The university has several nationally and internationally recognized
research institutes that offer students the opportunity to work hands-on with
experienced researchers. Other organized research units complement the activities
of academic departments and engage graduate students in instructional and research
roles.
CREOL
Funding in 2002 | $10.7 million
The School of Optics/CREOL (Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers) provides the highest quality education in optical
science and engineering, conducts scholarly fundamental and applied research,
and aids in the development of technology-based industries in Florida and throughout
the nation. Research activities include:
- Diffractive and holographic optics
- Image analysis and understanding
- IR systems and technology
- Laser system development
- Laser-aided materials processing
- Liquid Crystal Optics
- Nonlinear optics
- Optical glass sciences
- Optoelectronics
- Nanophotonics
- Photonic information processing systems
- Remote sensing, laser radar and atmospheric propagation
- Theory of light matter interaction
- Virtual reality and medical imaging
- Biophotonics
- X-Ray sources and technology
Director:
Eric Van Stryland
www.creol.ucf.edu
407-823-6834
IST
Funding in 2002 | $5.7 million
The Institute for Simulation and
Training (IST) is an internationally
recognized research institute that focuses on advancing modeling and simulation
technology and increasing the understanding of simulation's role in training
and education. Research activities include:
- Multi-resolution simulation
- High-level architecture
- Connectivity
- Computer generated forces
- Virtual environments
- Computer graphics
- Terrain databases
- Low-cost graphics
- Training and education
- Short courses
- New simulation environments
- Medicine
- Public safety
- Advanced distributed learning
- Information technology
- Information services
Director:
Randall Shumaker
www.ist.ucf.edu
407-882-1300
FSEC
Funding in 2002 | $10.3 million
Located at UCF Cocoa, the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) is the largest and most active state-supported renewable energy and energy efficiency research and training organization in the United States. FSEC researches and develops energy technologies to reduce Florida's use of energy and enhance its economy and environment, and educates the publiuc, practitioners, and students on the results of the research. Research activities include:
- Solar thermal systems
- Photovoltaic systems, applications and cells
- Energy efficiency
and building science
- Indoor air quality
- Advanced HVAC systems
- Hydrogen energy from renewable resources
- Pollutant detoxification
- Energy-Efficient Industrialized Housing
- Cost-Effective Solar Program for Utilities/ESCOs
- Energy-Efficient New Homes Program
Interim Director:
Philip Fairey
www.fsec.ucf.edu
321-638-1013
Biomolecular Science Center
Funding in 2002 | $684,000
UCF's Center for Drug Development and Diagnostics was renamed the Biomolecular Science Center in Fall 2002 to emphasize its development of biomedical technology. Research activities include:
- Molecular and genomic basis of diseases
- Advanced fluorescence microscopy
- Allergy
- Antithrombotics
- Arthritis
- Bionanotechnology in therapeutics
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular diseases/ischemic heart disease
- Cell signal transduction
- Crohn's disease
- Developmental genetics
- Giardia
- High-yield recombinant protein production using plants as bioreactors
- Kidney ischemia
- Image analysis
- Inflammation
- Magnetic force microscopy
- Malaria
- Mechanisms of cell death
- Mechanisms of gene expression control
- Molecular immunology
- Neuron guidance damage and repair
- Photoctivated drugs
- Raman spectral microscopy
- Reproduction
- Synthesis of antimetabolites
- Thalassemia
- Transcription factors and proteomics
- Tuberculosis
- Uptake and delivery of drugs
- Vaccines
Director: Pappachan Kolattukudy
www.bmsc.ucf.edu
407-823-1206
AMPAC
Funding in 2002 | $1.2 million
The Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center (AMPAC)excels
in the development, processing, and characterization of advanced materials, including structural, electronic, optical and nanomaterials. The overall mission of the Center is to advance fundamental and applied multidisciplinary research in materials through combining resources of UCF and local industries. AMPAC is home to the Materials Characterization Facility (MCF), a facility with state-of-the-art surface and materials characterization equipment and the newly-commissioned Advanced Microfabrication Facility (AMF), a facility for processing of Micro Electromechanical systems, miniaturized systems, devices and thin films. Research activities include:
- High temperature materials and coatings
- Micro and nano fabrication
- Nanomaterials, synthesis and consolidation
- MEMS and smart materials
- Multi-scale mechanical property characterization
- Atomic scale characterization of materials
- Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP)
- Acoustic wave devices
- Microelectronics materials processing and device characterization
Director:
Vimal Desai
pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ampac/
407-207-4966
Central Florida Research Park
The hub for research and development in Central Florida celebrated its 20th year in 2002. The thousand-acre Central Florida Research Park for the past five years has ranked among the top ten research parks in the nation.
UCF is in the company of North Carolina's Research Triangle and Stanford University in California at the pinnacle, says Research Park Executive Director Joe Wallace. "Whether by the number of acres, by the number of buildings, the number of companies or employees, we're always in the top ten, by whatever criteria used," he notes.
Today, with an annual payroll of around $520 million, the park is home to about 90 companies, 9,000 employees, many of them students and UCF graduates, and elements of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines, as well as university departments and projects. Although the park's foundation is U.S. military simulation and training research, the door is open to any other enterprise which can enhance UCF and the area's economic development through partnerships with the university and research park.
UCF's Institute for Simulation and Training, Central Florida Technology Development Center, the National Center for Forensic Science, Crime Mapping and Data Management and Public Safety Research centers are in the Research Park, along with the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division and other joint missions with government entities.
On the private side, Siemens/Westinghouse, AT&T Wireless, Silicon Graphics, Hewitt Associates and others operate in the park. The University Tech Center serves as an "incubator" transition site, where private industries develop and produce products and services based on university research.
Office of Research
The UCF Office of Research promotes the application of intellectual capital, cultivated within the university, to issues that can impede human development or mar quality of life. It serves as both an official liaison between UCF research and the commercial sector by providing a helping hand for faculty as they work their way through the funding process. The Office of Research provides support to UCF faculty and research institutes by establishing connections with the agencies and individuals who invest in the promise of science.
Vice President for Research: M. J. Soileau
www.research.ucf.edu
407-823-5538
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Graduate Students
