Joshua Taggart knew he wanted to work for the space industry the day he experienced his first launch while attending a camp at Kennedy Space Center, seeing the space shuttle Endeavour soar into the sky. He’s now closer to making that dream a reality after being recognized with one of the industry’s most distinguished awards.

Taggart is the latest Knight to receive the coveted Astronaut Foundation Scholarship, a national award that provides more than 70 scholarships of up to $15,000 each for some of the nation’s very best STEM students. He will be recognized with the 2026 class of scholars at the foundation’s gala, to be held next month in Houston.

Taggart says he chose �鶹ӳ����ý for its reputation in engineering as the No. 1 supplier of talent to the nation’s aerospace and defense industries (Aviation Week Network). He is in good company as part of a trio of Astronaut Scholars this year from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, joining mechanical engineering student Keanu Brayman and computer engineering student Kyle Coutray (a biomedical sciences double major), who have received the scholarship for second consecutive year.

As Taggart works to complete his final year at �鶹ӳ����ý, his latest accomplishment fuels his path to make an impact as a future space researcher.

Future Focused

Driven to contribute to humanity’s exploration of our universe, Taggart is already working on future-focused innovations that can benefit the space industry.

Through NASA Office of STEM Engagement, he interned at the Johnson Space Center working on communications, avionics, propulsion and flight software for CubeSat subsystems.

This summer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, he is researching packaging materials for silicon carbide pressure sensors, working to make sure they perform reliably above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit), and on integrating thermocouple sensors for temperature compensation.

“I chose this field of research because I want to be involved in next-generation electronics that can withstand the extreme nature of outer space.” — Joshua Taggart

“With the harsh environment that outer space is and planet surfaces like Venus, electronics must survive very high temperatures and radiation effects,” he says. “I chose this field of research because I want to be involved in next-generation electronics that can withstand the extreme nature of outer space.”

His work as an undergraduate researcher for the Q-Sim Lab, directed by Assistant Professor Jaesung Lee, also centers around developing technology designed to operate in outer space. Taggart is working on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators designed to perform under extreme conditions, such as elevated temperatures and increased exposure to radiation.

He recently won a Judge’s Choice Award at �鶹ӳ����ý Student Research Week for his Honors Undergraduate Thesis, “Robust AlN MEMS Resonators for High Temperature Space Environments.”

His passion for space has only grown over the years, reflected by his ongoing research at �鶹ӳ����ý and for NASA. As an Astronaut Scholar, Taggart is launching into a future full of possibilities.

“Aside from the financial support that this scholarship will provide me as I complete my undergraduate program, I am very eager for all of the networking opportunities I will have,” Taggart says. “I look forward to networking with other students and industry leaders to learn and grow as much as I can thanks to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.”

Those interested in the Astronaut Scholarship and other opportunities should reach out to the Office of Prestigious Awards at��OPA@ucf.edu.

Worth noting among this graduating class:

• Roughly 30% of the undergraduate students receiving their degrees are the first in their families to earn their diploma.
• More than 25% of this term’s degrees are tied to STEM majors.
• About 30% of the undergraduate graduating class are Pell Grant recipients.

�鶹ӳ����ý is the leading producer of talent among Florida’s universities, awarding roughly 19,000 degrees annually to Knights who go on to work in high-demand industries. About 85% of our alumni stay in Florida because of the ample opportunity to thrive as part of our state’s workforce.

Graduates will hear from��three��esteemed speakers��— all �鶹ӳ����ý graduates —��whose leadership and impact��have��benefited��our region:

• Psychology alum��Allen Johnson��’81,��chief��venue��officer for��City��for��Orlando Venues
• Journalism alum Tanya (Easterling) Hill ’97, market president for Central Florida for Florida Blue
• Criminal��justice��alum��Fred Kittinger ’80, �鶹ӳ����ý’s former��senior associate vice president for government and community relations

Commencement Festivities

Held in the Addition Financial Arena, summer commencement will take place over three ceremonies spanning Friday, July 31, and Saturday, Aug. 1.

All guests, including children and infants, need a ticket for admission. All graduates who have filed an intent to graduate will receive five commencement ceremony tickets when they pick up their regalia packet.

Guests who do not have tickets may watch the live ceremony via a simulcast viewing in the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center and the Student Union. Ceremonies will also be .

Commencement Photo-ops Across �鶹ӳ����ý

Graduating Knights are unable to take photos at the Acrisure Bounce House football stadium this semester due to ongoing construction.

Grad Walk

On Thursday,��July��30,��4:30-7 p.m. (doors close at 6 p.m.),��summer��graduates are invited to a photo-op — Grad Walk — within the Addition Financial Arena. This will be a first-come, first-served occasion for graduates and up to 10 of their well-wishers to take photos and videos on the ceremony stage. Graduates��are required to��register at��.

Commencement Schedule

Graduates and guests can review the below commencement ceremony schedule, listing colleges, ceremony��dates��and streaming links:

Friday,��July��31

6��p.m.

College of Arts and Humanities

College of Community Innovation and Education

College of Graduate Studies

Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Saturday,��Aug. 1

9 a.m.

Barry S. Miller��College of Business

College of Health Professions and Sciences

College of Medicine

College of Nursing

2:30��p.m.

College of Engineering and Computer Science

College of Optics and Photonics

College of Sciences

For more details and FAQs about��Summer��2026 commencement celebrations, visit��ucf.edu/graduation.

Commencement Speakers

Allen Johnson ’81

Chief Venues Officer, City of Orlando Venues

Allen Johnson ’81 has served as chief venues officer of Orlando Venues since 2004, overseeing the City of Orlando’s diverse portfolio of Kia Center, Camping World Stadium, Tinker Field, Leu Gardens and the Mennello Museum of American Art.

Johnson brings decades of venue management experience from leadership roles across Florida. Under Johnson’s leadership, Orlando Venues has evolved into a premier, globally recognized destination for sports, entertainment and culture, welcoming millions of guests each year while strengthening Central Florida’s reputation as a world-class destination.

A proud �鶹ӳ����ý graduate with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, he has earned numerous honors, including the 2025 International Association of Venue Managers Foundation Legacy Award, the SPORTYS Executive of the Year Award and the Downtowner of the Year Award.

He remains active in the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), serving as past chairman and trustee of the foundation board, while also contributing to organizations that include the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, Florida Citrus Sports, Victim Service Center and the .

Tanya (Easterling) Hill ’97

Market President for Central Florida, Florida Blue

Tanya Hill ’97��is Florida Blue’s market president for Central Florida,��responsible for��regional business and community engagement in a 9-county region.

Throughout her more than 25-year career, she has worked with reputable brands including Chick-fil-A, Target and Walt Disney World to drive business results through strategic partnerships.

Hill is passionate about investing time in the community and has been involved with��numerous��community and civic organizations. She currently serves on the board of directors for the��African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida, 4Roots Foundation, Orlando Economic��Partnership��and the Winter Park Health Foundation.

Hill holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from �鶹ӳ����ý.

Fred Kittinger ’80

Former Senior Associate Vice President for Government and Community Relations, �鶹ӳ����ý

A native of central Florida, Fred Kittinger ’80 recently retired as senior associate vice president for government and community relations at �鶹ӳ����ý, where he served for more than 22 years.

He worked alongside local and state leaders to help foster some of �鶹ӳ����ý’s most transformative achievements, including the approval of �鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Medicine, the creation of the world-class Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, the development of �鶹ӳ����ý Downtown, the expansion of the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program and investments that enhanced the student experience and advanced regional impact.

Prior to his career at �鶹ӳ����ý, Kittinger served as chief of staff to Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood and previously as vice president of government relations for the Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce. He began his career as a legislative aide to state Senator George Stuart of Orlando.

Reflecting his commitment to the community, Kittinger currently serves on the board of directors for Junior Achievement of Central Florida (past chair), Central Florida Council for Scouting America and Legacy Pointe at �鶹ӳ����ý.

Kittinger graduated from �鶹ӳ����ý’s criminal justice program and earned his master’s degree in public administration from Florida State University.

That’s the future a team of �鶹ӳ����ý researchers is building, and their groundbreaking work has earned international recognition.

A team of �鶹ӳ����ý researchers has won an industry award for using robotics and digital twins to blend human intuition with technological innovation.

Their work, Be There Without Being There: Humanoid Robot Immersive Telepresence, received the Auggie Award for Best Interaction Product at this year’s Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California. Auggie Awards, which received over 330 entries across 18 categories, are among the world’s most recognized honors in the augmented and virtual reality industry.

The award-winning �鶹ӳ����ý team includes computer science student researchers Judah Rowe ’23 ’25MS, junior Liam Abramov, seniors Seniah McField and Megan Bailey, Assistant Professor Mohsen Rakhshan, and is led by �鶹ӳ����ý Institute for Simulation and Training Interim Director and Agere Chair Professor of Computer Science Carolina Cruz-Neira. In addition to this honor, Cruz-Neira received the 2026 Auggie Award for Innovator of the Year.

Together, they developed a system that pairs a humanoid robot with an immersive digital environment, allowing a person to interact with a remote location as if they were physically there.

The technology creates a real-time digital twin of the robot’s surroundings while mapping the user’s body movements directly onto the robot.

“From a technical [standpoint], this is perhaps the first working product or system that actually [allows] a human to be physically functional in a remote location as if they were really there,” Cruz-Neira says. “We map the body of the human to the robot. So the human walks, the robot walks. The human moves, and the robot moves. The human turns the head, the robot turns the head. It’s almost like the concept in the movie Avatar.”

While Cruz-Neira and Rakhshan guided the project, she says the talented �鶹ӳ����ý students are responsible for successfully implementing physical telepresence.

“This project was done entirely by �鶹ӳ����ý students,” she says. “They are the ones who solved all the problems. They brought it to this level of sophistication to win the award.”

The technology has applications across industries wherever people cannot safely or easily be physically present.

A robot could enter buildings damaged by hurricanes or earthquakes to assess structural damage and search for survivors. Healthcare providers could remotely examine patients with limited mobility or those living far from medical facilities. ��Someone unable to travel could experience strolling along the Champs-Élysées in Paris through the robot’s perspective.

The most important aspect of the work is its ability to blend human intuition with technological innovation, Cruz-Neira says.

“At the end of the day, we have a human element, and robots can help us extend our human capabilities through this amazing technology,” she says. “This project is about [using] technology to augment or extend our human capabilities to help us do things more safely and more effectively.”

The team continues refining the technology to enhance the human experience. Future developments include incorporating artificial intelligence to give the robot greater autonomy and adding a sense of touch that would allow users to remotely feel temperature and texture, as well as manipulate objects.

Cruz-Neira says the project demonstrates not only what’s possible through emerging technologies, but also what �鶹ӳ����ý students can accomplish when given the opportunity to tackle complex real-world challenges. The students have taken this project from the lab into the real world. They’ve built a robust working prototype that’s an exceptional display of real value for the community.

“�鶹ӳ����ý is making [its] mark in the world as the technology university,” she says. “This project demonstrates that as a university, we’re part of the future that we like to talk about. [We’re helping build it.]”

Over millions of years, flowing water etched valleys, shaped mountainsides and formed the branching blue and green scars visible across Earth — and potentially those on other celestial bodies.

Now, �鶹ӳ����ý researchers and collaborating institutions developed a framework capable of reconstructing realistic 3D landscapes using only 2D river network patterns. By combining computer models that simulate how river networksform with principles of hydraulic geometry — the study of how rivers naturally shape themselves over time — the researchers were able to estimate terrain features such as elevation, channel depth, slope and sediment transport.

The approach could help scientists better understand how landscapes evolve under different environmental conditions on Earth and potentially other planetary bodies such as Mars and Titan.

Rivers as Geological Records

According to Arvind Singh, an associate professor in �鶹ӳ����ý’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, river networks preserve traces of the physical processes and external forcings that shaped them over time.

“River networks encode the integrated effects of hydrologic and geomorphic processes, reflected in metrics such as drainage structure, channel geometry, relief and hypsometry (the measurement of elevation and depth),” Singh says.

Reconstructing Landscapes from Networks

Traditionally, researchers study river systems by starting with 3D topographic data gathered through satellite imaging and digital elevation models, then extracting river networks from the terrain.

The new framework flips that process.

Instead of beginning with terrain itself, the researchers investigated whether river networks contain enough information to reconstruct landscapes from the ground up.

“Because traditional approaches require full topography and only describe patterns, reverse engineering (e.g., from networks) can reveal the underlying physical processes that govern landscape form,” Singh says.

The researchers say river networks can reveal far more than simple drainage patterns. Under the framework, the geometry of the networks can also help estimate hidden environmental variables tied to landscape formation.

“A key insight is that realistic 3D landscapes, and even unobservable quantities like discharge or sediment transport, can be reconstructed from 2D network structure alone, revealing strong constraints imposed by fundamental scaling laws,” Singh says.

Testing Alien Worlds

Because the framework is dimensionless and scalable, researchers were also able to adapt the model to hypothetical landscapes on Mars and Titan by changing variables such as gravity and sediment density.

The resulting simulations revealed how river valleys and terrain formations may differ across planetary environments. Compared to Earth and Mars, Titan’s lower gravity and unique environmental conditions produced wider channels, deeper river systems and flatter overall landscapes.

“Mars and Titan provide natural laboratories with different gravity and fluid/sediment properties, allowing the framework to test how identical network structures yield different landscapes under altered physical conditions.”—Arvind Singh, associate professor

The planetary comparisons allowed the researchers to test how different environmental conditions influence landscape formation even when river structures remain similar.

“Mars and Titan provide natural laboratories with different gravity and fluid/sediment properties, allowing the framework to test how identical network structures yield different landscapes under altered physical conditions,” Singh says.

The simulations also demonstrated how gravity and sediment behavior can dramatically alter the shape of landscapes over time.

“Differences in gravity and sediment properties directly alter channel width, depth, slope, and relief, leading to distinct landscape geometries even with the same network structure,” Singh says.

The researchers say the framework may also help scientists better understand how precipitation, sediment size and watershed structure influence the evolution of landscapes over time. Unlike many traditional landscape evolution models, the framework explicitly resolves river channels and their physical characteristics, including depth, slope and gravel transport.

A New Framework for Landscape Evolution

The researchers say the framework differs from many traditional landscape evolution models because it directly incorporates the physical properties of river channels into the simulations.

“This framework couples probabilistic 2D channel network generation with physically based, dimensionally consistent hydraulic geometry and hillslope models, explicitly resolving channel properties and producing fully scalable 3D landscapes,” Singh says.

By revealing how river networks preserve hidden information about the worlds they shape, the researchers hope the framework can help scientists better understand not only Earth’s geological past, but also the ancient landscapes of distant planetary environments.

��The study was conducted by researchers from �鶹ӳ����ý, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and collaborating institutions, with support from the �鶹ӳ����ý P3 program and other funding sources.

�鶹ӳ����ý researchers are known worldwide for their innovative studies, groundbreaking discoveries and contributions to patented technologies that have impacted society and influenced other leaders in the field.

Two College of Engineering and Computer Science professors and a three-time �鶹ӳ����ý alum-turned-courtesy faculty appointee are now being recognized for their achievements that have advanced the quality of life for the state of Florida and the nation.

Professors Reza Abdolvand and Ni-bin Chang and Lockheed Martin Fellow Clara Rivero Baleine ’01 ’03MS ’05PhD have been named 2026 inductees of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame (FIHF). This initiative celebrates pioneering inventors and empowers future problem-solvers and changemakers.

This initiative celebrates pioneering inventors and empowers future problem-solvers and changemakers.

This year, 10 inventors from Florida will be inducted during a formal ceremony in Tampa on Nov. 6. Since FIHF was founded in 2013, five faculty inventors from �鶹ӳ����ý have been recognized with the distinction.

“Induction into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame represents the ultimate validation of a lifelong commitment to translating academic research into industry practice,” Chang says. “Being inducted into the Hall of Fame, which includes over 90 inventors in different fields is also a testament to the thriving Florida innovation ecosystem and the power of continuous, groundbreaking discovery.”

A Career in Environmental Innovation

Chang was selected for induction based on his groundbreaking invention of green sorption media (GSM) and sustainable water treatment technologies that improve water quality.

GSM is a cost-effective and sustainable type of filtration media that uses recycled byproducts and natural minerals to treat stormwater runoff, wastewater effluent, groundwater flow and agricultural discharge.

There are a variety of patented GSM blends that can filter heavy metals, pathogens and contaminants from water systems. This process not only restores aquatic ecosystems but halts the transmission of waterborne diseases, and eliminates cyanotoxins and “forever chemicals” from water that can harm both humans and animals.

“Removing these diverse contaminants from water matrices provides profound, cascading benefits for both human health and aquatic ecosystems,” Chang says. “By eliminating the risk pathways associated with both acute exposure and chronic bioaccumulation, these GSM-based treatment technologies support fundamental ecological balance and public well-being.”

GSM blends are already used at more than 300 water treatment sites across the U.S.

The Inventor of Advanced Electronics

Abdolvand, the chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named an inductee for his contributions to the field of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) — incredibly small devices that have mighty power. Specifically, he is the inventor of a class of microelectronics called Thin-Film Piezoelectric-on-Substrate (TPoS) devices, which improve the reliability and efficiency of a wide range of electronics, including cell phones.

“By improving the efficiency and reliability of the components that make up these systems, the impact, while often invisible to the end user, is very real,” Abdolvand says. “Better performance, lower power consumption, and more reliable devices are the kinds of improvements that quietly make everyday technology work better for everyone.”

Abdolvand’s interest in innovation stems from his natural sense of curiosity. He says his tendency to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated events or systems has served him well throughout his career in research and academia.

“The moment it all clicked was during my Ph.D., when I was first given the opportunity to work on genuinely hard technical problems,” Abdolvand says. “I realized I could come up with solutions that simply did not exist yet. That realization was a turning point.”

As his career progresses, Abdolvand hopes to leave behind a legacy that is less about devices and innovation and more about people. His passion for educating, inspiring and creating opportunities for students means more than the impacts of his inventions.

“What excites me most is seeing students take the seed ideas developed at the university and carry them forward into their own companies, their own inventions, their own contributions to society,” Abdolvand says. “That chain of innovation — from a research lab to a startup to a product that improves people’s lives — is what I find truly meaningful. If I can play even a small role in setting that chain in motion for as many students as possible, that is the legacy I would be interested to leave behind.”

On the Cutting Edge of��Infrared��Materials and Optics

Driven by a desire to protect people and advance technologies that matter, Rivero Baleine joined Lockheed Martin, a �鶹ӳ����ý Pegasus Partner, in 2005 after completing three degrees in six years at �鶹ӳ����ý.

Rivero Baleine now serves as a Lockheed Martin fellow, contributing to cutting‑edge innovation in infrared materials and optics.

Rivero-Baleine’s gradient refractive index optical materials and metamaterial coatings transformed infrared sensing systems for defense and advanced photonics applications.

“I am profoundly proud and deeply humbled to be welcomed into such an extraordinary community of inventors and innovators,” Rivero-Baleine says. “What inspires me most is knowing that these��innovations will��become part of systems that protect service members, strengthen national security and expand the capabilities of the platforms we rely on. That sense of purpose continues to��drive��my work every day.”

Rivero Baleine continues to maintain strong ties with �鶹ӳ����ý through a courtesy faculty appointment at CREOL and serves on the CREOL Dean Advisory Board and the �鶹ӳ����ý Material Science Industrial Advisory board.

Rivero Baleine is a Burnett Honors Scholar and earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and a �������ٱ��’s and a doctorate in optics.

Students in the , with support from the American Association of Venezuelan Engineers (AAVE), are producing 3D-printed orthopedic devices — including splints, neck braces and animal immobilizers — for people and pets injured in the disaster.

The initiative, called Bracing Venezuela, began after BMES leaders contacted Greco Pinzón, president of AAVE. Pinzon’s dad, who has been volunteering in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, connected the students with physicians on the ground who identified the types of orthopedic devices most urgently needed.

“… before we knew it, we had a campuswide humanitarian project taking shape.”

“From there, everything snowballed,” says Jannah Barakat, a mechanical engineering major and president of BMES. “We started test printing, organizing volunteers, building a print tracker, reaching out to other student organizations, and before we knew it, we had a campuswide humanitarian project taking shape.”

Since launching the effort, BMES has produced more than 350 devices that have been shipped to clinicians in Venezuela. Smaller items, such as finger and wrist splints, take only a few hours to print and are manufactured flat so they can be easily transported. Once they arrive, clinicians soften the material with hot water and mold each device to fit each patient. Larger devices, such as neck braces and animal leg braces, are printed in multiple sizes and can take up to 10 hours to complete. With volunteers printing from across �鶹ӳ����ý and beyond, multiple devices can be produced simultaneously.

Bracing Venezuela has received support from Mohsen Rakhshan, an assistant professor in and BMES faculty advisor, who opened his lab’s 3D printer for the project. While many volunteers are engineering students, faculty members, �鶹ӳ����ý alumni and 3D-printing hobbyists have also come forward to help.

“One of the coolest things about this project has been watching people from so many different backgrounds come together around one goal,” Barakat says. “Whether you’re printing a brace, packing a box, donating supplies or simply helping us spread the word, every contribution helps get these devices into the hands of the people and animals who need them.”

“I hope this initiative becomes a model for how engineering students can quickly mobilize to respond to humanitarian needs.”

Those interested in joining the initiative don’t need to own a 3D printer. BMES supplies filament to volunteers who have printers, while others can still make an impact by donating materials, connecting the organization with additional volunteers or helping spread the word.

For Barakat, Bracing Venezuela demonstrates what’s possible when engineering students come together for a greater good.

“I hope this initiative becomes a model for how engineering students can quickly mobilize to respond to humanitarian needs,” she says. “Whether it’s supporting communities after natural disasters, helping [less fortunate] populations locally or partnering with organizations in other countries, I’d love to continue using engineering as a way to make healthcare more [widely available] wherever it’s needed.”

To join the Bracing Venezuela initiative, email Jannah.barakat@ucf.edu.

For scientists working on NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, that question is no longer purely philosophical. It is increasingly becoming an engineering problem.

Researchers at �鶹ӳ����ý’s are helping develop technology designed to help future space telescopes detect potentially habitable planets orbiting distant stars.

The NASA-funded project, known as PEEPSS (Photonics-Enabled Exoplanet Spectroscopic System), aims to help astronomers directly observe planets hidden within the overwhelming brightness of their parent stars.

“If they’re in the habitable zone, that means they are orbiting close to their host star, and that host star is typically going to be 10 billion times brighter than the planet,” says Professor Stephen Eikenberry, principal investigator on the project.

To explain the difficulty, Eikenberry compares the task to trying to spot “a tiny blinking light while someone is shining a spotlight directly in your face.”

The work supports the long-term goals of NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), a future flagship space telescope intended to search for Earth-like planets beyond our solar system and analyze their atmospheres for signs of life.

Solving One of Astronomy’s Hardest Problems

Astronomers already know planets are common throughout the universe. The challenge now is identifying Earth-like planets that are extraordinarily faint compared to the stars they orbit.

Astronomers use instruments called coronagraphs to block a star’s glare while allowing faint planetary signals to reach a telescope’s detectors.

Even then, however, microscopic imperfections in a telescope’s optics can allow enormous amounts of starlight to leak through the system.

“And you can say, ‘Well, that’s only a part in a million,’ ” Eikenberry says. “Guess what? A part in a million means it’s still 10,000 times brighter than your exoplanet. You’re doomed.”

The system performs an advanced form of wavefront sensing that detects and corrects tiny distortions in incoming light before they overwhelm planetary signals.

Unlike many existing systems that monitor light earlier in the optical process, PEEPSS performs wavefront sensing directly at the telescope’s focal plane, the same location where scientific imaging occurs.

That distinction is important because it allows researchers to detect and correct optical errors that emerge after light passes through a telescope’s coronagraph. Scientists refer to these distortions as “non-common-path aberrations.”

To explain the concept, Eikenberry compares the system to trying to monitor a room you cannot fully see.

“Imagine you’re in a house and you want the entire house to be perfectly clean,” he says. “You can see people walking into the bedroom, but you can’t actually see inside the bedroom itself. That’s the non-common path.”

By monitoring the complete optical pathway all the way through to the focal plane, researchers hope PEEPSS can help future observatories achieve the extraordinary precision necessary to detect habitable worlds.

A New Approach Using Photonic Lanterns

At the center of the project is an emerging technology known as a photonic lantern.

The device separates complex incoming light into individual optical channels, allowing researchers to recover not only brightness information, but also phase information carried by light waves, data that conventional imaging systems typically discard.

“Traditional detectors wipe that information out,” Eikenberry says. “Photonic lanterns allow us to recover it.”

That additional information enables what researchers describe as “quantum-inspired imaging,” an emerging technique that uses light behavior to improve image resolution and filter out the remaining starlight.

Researchers at CREOL have become major contributors to the rapidly growing field of astrophotonics, which combines astronomy, fiber optics and advanced photonic technologies.

“There are really only two major centers doing cutting-edge work on photonic lanterns,” Eikenberry says. “Us and the University of Sydney in Australia.”

The project brings together collaborators from �鶹ӳ����ý, University of California, Santa Cruz, the University of Sydney, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. At �鶹ӳ����ý, Eikenberry works alongside graduate student Genevieve Markees and researchers including Rodrigo Amezcua Correa, Miguel Bandres and Jose-Enrique Antonio-Lopez, whose expertise in fiber optics and photonics helped establish the collaboration.

Looking Toward Habitable Worlds

The current PEEPSS project is structured as a three-year effort focused on building and testing prototype photonic lantern systems in laboratory and telescope environments.

Some versions of the technology have already undergone testing on telescopes in Hawaii through collaborations with the Air Force Research Laboratory and international research partners.

Ultimately, researchers hope the technology could become part of the future NASA missions searching for habitable planets around distant stars.

“If we can identify habitable worlds around other stars and show they possess conditions where Earth-like life could survive, that’s already revolutionary,” Eikenberry says. “If we discover actual evidence of life, then we’re talking about one of the greatest scientific discoveries in human history.”

For Eikenberry, humanity may now be approaching a historic turning point.

“We are one mission away,” he says.

And if future observations succeed, humanity may no longer simply wonder whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. For researchers involved in the project, that possibility is what makes the work so compelling.

“We’ll look up and know.”

The PEEPSS project is supported by NASA through award No. 80NSSC26K0577 and brings together researchers from �鶹ӳ����ý, the University of Sydney and the University of California, Santa Cruz to develop advanced photonic technologies for future exoplanet imaging and spectroscopy missions, including NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory. The initial PEEPSS concept development was supported by the �鶹ӳ����ý through its SPICE Academic Excellence Program.

Two �鶹ӳ����ý researchers have received U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Awards supporting separate engineering research projects focused on how complex systems sense, adapt and respond to changing environments.

The awards were presented to Chinwendu Enyioha, an assistant professor in , and Mohiuddin Quadir, an associate professor in . Among NSF’s most prestigious recognitions for early-career faculty, the CAREER Award supports researchers who show strong potential as academic leaders while integrating research, education and student development.

Recognizing Emerging Research Leaders

While Enyioha and Quadir work in different engineering fields, both researchers are developing systems designed to respond under complex conditions — including autonomous systems coordinating under limited communication and nanoparticles interacting with biological signals in complex environments.

Enyioha says the award will enable his group to build on years of prior work, including early doctoral students who helped lay the foundation for the project.

“It gives us the opportunity to study these problems and acknowledges the effort that has gone into making important findings in this area,” Enyioha says. “It will enable us to continue training doctoral students and make contributions to the broader cyber-physical systems research community.”

For Quadir, the award will help support the long-term development of ideas his research group has been pursuing for years for engineering ‘smart’ materials with programmable form and function.

“This recognition means a very significant impact for our research group and for the progression of our ideas,” Quadir says. “This is a core idea that we want to develop over time, and for that, you need logistic support, intellectual support, collaborations, and of course, newer ideas.”

Designing Autonomous Systems Under Communication Constraints

Enyioha’s CAREER project, “Limited-Communication Control of Teams of Autonomous Systems” focuses on developing mathematical frameworks and distributed algorithms that allow teams of autonomous systems to coordinate effectively under bandwidth-limited communication constraints.

The research examines how spatially distributed systems — including robotic networks, wireless sensors and autonomous infrastructure systems — can continue operating cooperatively even when communication bandwidth becomes constrained or unreliable.

“One way to think about it is if you have a bunch of robots that need to solve a particular task. Clearly they have to talk and agree and coordinate,” Enyioha says. “The question we are interested in is how can they solve that problem when they are not able to talk freely with one another?”

Communication constraints are common in real-world environments, including disaster zones, underwater systems and crowded networks where many devices compete for limited bandwidth.

“Our focus isn’t on situations where we have no communication, but on being efficient in how we use limited communication resources down to single bits,” Enyioha says.

To explain the concept, Enyioha compares the challenge to compressing navigation instructions.

“If you want to go from Orlando to Houston, Google Maps gives you a long list of instructions,” he says. “But if you only had two pieces of information to give someone, you might say, ‘Go north. Then go west.’”

The project also studies resilient systems capable of continuing to operate even when communication channels fail or individual components become compromised, an important challenge in areas such as disaster response, autonomous infrastructure and large-scale robotic systems.

“In the community we call this designing autonomous systems that gracefully degrade,” Enyioha says.

Engineering Materials That Respond to Biological Signals

Quadir’s CAREER project, “Nanoscale Interactions of Stimuli-responsive Nanoparticles with Enzymes,” investigates how engineered nanoparticles can be designed to recognize and respond to biological signals in ways that mimic certain characteristics found in living systems.

“As you know, in [human] physiology, in the physiology of the plants, in the physiology of any living materials around the world, there is a very basic paradigm that goes on, which is selective responsiveness to a particular stimulus within the myriad of noises,” Quadir says. “This sensitivity means a system can register and isolate signals from a complex external environment and translate them into an action.”

Quadir says his research group is trying to translate that biological principle into the materials world by engineering nanoparticles capable of recognizing specific molecular signals and producing targeted responses.

The research focuses on enzyme-responsive nanomaterials — particles capable of interacting with enzymes at the molecular level. Quadir says his research group designs and engineers the molecular building blocks of nanoparticles so they can recognize specific enzyme signals and respond accordingly.

Potential applications could include medicine, aging research, environmental science, and adaptive materials capable of responding to dynamic biological environments.

Supporting Long-Term Research and Education

Both CAREER projects include education and outreach components designed to train students and expand engagement with emerging areas of engineering.

Education and workforce development are central components of Enyioha’s CAREER Award, he says. His research group includes doctoral, �������ٱ��’s and undergraduate students who participate in research on autonomy, machine learning, and distributed optimization theory, with applications to networked cyber-physical systems. Beyond the university, he also introduces younger students to these fields through programs such as �鶹ӳ����ý Camp Connect, where K-12 participants are introduced to decision-making algorithms and autonomy during a week-long summer program.

“Seeing real demonstrations helped them understand how core concepts from math and physics apply to real problems,” Enyioha says.

Quadir acknowledges the work done by the graduate students and postdocs towards the research goal. He is grateful to his mentors, collaborators and colleagues at the department and college for their guidance and inspiration, and the National Science Foundation for research support.

Quadir says scientific and engineering research ultimately aims to improve the lives of others.

Together, the awards highlight how �鶹ӳ����ý researchers are advancing engineering systems capable of adapting to increasingly complex biological, computational and real-world environments.

Enyioha’s CAREER Award project, “Limited-Communication Control of Teams of Autonomous Systems,” is supported under NSF award GR110760. Quadir’s CAREER Award project, “Nanoscale Interactions of Stimuli-responsive Nanoparticles with Enzymes,” is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under awards GR111180 and GR111181 (Award number�� – 2609681)

�鶹ӳ����ý has the most inductees among universities in Florida in the 2026 American Academy of Nursing Class of Fellows, which includes influential healthcare leaders from across the U.S. and around the world. The induction ceremony will be held on Oct. 10, 2026, during the organization’s annual Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Fellows are selected through a rigorous nomination and review process, and recognized for substantial contributions to improving health outcomes. With the new cohort, the American Academy of Nursing will have more than 3,600 fellows worldwide dedicated to advancing nursing leadership, innovation and science.

The four new inductees, whose collective works have advanced care across the lifespan from pediatrics to older adults, will join 11 fellows of the American Academy of Nursing on faculty at �鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Nursing.

Jean Davis ’19PhD

Nursing Associate Professor Jean Davis is advancing public health through her interdisciplinary scholarly work. By working with a collaborative team of public health, psychology, kinesiology and artificial intelligence experts, she has developed and continually improved upon a physical activity habit-forming intervention that tailors cues for movement and optimizes responses to ultimately improve outcomes. This intervention is improving health for veterans and pregnant women, and influencing providers, educators and health systems. Davis is also dedicated to advancing nursing science through active mentorship of �鶹ӳ����ý nursing students and early career scholars.

Jacqueline LaManna ’13�ʳ��

For more than three decades, Family Nurse Practitioner and Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program Director Jacqueline LaManna ’13�ʳ�� has made substantial contributions to advancing diabetes care and self-management education as a provider, educator and researcher. Her scholarly works have been cited more than 250 times and are included in the American Diabetes Association Standards of Care in Diabetes shaping care for pregnant women. In addition, LaManna has helped establish national frameworks for telehealth education for nurse practitioner graduate students that have been accessed more than 4,000 times.

Kimberly Navarro

Lecturer Kimberly Navarro is a certified nurse midwife and board-certified women’s health nurse practitioner who has pioneered community health initiatives to increase healthcare access and improve quality of care for children, adolescents, and pregnant women in the U.S., Guatemala, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. As program director of the Hispanic serving healthcare professionals graduate certificate at �鶹ӳ����ý, Navarro has increased access to the program, strengthened curriculum, and mentored future healthcare professionals. In addition to her faculty appointment Navarro maintains a clinical practice as founder and president of a technology-driven midwifery-led birth center in Orlando.

Kaitlyn Rechenberg

Associate Professor Kaitlyn Rechenberg is advancing standards of behavioral healthcare for children and adolescents living with complex chronic medical conditions through design and implementation of technology-driven interventions. She pioneered the development and validation of the first precision instrument to differentiate diabetes-specific anxiety symptoms from general anxiety symptoms. She also created a mobile health application to deliver tailored mindfulness training to adolescents living with diabetes. Her scholarly work has been cited in seminal position statements by both the American Diabetes Association and International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes and has been cited nearly 800 times across 26 countries.

The native Floridian��dreamed of working��in��one someday��and knew �鶹ӳ����ý —��located��next door to some of the world’s premiere theme parks with a solid pipeline to the industry — was her ticket to get there.

Never��mind that at the time of her enrollment to the����in 2020, a global pandemic��had quite��literally closed the doors on the industry.

Nothing could derail her from her goal.

Today,��the��hospitality management alum is a senior technical coordinator at����in Orlando, the division of����that��designs, develops��and produces��immersive theme park attractions,��resorts��and experiences worldwide.

Making a��Bold Move

As a��junior in��high school,��Cortier got her first real glimpse of career options in hospitality when she��attended an industry-focused��summer camp that��Rosen College��hosted at��the��time.��As a senior,��she��focused her��AP��capstone project��on hydroponics in��the theme park industry. She��knew��the project��would��help her��make��connections, because��it��required��a professional mentor.

Cortier took the initiative to��reach out to��,��dean of��Rosen College, who at that time was��interim��chair��of the��college’s��Department of Foodservice and Lodging Management.

Mejia appreciated Cortier’s interest in the industry and her courage in reaching out. She invited her for a campus tour and connected her to a local hydroponics expert. Cortier’s bold plan had worked.

“It is so rare to get a cold call from a high school student who, at such��a young age, was so certain she wanted to build a career in hospitality leadership. You just do not see that kind of passion every day,” says Mejia, who continued to mentor Cortier throughout her time at �鶹ӳ����ý. “Bella continuously challenges and pushes herself past her comfort zone, which is why she is so successful and a model for the students who come after her. I am so proud of her.”

Turning the Unexpected��Into��a��Winning Situation

Cortier continued to demonstrate that dedication and initiative once she was a full-time student. She was part of a core group who attended nearly every virtual meet-and-greet with faculty and staff that the Rosen College organized.

“When the faculty and staff saw that I was showing up, and they understood the passion that I had to be there, they started inviting me to take part in different events,” says Cortier, who was invited to be a student representative on the Dean’s Advisory Council, provide college tours for industry leaders and be part of a project team to enhance the student experience post-pandemic.

Meanwhile��she also��joined the Rosen College Leadership Council, became a tour guide with���鶹ӳ����ý��Undergraduate��Admissions��and��joined the��student��chapter of the Future Theme Park Leaders Association.��Cortier��also joined��the����as a member of��the drum line,��and��that’s��where she met her fiancé,��Erik��Solberg ’24.

Forging a Path and Finding Her Place

When her marching band responsibilities ended in fall 2020, Cortier landed her first part-time job in a local theme park, SeaWorld Orlando. She discovered her love of working in rides and attractions and parlayed that into two summer internships focused on hospitality leadership development at Hersheypark in Pennsylvania and another job at Universal Orlando Resort.

“I��loved��Universal��right away, and I knew��I wanted to ultimately end up there,” Cortier says.

During her last semester of school, Cortier became an intern on the Universal Orlando Resort Operations Safety & Compliance team, and she has been with the company ever since.

In 2023, she made the move from a front-line job to a backstage role with Universal Creative after attending an internal career fair to explore opportunities.

“I always loved attractions so much,��and��I��didn’t think I’d ever want to leave,��but I made the jump to explore something new, and I’m so glad I did,” says Cortier, who��supports��the��engineering and safety��team��at��Universal��Creative, which��helps bring new��experiences��to life.

Moving Forward,��Giving Back

Cortier��still values��networking, and she has��developed��a passion for helping others find their way.��She��is��involved with��IAAPA, a global��association for the attractions industry,��and serves��on��its��North American Education Committee and��as��chair of��its��Young Professionals��Education��Task��Force.

“Rosen College gave me a foundation in hospitality, leadership, operations, teamwork and creating meaningful guest experiences.”
— Bella Cortier

“Rosen College��gave me a foundation in hospitality, leadership, operations, teamwork and creating meaningful guest experiences,” Cortier says.��“When I get calls��to come back and speak or be part of an event��at Rosen College, I always say yes.��I had people feed into me, and��that’s��my way of giving back — sharing my experience and talking to students who��are finding��their path.”

Cortier shared her story at the announcement��of��the , a first-of-its-kind addition to the No. 1 hospitality college in the nation, backed by a $10 million investment from Universal Destinations and Experiences.

This new Pegasus Partnership��is part of �鶹ӳ����ý’s����campaign, a bold mission for the future of the university.