-Alonso is Harvison鈥檚 research advisor and assisted Harvison in her research.

Pinilla-Alonso says she鈥檚 delighted to assist Harvison and see her growth.

鈥淔or me, it was a pleasure to see the process and the end result,鈥� she says. 鈥淪he contacted me early during the pandemic when we were all working at home to express her interest in pursuing a Ph.D. degree here at UCF. Here we are about three years later: she has done an awesome job and there is more to come.鈥�

Pinilla-Alonso and Harvison say they were surprised that no one had studied the spectroscopy of the Erigone family.

鈥淲hen Brittany landed on this project, we saw there was one piece of information we were missing,鈥� Pinilla-Alonso says. 鈥淧RIMASS had completed the analysis of the visible and near-infrared of all the primitive families in the inner belt but there was one missing family: Erigone. That was very important because it was the family that could give closure to learning about the inner [asteroid] belt families. Until you ask the right question or have the tools, sometimes you don鈥檛 seek that answer. But, in this case, we had the observations done and it was clear that we needed to analyze it.鈥�

The knowledge gained from studying Bennu, Ryugu, and the Erigone and Polana primitive asteroid families will serve as a springboard for future James Webb Space Telescope observations and NASA missions.

鈥淚t is very exciting times going through all of this new data with more to come with the James Webb Space Telescope,鈥� Pinilla-Alonso says. 鈥淚 really think the biggest discovery is yet to come. The data we can collect from Earth is limited. Now, we have the best tool in space to keep learning more.鈥�

Pinilla-Alonso, Harvison and other researchers at FSI are slated to begin using the JWST as early as this summer to observe Erigone and other primitive asteroids, and, over a span of about two years, evaluate the collected spectra.

Harvison maintains her enthusiasm as she looks forward to building upon her analyses and further unraveling the origins of these primitive asteroids.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this fascination when I鈥檓 looking at this data and I鈥檓 examining something that鈥檚 millions of miles away,鈥� Harvison says. 鈥淲e can look back billions of years and learn the initial structure and composition of the early solar system by聽studying the surface of these asteroids. That鈥檚 always been something that excites me.鈥�

In addition to Harvison, Pinillia-Alonso and De Pr谩, FSI colleague and head of the Planetary and Space Science Group Humberto Campins provided research support. Vania Lorenzi of Fundaci贸n Galileo Galilei and Instituto de Astrof铆sica de Canarias, David Morate of El Centro de Estudios de F铆sica del Cosmos de Aragon, Julia de Le贸n and Javier Licandro of Instituto de Astrof铆sica de Canarias and Universidad de La Laguna, Anicia Arredondo of the Southwest Research Institute also contributed to the research.

Researchers鈥� Credentials

Harvison joined UCF in 2021 and is a graduate student working toward her doctoral degree in physics. She graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2020 with a degree in astronomy, planetary astronomy, and science.

Pinilla-Alonso is a professor at FSI and joined UCF in 2015. She received her doctorate in astrophysics and planetary sciences from the Universidad de La Laguna in Spain. Pinilla-Alonso also holds a joint appointment as a professor in UCF鈥檚聽聽and has led numerous international observational campaigns in support of NASA missions such as New Horizons, OSIRISREx and Lucy.

The robot rovers won鈥檛 be going into space 鈥� but they will face the next best challenge: to build a berm structure which would be useful to NASA鈥檚 Artemis program for navigating during lunar landings and launches, shading cryogenic propellant tank farms, providing radiation protection around a nuclear power plant and other mission-critical uses.

NASA created the Lunabotics Challenge in support of the Artemis program. UCF鈥檚 will host the first round, sponsored by Caterpillar Inc., on May 11-14. The top 10 teams will advance to the demonstrations phase of the competition at the Kennedy Space Center May 15-17.

At UCF, students will be testing and showcasing their rovers in the same regolith bin that NASA, the European Space Agency and many companies use to evaluate and improve new equipment and technologies before launching them into space. Leaders in key industries that are important to Florida鈥檚 and the region鈥檚 workforce will serve as judges.

鈥淟unabotics gives students from throughout the United States an unrivaled opportunity to apply their knowledge of robotics and space to NASA鈥檚 design and construction processes,鈥� says Winston Schoenfeld, UCF interim vice president for research. 鈥淭he future of our space and many other high-tech industries depends on preparing a talented workforce that can innovate and work in highly collaborative team environments.鈥�

Each team of college students has spent months designing and building a robot rover to NASA specifications that, during this challenge, will autonomously navigate a lunar-simulated arena and excavate regolith. They will compete two teams at a time per round, being given a set amount of time to collect regolith from the construction zone and dump it into a berm zone. Teams will be judged on a variety of factors, chiefly, the size of the berm they are able to build up in the regolith material with the rover.

The top 10 teams then travel to Kennedy Space Center for the culminating event, to demonstrate the operation of their functional tele-operated or autonomous robot to complete the lunar construction tasks. Students benefit from participating and having their work evaluated by NASA and private sector engineers, technicians and educators. NASA benefits by assessing student designs and data the same way it does for its own designs, encouraging innovation in student designs and identifying clever solutions to the many challenges inherent in future Artemis missions.

鈥淣ASA鈥檚 Artemis program is our plan to return humanity to the surface of the moon in a way that is sustainable over the long term.聽 And the task of robotically building berm structures will be important for preparation and support of crewed lunar missions.聽 These competing teams are not only building critical engineering skills that will assist their future careers, but they are literally helping NASA prepare for our future Artemis missions,鈥� says NASA Software Developer & In-Situ Resource Specialization (ISRU) Researcher Kurt Leucht.

Founded to help fuel talent for the nearby space industry, UCF continues to build its reputation as SpaceU. NASA, with more than 50 years of research support from UCF, has advanced its Artemis program with the goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon and preparing for missions to Mars. Prominent UCF space researchers are actively engaged in multiple collaborations with NASA 鈥� particularly within the Artemis program 鈥� and 29% of Kennedy Space Center employees are UCF alums.

鈥淪tudents are taking on a challenge that also faces all of our top space agencies and companies 鈥� how can we design and build an autonomous vehicle that can reliably perform tasks on the surface of the moon?鈥� says Julie Brisset, interim director of UCF鈥檚 Florida Space Institute. 鈥淭he hands-on experience is invaluable for students and will help set them up for success on their campuses and in their future careers.鈥�

Soil simulants used in the Lunabotics Challenge at UCF are created from crushed minerals. Once produced by UCF鈥檚 Exolith Lab, this regolith is now manufactured by a successful spinoff company, Space Resource Technologies. Other sponsors include Allen & Company, Lunar Outpost, Riegl USA and Venturi Astrolab.

As for the UCF Team, comprised of nine mechanical engineering and computer science students, learning how to work together as a team was as worthwhile an output as the lunar robot itself.

鈥淥ur 鈥榤ove fast and break things鈥� mindset has led to lots of creativity flowing to solve problems that came up with the design,鈥� says Lee Marshall, who serves as team lead for UCF.

Their biggest challenge was creating a custom mechanical solution from scratch for the controls, according to Marshall. For the robot rover, materials came from 3D printers, an Xbox Connect being used as a camera and depth sensor, and other materials found in the Robotics Club lab.

鈥淔rom observing the team, you can see their dedication, innate drive and determination to make it through the qualifying event,鈥� says Crystal Maraj, faculty advisor for the 香港六合彩开奖结果 Robotics Club and an assistant professor with the Institute for Simulation and Training. 鈥淚t takes a lot of time and effort, and I applaud these students for their success to iterate the design and utility of the robot for competition.鈥�

Members of the public will be able to watch the competition rounds of the Lunabotics Challenge on the . The Lunabotics .

Kapucu, Pegasus Professor of public administration and associate dean of research in the College of Community Innovation and Education, has recently returned from his trip to Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan as part of the Fulbright Specialist Program. This program provides opportunities for academic subject-matter experts to share their experience during short-term trips abroad. While a traditional Fulbright program typically runs for several months over the span of an academic semester, specialist program trips are just three weeks.

Kapucu accomplished three major tasks on his trip. He worked with Nazarbayev University鈥檚 academic leaders to enhance their doctoral program, helped increase the university鈥檚 research capacity, and delivered lectures on coordinated disaster response and building community resilience.

When it came to enhancing the doctoral program, Kapucu鈥檚 previous role as UCF鈥檚 public affairs doctoral program coordinator 鈥� along with his tenure as both an executive board member of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) and a member of NASPAA doctoral programs committee 鈥� proved instrumental.

鈥淣azarbayev University is a top-notch institution,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he students who graduate from the program will be great faculty sources for the universities in Kazakhstan and other countries.鈥�

He also believes Nazarbayev University鈥檚 multilingual environment gives it great potential for international involvement.

鈥淭he students speak multiple languages, and the lectures are all in English,鈥� he says.

To forge partnership between UCF and Nazarbayev University, Kapucu and the academic leaders discussed potential exchange programs through avenues such as the Bolashak International Scholarship.

鈥淲e are also discussing a relationship between UCF and Kazakh National Medical University,鈥� Kapucu says. 鈥淭hey are interested in health informatics, which our college has a school for.鈥�

While these opportunities are still in the planning phase, one event is already set in stone. Kapucu says the Kazakh Science Fund is scheduling a trip to Orlando to learn about UCF鈥檚 research administration, partnerships and relationship with the Central Florida Research Park.

鈥淭hey want to improve their grant distribution to research institutions and understand how we manage our research programs,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey will come and meet with us around July.鈥�

While there, Kapucu presented his lectures on disaster response and community resilience, sponsored by the National Academy of Public Administration and Astana Civil Service Hub. He says that pressing events in Kazakhstan 鈥� two recent earthquakes in Almaty and a period of countrywide civil unrest in 2022 鈥� led policymakers to address the need for improvement in these areas. He also met with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the National Security Administration and local law-enforcement agencies to speak about the importance of emergency and crisis management.

He was even invited to lead a train-the-trainer program, in which experts train instructors to pass knowledge and training on to others.

鈥淭hey want me to go back and do training on these issues,鈥� Kapucu says. 鈥淭he citizens want to be prepared.鈥�

As Kazakhstan鈥檚 government refines its emergency management policies, and its learning institutions seek more doctoral graduates in the field, Kapucu is confident that the ties between UCF and Nazarbayev University and other academic institutions will strengthen.

Kapucu says he made hundreds of new connections on his trip. As he continues to work with Kazakh students and faculty from afar, he hopes to return and involve more directly with the people he met.

鈥淭he Fulbright Program isn鈥檛 just about research and lectures,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about building relationships.鈥�

UCF researcher Sudipta Seal joined the fight by collaborating with Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center to provide a key component for a targeted medicine that combats the most common kind of pediatric brain tumor.

Seal, who is a professor and Chair of the within the , along with his postdoctoral researcher Elayaraja Kolanthai, created a solution containing therapeutic cerium oxide nanoparticles that acts as a protective vehicle to deliver a combination of cancer therapies through the body and to a patient鈥檚 brain. Their work was recently published in the journal .

A Targeted Approach

The intravenous mixture of therapies attacks medulloblastomas 鈥� or tumors 鈥� on all fronts. Ranjan Perera, director of the Center for RNA Biology at Johns Hopkins All Children鈥檚 Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, and his team developed the medicine that targets a specific part of RNA that 鈥渞eprograms鈥� a region of our DNA to hinder cancer causing genes.

A specific, long non-coding RNA, lncRNA, was identified as a potential bullseye target that accumulates and promotes cancerous growth. Johns Hopkins assembled a sequence of nucleotides 鈥� the building blocks of RNA 鈥� that can bind to the specific parts of the cancer-promoting portion of the RNA and destroy it.

Perera and his team paired the genetic treatment with cisplatin, a common intravenous chemotherapy medication that disrupts cancer cells and prevents them from replication.

The treatment was tested in mice and results showed that it inhibits tumor growth by 40-50%. The intravenous method may have an advantage as an alternative therapy to craniospinal irradiation as it may have less long-term side effects and risk of relapse.

The hope is once this specific genetic expression is identified and this treatment is administered, the malignant tumor growth can be halted and even eliminated in human patients.

Safe Delivery

Protecting the combination of promising treatments, bolstering therapeutic value and ensuring they reach their target is precisely what the cerium oxide was intended to do, Seal says.

鈥淲e can attach various drugs to the nanoparticles and deliver them to a specific site for medical intervention,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he medication on its own already has its own applications, so when you combine them, their role in intervention becomes quite significant. We are quite excited about this.鈥�

Seal and Perera previously had worked together and were familiar with each other鈥檚 work. After a few conversations between the two, a collaboration on this pediatric cancer research seemed like a good fit.

鈥淭his medication can be very difficult to deliver to sites,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淒r. Perera and I knew each other and so there was mutual interest between us both. I spoke with Dr. Perera, and he said that he had microorganisms to deliver, and that we鈥檝e been studying oxides for a long time. They鈥檙e very well known in medicine, and here we are at UCF we鈥檙e well known for our oxide vector delivery.鈥�

Seal鈥檚 cerium oxide has been used in a variety of biomedical and therapeutic applications even before it was used in the Johns Hopkins study. The cerium oxide nanoparticles previously were shown to aid in healing diabetic wounds and to maintain bone strength during cancer treatments.

What makes these specific nanoparticles so useful is that because they are oxides, they can bond with such a varied spectrum of other compounds at the molecular level, Seal says.

鈥淥xides are omnipresent in nature, and so they can be fairly compatible with many things,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like a LEGO block. You鈥檝e got many anchors to attach to on it and many different kinds to attach to.鈥�

For this instance, the cerium oxide ensures the genetic therapy and chemotherapy successfully travels to the site of the brain tumor rather than taking any pit stops along the way, Seal says.

鈥淚t has the power to be like a GPS system,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can program it to go to a specific address, or maybe it鈥檒l make a stop or bypass a stop. That is the power of what we can do with nanotechnology.鈥�

Studying and tweaking the particles (which are less than 10 nanometers in length) in water allows them to be highly customizable and to fit like a block or travel to the correct site.

Seal is greatly encouraged by the promise of the study and is excited to continue pursuing other ways to utilize his cerium oxide.

He invites other researchers to collaborate and see if he and his nanoparticles make a good fit.

鈥淲e鈥檙e open to opportunities,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淚 think this nano oxide vector can really help, and it opens a whole door of other biomedical opportunities that needs to be explored. We can modulate our nano vector in a way that it can sense and intervene in many ways. We鈥檙e happy to see if any other drugs can be attached to our molecules.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute and various other sources.

The researchers plan to study the therapy in humans to further test its safety and efficacy in hopes of triumphing over pediatric cancer and providing relief for children with cancer.

Researcher鈥檚 Credentials:

Seal joined UCF鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the聽, which is part of UCF鈥檚聽College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the聽College of Medicine聽and is a member of UCF鈥檚听叠颈颈辞苍颈虫聽faculty cluster initiative. He is the former director of UCF鈥檚聽聽and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

However, Stefani鈥檚 sister had a remarkable experience when two UCF classes, including the concert band, joined forces to create a concert that aims to break through these barriers and make live music enjoyable for everyone, regardless of disabilities or differences.

鈥淚 could see them from where I was sitting, and she was having a lot of fun with the glow sticks, moving around freely. She could wiggle and laugh if something was funny,鈥� says Stefani, a biology major. 鈥淚 was able to see how happy she was being able to enjoy a concert without feeling uncomfortable, especially because I know she loves music.鈥�

At the Inclusive Knights concert, those on the autism spectrum could freely express themselves through vocalization and movement and the Deaf community could sense the music鈥檚 rhythm through the vibrations of a balloon.

Inclusive Knights: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles marked the second time UCF Celebrates the Arts featured an inclusive event, with about 400 attendees 鈥� many of whom cannot attend other concerts.

For Stefani, seeing her sister鈥檚 joy at the concert emphasized the importance of inclusive spaces in the arts.

鈥淧eople on the autism spectrum and others who may have sensory issues still enjoy music and participating in community events like this one,鈥� Stefani says. 鈥淗aving a concert series like this allows them to enjoy the music however they want. Whether that is covering their ears due to loudness or moving around, it is completely acceptable.鈥�

Christine Lapka, UCF associate professor of music education, explained that this concert offers a unique approach to sensory-friendly events, tailored not only for individuals on the autism spectrum but for a broader audience. They coined it 鈥渋nclusive鈥� to cater to anyone who may struggle to engage with concerts adhering strictly to traditional etiquette.

The performance showcased the UCF Concert Band, under the direction of UCF Assistant Director of Bands Dave Schreier 鈥�02 鈥�10MA, alongside Lapka鈥檚 class, Music and Students with Special Needs. As the band played, the music education students presented a performance filled with costumes, props and much more.

Logan Grzybowski, a sophomore music education student, took part in this year鈥檚 concert as the main narrator. Portraying the train conductor, he guided the audience through the concert experience. He explained that their objective when crafting the skits was to integrate the music performed by the band and ensure a welcoming and interactive experience for all audiences.

鈥淲e did an acting portion for them while the concert band played a piece called Traffic, and we created a scene of famous characters such as Barbie, Lightning McQueen and other well-known characters from children鈥檚 movies,鈥� Grzybowski says. 鈥淲e even had a scene where the Ferrari was speeding and the cop was trying to stop him, which the audience seemed to enjoy.鈥�

Miriam Soto, a freshman music education student, also participated in this year鈥檚 concert. Her primary role was to instruct the audience in a rhythm section of a piece that made its debut performance and was composed by student Cameron Cummins, who majors in music performance with a track in composition. Under Soto鈥檚 guidance, the audience clapped and tapped along, forming a 400-person ensemble.

鈥淎t one point the room was split off from right to left and they were in charge of their part, forming a call and response,鈥� Soto says. 鈥淎nd it was so special because the audience was taking part in the performance.鈥�

For both Grzybowski and Soto, this concert presented an opportunity to learn and grow as future educators.

鈥淭his shows how important it is to create a space for inclusivity, and it provided me the skills to put a concert like this together in the future as a teacher,鈥� Soto says.

Schreier says that from the band鈥檚 perspective, they don鈥檛 change how they perform the music for this concert. Instead, they help the audience cope and prepare them for what to expect ahead of time.

American Sign Language interpreters and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) were used as alternative forms of communication. Balloons were provided for the Deaf community to sense music vibrations, and glowsticks were distributed for audience members to conduct along with the music. Attendees were encouraged to bring fidget toys, cushions, or other items to enhance their concert experience.

Lapka, Schreier and the participating students say they were thrilled with the results and the turnout of the concert, and are excited about the positive impact Inclusive Knights had on the community.