Their determined pursuit of excellence and transformation of knowledge into breakthroughs have catapulted �鶹ӳ����ý to become Florida’s Next-Generation Preeminent University.

President Alexander N. Cartwright announced Monday that �鶹ӳ����ý has reached the 12 metrics required to earn the designation of Preeminent State Research University by the Florida Board of Governors. Qualifying for the state’s highest designation highlights �鶹ӳ����ý’s achievements in student success, research and more — and the talents and hard work of so many in the �鶹ӳ����ý community who made this happen.

“From the very beginning, �鶹ӳ����ý has been a university that defies expectations, turning scrubland into a next-generation university built for discovery, innovation and opportunity,” President Cartwright says. “Reaching the 12 metrics necessary for Florida’s Preeminent State Research University designation reflects the grit and ambition of our students, faculty, and staff, and the power of this community to dream bigger and achieve more. Preeminence is not an arrival point but a launchpad for an even bolder future.”

“This is an extraordinary accomplishment, and one that reflects the collective efforts of our faculty, staff, students, and leadership team — with this Board’s unwavering support,” says Board of Trustees Chair Alex Martins ’01MBA. “It is a milestone that belongs to the entire �鶹ӳ����ý community, and I am proud we have reached this point together.”

A Community Dedicated to Student Success

�鶹ӳ����ý adopted a new model of student success support in 2023 with academic success coaches. Each student is paired with a success coach who works one-on-one with them, helping them develop their academic and career goals, and guiding them on the path to success. Success coaches help remove barriers for students and empower them to thrive on campus and beyond.

When DirectConnect to �鶹ӳ����ý student Hayley Ellis transferred from Daytona State College, she had to adjust to a much larger school in a new city. Mostly homeschooled growing up, Ellis is an aspiring pathologist double majoring in health sciences, and molecular and cellular biology.

Just as she began feeling overwhelmed in Organic Chemistry, senior academic success coach Christian Viau reached out to champion her success.

“When I got [Christian’s] email, I was like, ‘Someone here wants me to succeed and help me map out my classes,’ ” Ellis says. “That was a huge relief. It felt good to have someone there for me.”

“I think providing [a] support system from inside the institution is vital. As a success coach, that’s a driving factor for me — because in my undergrad, I would’ve loved to have someone I could lean on.” — Christian Viau, senior academic success coach

Since then, they’ve met several times to build a manageable academic schedule and discuss how to get involved and connect with Knights across campus.

Every student Viau works with receives individualized support. That includes Ellis, whom he knew needed extra help due to the unique challenges double majors face. Now approaching graduation, she’s stayed on track to finish in four years.

Thanks to the efforts of Viau and dozens of other academic success coaches across campus, along with caring faculty members who mentor students, and many other people, �鶹ӳ����ý has increased our four-year graduation rate to 63.8%, which is up 14 percentage points in four years.

Another example of efforts that have greatly benefited students is in the College of Arts and Humanities, where faculty in writing and rhetoric are strengthening student success in first-year composition courses. Shane Wood, associate professor and director of first-year composition and Professor Sherry Rankins-Robertson facilitated a progress report initiative that identifies at-risk students early in Composition I and II courses. Students are then connected to support and resources to help them succeed in these subjects, which nearly every �鶹ӳ����ý student takes, and which directly affect key preeminence metrics like freshman retention and four-year graduation rates.

“Serving more than 6,500 students a year, success in these [composition] courses plays a pivotal role in helping students persevere at �鶹ӳ����ý and ultimately graduate.” — Shane Wood, associate professor

What began as a small pilot program with about 10% faculty participation has grown to be embraced by nearly 90% of instructors today. That shift has contributed to a remarkable 96% persistence rate, which measures percentage of students who continue, in composition courses — helping bolster student success across the university.

“Serving more than 6,500 students a year, success in these courses plays a pivotal role in helping students persevere at �鶹ӳ����ý and ultimately graduate,” Wood says.

Rankins-Robertson says the initiative also reflects the dedication of faculty who support students from their very first semester.

“We’re trying to make students feel like they belong here, and when they feel supported, they’re more likely to continue,” Rankins-Robertson says. “Preeminence, to me, highlights the dedication of our faculty and the intentional ways they approach the classroom in order to make a meaningful impact on students’ lives.”

From Ingenuity to Impact: Boosting Research Funding and Technology Transfer

�鶹ӳ����ý’s world-class faculty are bold innovators who drive over $285 million in annual research expenditures across fields like space exploration, engineering, optics and photonics, modeling and simulation, healthcare, cybersecurity and more. Their work has helped �鶹ӳ����ý become a National Academy of Inventors top 20 public university for patents in the U.S. — and meet preeminence metrics.

“When the Office of Technology Transfer showcases �鶹ӳ����ý innovations, we not only generate interest in licensing intellectual property, but also create pathways for industry partnerships that extend far beyond licensing alone.”  — Svetlana Shtrom ’08MBA, director of Technology Transfer

The Office of Technology Transfer, which oversees the filing and issuance of patents, is part of the university’s Economic Development and Innovation division within the Office of Research. Technology Transfer plays an integral role in overseeing research commercialization, strengthening industry relationships and facilitating formation of new startup companies. Supporting the efforts of the Technology Transfer team are a host of  other Office of Research staff who submit proposals, process funding awards and much more.

“�鶹ӳ����ý’s Office of Technology Transfer is dedicated to serving the university research community by identifying innovative research that has commercial potential and attracts interest from industry partners, entrepreneurs, and investors with the goal of bringing promising research results to the market for the betterment of society,” says Svetlana Shtrom ’08MBA, director of Technology Transfer.

Being a strong producer of patents enhances �鶹ӳ����ý’s national prominence, attracting more talented students and researchers who further fuel the cycle of innovation.

“We are committed to supporting researchers, entrepreneurs and stakeholders in turning ideas into impact,” says Raju Nagaiah, Technology Transfer’s assistant director of licensing. “We are passionateabout our work — we love science and technology, and get very excited when we learn about new inventions and the opportunity to improve people’s lives through innovation.”

Companies frequently approach the Technology Transfer to explore available technologies, and this often leads to deeper research collaborations and more funding opportunities for faculty, Shtrom says.

Driving Student Achievement and Innovation

Preeminence also acknowledges the many ways that students excel in the classroom and transform ideas into impact.

Zackary Zuniga, a dual major undergraduate student studying photonics science and engineering, and electrical engineering, founded ZuLeris Interactive in 2023 after taking �鶹ӳ����ý’s Entrepreneurship for Defense course. The company, now part of the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program, creates immersive simulations for electromagnetic defense training.

“At �鶹ӳ����ý, I found a community that supported me every step of the way,” Zuniga says. “From mentors to the entrepreneurship ecosystem, I’ve never experienced this level of encouragement anywhere else.”

Set to graduate in December, Zuniga and his team spent the summer on a national fellowship sponsored by the Defense Innovation Unit, which focuses on helping startup companies. He credits �鶹ӳ����ý for connecting him with opportunities that have shaped his startup, allowing it to make training more accessible and scalable.

Leading Florida’s Future

As �鶹ӳ����ý attracts top talent, strengthens industry partnerships and drives innovation that benefits the state and nation, the university’s impact is felt across key sectors — from healthcare and nursing to space and defense — positioning �鶹ӳ����ý as a vital contributor to Florida’s prosperity.

For the 2025-26 academic year, �鶹ӳ����ý boasts its strongest class in years. The university received a record 65,900 applicants from first-year students for 8,100 spots in the Summer and Fall 2025 semesters. The average high school GPA for fall freshmen was 4.24 and the class posted a 1347 average SAT score.

What Comes Next

When it comes to preeminence, the Board of Governors must first verify the results of �鶹ӳ����ý’s 12 metrics. Once verified, the 12 metrics will come before the �鶹ӳ����ý Board of Trustees for approval in April 2026, and would then move onto the Board of Governors for certification and official designation in June.

President Cartwright shared that his priority for any new dollars that come with the official preeminence designation is investment in the faculty and staff who propel the university’s excellence.

From there, the sky is the limit as �鶹ӳ����ý continues to build on our innovations in student success at scale, grow as Florida’s Premier University for Engineering, Technology and Innovation, and become a top 25 public research university.

In April, Logue will retire from her leading role at �鶹ӳ����ý.

“T��� timing couldn’t be better,” Logue says. “We have no crisis, no funding gap — just a healthy business environment [for] the foreseeable future. I can walk away with peace of mind that our ‘grow your own’ approach has become the hallmark of economic development in Central Florida.”

Under Logue’s guidance, the Innovation Districts and Incubation Program has cultivated growth for hundreds of startups, resulting in thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars for the local economy from a medley of industries. Logue’s approach to her work has captured the attention of colleagues across the country, serving as a testament to her strong work ethic and humility.

“I’ve followed a crooked path,” Logue says, “but I’ve never forgotten where I came from.”

The Farm Girl From Arkansas

Logue learned how to drive from the seat of a tractor at age 10. She can’t begin to count how many piglets she bottle-fed or the hours she spent picking, cleaning and canning vegetables from her family’s enormous garden. Logue’s granddad ran the general store. Her father earned a degree in agricultural engineering, but didn’t stray from his rural roots where everyone knew each other as neighbors and helped each other as friends.

“My upbringing close to the Earth prepared me to work with entrepreneurs even back when I had other plans,” Logue says.

Those plans were supposed to include medical school, however, along the way she discovered the world of technology at the University of Arkansas library, where early online databases fed her hunger for knowledge. From there, Logue’s route bounced around the south — to Louisiana State University for a master’s degree, back to Arkansas to teach and eventually to the University of Florida (UF) in 1984 where she helped run an information center with rocket scientists.

“Agriculture is the original STEM field,” Logue says of the connection between farming and technology.

While at UF, she would attend occasional business conferences in Orlando, and each time she became more intrigued about the blossoming potential of the area and the young university on its east side. At one conference in the aftermath of 9/11, she heard a new strategy outlined — for the region, for �鶹ӳ����ý, and, as Logue believed, for her own career.

“T��� ground had shaken after 9/11,” she says. “It forced every business and municipality to change. During that conference, I heard how technology and young startups in Orlando were poised to diversify the economy beyond tourism. Everyone wanted to participate — the city, the county, private enterprise. And at the center of it all: �鶹ӳ����ý. It wasn’t just talk. Innovation would drive entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship would grow the greater community. I’d always wanted to be in a place where I could see those kinds of long-term results.”

Laying the Groundwork for Orlando’s Economic Boom

When Logue arrived at �鶹ӳ����ý a few months later, she saw the equivalent of a big field — one incubator in one building. She felt at home. Working with entrepreneurs reminded her of planting seeds. Developing partnerships with the city and county was like watering and fertilizing.

“Just like it is when you’re growing crops, you keep watch, knowing there will be factors outside your control,” Logue says. “But you keep nurturing, keep fending off pests and focus on the harvest ahead.”

Orlando’s business culture today is very different than it was in 2002. The region once known for a busy airport and theme parks now garners global attention for technology and innovation clusters that feed a robust local economy. There’s expertise in virtual reality, augmented reality, digital twinning, modeling, simulation, gaming and theme park advancements. All of this has been spun into a wide range of business interests: education, hospitality, medicine, real estate, smart city planning and the space program. Trace any of the vendors back to their roots and you’ll probably find yourself still standing in Central Florida.

This is the fruit reaped from sowing locally, and it’s due in large part to �鶹ӳ����ý — and to Logue.

“Colleagues from around the country ask how we do this,” she says. “I tell them �鶹ӳ����ý always has a seat at the table. During conversations, you can’t tell who works for government, who works for industry and who works for �鶹ӳ����ý. It’s truly collaborative, which is helpful for entrepreneurs. At the heart of it, we share a goal to drive a better quality of life from within.”

RINI Technologies, one of the first businesses in the incubator program when Logue arrived in 2002, now offers leading research and development from a 12,000-square-foot facility just one mile from �鶹ӳ����ý’s main campus. It’s among the companies Logue and her team have helped grow from laboratory to marketplace.

The successes gained so much attention from the U.S. Department of Defense that when it recognized a need for rapid innovation in 2019, it launched the Central Florida Tech Grove and appointed Logue as director. Five years later, 11 government entities now collaborate with Tech Grove, where the primary mission to grow the defense industrial base for each entity has expanded overall economic vitality. Business leaders from around the world see the ease of integrating with other companies and government and want to know how to be a part of it.

They call the person at the center of the progress: Logue.

“It isn’t me,” she says with down-to-earth modesty. “It’s the vibrant economic environment here. I know it will be sustained long after I leave.”

Her Ambitious To-do List for Retirement

Logue plans to take online courses in history, photography and possibly artificial intelligence. There are books to read and documentaries to watch about people, WWI and WWII. She’ll vacation in Eastern Europe and visit her grandkids in Alaska. But near the top of the list is a trip she’s been thinking about for a long time. This trip will be to the pastures of Lexington, Kentucky, and the foothills and flatlands of Arkansas — home.

“Back to the place that prepared me in ways I never saw coming,” she says.

Then Logue and her husband, Ed, will return to Florida and take a breath before she makes time for a once-familiar hobby.

“I’m going to have a big garden,” she says, “and I look forward to spending a lot of time in it.”

Zuniga founded ZuLeris Interactive in 2023 after realizing the opportunity to create simulations for specialized electromagnetic defense training through his Entrepreneurship for Defense course while earning degrees in both electrical and photonics engineering.

Nearly a year later, the company has earned its first contract and acceptance to the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program where it will accelerate innovation and unleash its potential.

ZuLeris will integrate its electromagnetic warfare virtual training environment into tactical awareness kits through its first contract with Chesapeake Technology International (CTI), its sponsor company. The team will work to enable communication of CTI’s geospatial mapping and constructive electromagnetic capabilities with ZuLeris’ visualization of the electromagnetic spectrum to conduct immersive training scenarios.

The promising company is looking to continue its initial success and harness the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program’s resources in its quest to defend against threats unseen.

“When you see the wars that are happening nowadays, it’s more prevalent than ever, and so it’s important that the soldiers have the training that they need for this,” Zuniga says. “And so how can you be ready for something you can’t see? Well, the answer isn’t through simple presentations; it’s simulations that you can play with. That’s what we aim to do as a company to make that training happen.”

The simulation is played on a computer or tablet to ensure that it is compliant with defense industry standards and easily deployed as a training exercise. Users’ response times and effectiveness are measured as they navigate through a virtual area with varied terrain and obstacles to track and determine where an electromagnetic signal is coming from.

“You walk around with your spectrum analyzer and your map, and then you draw lines on the map to try and triangulate where exactly the signals coming from,” Zuniga says. “Once you find your signal, then you get given a measure of effectiveness report, which is telling you how you did and where you could have done better.”

Existing training consists of searching for an object with a signal embedded in it and then hidden within a challenging environment. It can be costly and time consuming to stage these exercises, Zuniga says. However, their simulations have the potential advantage of being able to create a virtual space that is close to an inaccessible area where users may experience electromagnetic interference.

“T��� problem we’re trying to solve was, how do we take this training that’s really costly that usually comes with a lot of paperwork, and get all that ready to go for an hour training?” Zuniga says. “We wanted to make it so you can do it whenever and wherever you want.”

Zuniga and �鶹ӳ����ý student and co-founder Liam Etan ’24 received defense agency sponsorship to develop their ideas through class, advancing through multiple defense-oriented technology competitions that showcased their simulation and validated that their technology was worthy of pursuing and growing.

The journey in developing ZuLeris has been both expeditious and exciting, as the supportive team has been crucial to maintaining direction, Zuniga says.

“Sometimes I wonder, ‘Am I really ready for this kind of thing?’” Zuniga says. “I’m still a student, and it’s a huge jump, and it’s a jump that I’m still learning. The easiest way that I have found to handle that process is having a co-founder on your side to help you along that journey, and vice versa. Liam is fantastic, and he helped me in so many ways that I don’t think I could ever do without him.”

Etan, who received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, is the company’s chief operating office. He says he’s grateful to be a part of ZuLeris and see how the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program can help.

“It’s always important to emphasize how truly grateful we are for the community in Orlando and all of our mentors, especially organizations like the National Security Innovation Network, �鶹ӳ����ý, and the Tech Grove,” he says. “We are still brand new to the incubator, but so far, we’ve been able to establish a real address and office for the company, rather than using our parents’ homes. We’ve also already been able to have very productive meetings with the incubator team that have helped us decide on next steps.”

The additional boost the mentorship and guidance the incubation program provides can almost literally be a game changer, Zuniga says.

“It gets rid of all those potential roadblocks along the way,” he says. “We can even prepare for those we didn’t even know about. Having that foresight is fantastic, and that’s where the incubator is really helpful.”

“From the moment I heard about cities being smart, it has always been on my mind,” Agarwal says. The concept resonates for this engineering visionary because he was raised in a small town in India with unstable transportation, electric, water and drainage systems. “I had a strong feeling that a ‘smart city’ would benefit everyone living in it, for generations.”

Little did Agarwal know at the time that in 2024 he would be in Orlando, The City Beautiful, as founding director of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Urban Intelligence and Smart City Lab and coordinator of its innovative Smart Cities master’s program. He could have continued his blossoming career in any major city with a reputable university, but he came to Central Florida because he saw something fresh: under the umbrella of the Future City Initiative, researchers and students from a variety of departments who would soon be working with industry and city leaders toward a singular goal.

“Smartness,” says Agarwal, an associate professor in civil environmental and construction engineering.

Let’s just pause for a moment and address a basic question: What exactly is a smart city? The Orlando area has smart people with smart ideas. We have a university with world-renown instructors and a history of groundbreaking tech research in AR, VR, digital twinning, modeling and simulation. Yet with all of these smarts, we still live on a finite piece of land with a finite supply of water, all shared by a rapidly growing population. It doesn’t take long for such a city to become less beautiful.

Unless it’s truly smart.

“T��� concept of a smart city is broad, but in general it means you integrate technology to remove the negatives of daily life,” says Cameron Ford, founding director of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and executive director of the Blackstone LaunchPad. “No congestion. No sanitation issues. No excess air pollutants. No problems with reliable power or water. A smart city uses foresight to improve livability, sustainability and resilience so residents can enjoy today while preparing for the uncertainties of tomorrow.”

For an example, Agarwal’s latest research provides a moving picture of what mobility within a smart city might look like: Traffic moving with the harmonious speed and efficiency of a school of fish (as opposed to the stop-and-go crawl of a caterpillar). In this city, autonomous vehicles would use sensors to transmit messages to each other and to the infrastructure. Road travel becomes cooperative and quick. It’s stress-free, and yes, friendly.

“Technology is the connective tissue between every project in a smart city,” Agarwal says, “and it requires a lot of small projects connected together. They become the digital infrastructure. You can’t necessarily see them, but they make the quality of daily life better.”

Carol Ann Logue is director of programs and operations for �鶹ӳ����ý’s Innovation Districts and Business Incubation Program. She and Ford are involved in smart city initiatives because at some point every tech-centered project, visible or invisible, comes down to business. Without investment even the smartest idea will never see the light of day.

“T��� cities that can pull this off have experts from every important sector intertwined into a singular ecosystem,” Logue says. “For Orlando, it’s healthcare, transportation, hospitality, education, engineering and business. We have a pipeline of young talent, intellectual property, forward-thinking research — everything is here, due in large part to �鶹ӳ����ý, to be become fully integrated, and smarter.”

Until recently, however, something crucial had been missing.

“For as long as I’ve been in Orlando, there have been frustrations that the rest of the world didn’t know about the tech capabilities here, which made it challenging to attract outside investors,” Logue says. “But that’s changing quickly.”

Logue is referring to the presence of Plug and Play, a global startup accelerator with a deep network of investors and companies able to supercharge emerging tech markets like central Florida. Plug and Play opened an Orlando office earlier in 2024 as part of a partnership with �鶹ӳ����ý, the city, Orange County, Duke Energy and Tavistock, with the goal of advancing Orlando as a smart city.

“This region’s identity as a tech market is unique,” Ford says. “We don’t have major corporate headquarters spinning out talent, like they have in Silicon Valley. However, we do have talented, ambitious students and researchers coming up with new ideas to improve urban life. They’re developing expertise learning how to turn that expertise into viable business. Plug and Play fills a critical gap by attracting corporate partners and risk capital so those tech startups can flourish.”

Logue says she’d been aware of Plug and Play for years because she’s in the world of business incubation. “T���y don’t just go anywhere. There has to be a culture of innovative technology for them to nurture into a smart-city ecosystem. That’s exactly what we have here.”

Plug and Play developed its first smart city cohort for Orlando in April. They invited more than two dozen companies to pitch the innovation they would bring to the smart city initiative. Of the 14 companies chosen for the cohort — some local and some from outside the area — four were founded by students, graduates and researchers from �鶹ӳ����ý: CapaciTech, which builds flexible and high-energy storage solutions; the smart mobility company ConnectedWise; Precision Periodic, which uses nanobeads for water treatment; and Fluix, an energy-saving AI-based autopilot.

“Many of the companies from outside the area that pitched said, ‘We’ve been interested in moving to Florida, but didn’t know about the tech capabilities here until Plug and Play came along,’” Logue says. “It’s been a ‘wow’ for a lot of people.”

They’ve been wowed to find out about �鶹ӳ����ý’s aforementioned Smart Cities master’s program, the only such program that fuses technology with disciplines focused on water and air quality, transportation and land development and public policy. They’ve been wowed to discover �鶹ӳ����ý working on a $26 million NSF-funded Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3), and a transportation science and tech program ranked among the world’s best.

“T���y’re also impressed with the collaboration between experts in different fields,” Logue says, “because everyone knows collaboration is the best way to make real progress.”

Less than 10 years ago, Agarwal heard “smart city” for the first time. Today he’s helping one come together. Many students in the Smart Cities master’s program are professionals who are reskilling themselves. One is developing a smart parking system. Another is coming up with a method to ensure healthy water quality in pools. Yet another is researching a way to locate lead pipes underground so they can be removed without tearing up the landscape.

“T���se people have always had ideas,” Agarwal says, “and now their ideas have the potential to be grown into start-ups, then incubated, and perhaps supported through Plug and Play’s network. It’s still early, but that’s what makes this an exciting time. We’re just getting started.”

Helicon is the second company to have been awarded a Tactical Funding Increase Contract while using �鶹ӳ����ý’s Business Incubator’s guidance and services. The first company was Red Six Aerospace, Inc. which received a contract in 2022 for developing an augmented reality system.

Reid says he is proud to continue developing his propellant technologies and collaborate again with the U.S. Air Force.

“This marks a significant step in making the Helicon technology available for government and commercial use,” he says. “Helicon is extending on previous work with the Air Force to use our technology to improve the performance of solid rocket motors for various systems. The underlying nanotechnology has broader uses for commercial space, improved high temperature performance for semiconductors, and improved performance for solar energy cells.”

The Tactical Funding Increase was awarded by AFWERX, a collaborative innovation arm of the Air Force Research Laboratory and Department of the Air Force.

The award is designed to help bring innovative technologies — like Helicon’s rocket propellants — into use by the Air Force and other Department of Defense customers on an accelerated timeline, Reid says.

“T��� program is specifically designed to assist companies in bringing a key technology across what is often referred to as the ‘Valley of Death,’ the place where promising technologies tend to have issues moving from the research to the production domains so that the technology can actually get into the hands of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines,” he says.

Reid founded Helicon during his final year of graduate studies at �鶹ӳ����ý under the mentorship of Chair Sudipta Seal. He later transitioned to chief technology officer from CEO in 2022.

“Helicon is a �鶹ӳ����ý incubator company that continues to work directly with �鶹ӳ����ý students and staff to advance and expand the use of its technology,” Reid says.

Helping Reid and the rest of the Helicon team navigate the challenges of growing their business has been so gratifying, says Carol Ann Logue, director of programs and operations for the Innovation Districts and Incubation Program.

“It certainly speaks to the quality of work coming out of �鶹ӳ����ý,” she says. “T���y’re still with us and they’re still in the process of growing.”

The business incubation program is entering its 24th year of operation and manages nine incubation facilities in Central Florida and adjacent counties. The program offers specialized assistance to nurture and grow emerging companies, Logue says.

“In addition to supporting many entrepreneurs from the region, we support the commercialization of innovations developed by faculty and graduate students,” she says. “We’re helping the university fulfill its commitment to positively impact growth in [various] industries and advancing learning objectives. For example, �鶹ӳ����ý students often are working part-time for these companies, getting hands on experience in their degree field and getting exposure to that world of business dynamics.”

Logue estimates that there are around 130-150 clients at any given time who have applied and been accepted after meeting the program’s specific criteria. They are in the Incubation Program an average of 2-6 years while receiving comprehensive support in establishing and growing their business, Logue says.

“We do have very specific criteria for assessing companies that come to us,” she says. “T���y must solve a problem that exists or a problem that is visibly growing and they can’t be student-run companies. We do have companies that were started by �鶹ӳ����ý students who then graduated and continued to grow the company.  Helicon is a great example of that.”

Reid used specialized facilities, benefitted from mentorship, and gained valuable insights from marketing experts from the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program, Logue says.

“David has participated in a lot of our programs,” she says. “He came to us with his Ph.D. in one hand and a small business grant in the other hoping to commercialize his research. Helicon is a great example of a company who took advantage of the assistance we provide with business management and the critical operational aspect that can sometimes be daunting.”

Helicon’s procurement of this highly regarded contract is impressive, and it shows that the company’s technology is crucial to the field of defense innovation, Logue says.

“T��� fact that they got this award speaks to how important this innovation is to the needs of the Air Force,” she says. “T���re is a continuous call to move critical solutions much quicker into use for national security.”

Those interested in launching or growing their business are encouraged to explore qualifications and apply at .

ficonTEC, a German-based company with locations in Europe and the Far East, is expanding to Central Florida — joining as a Soft Landing client and opening an Applications Lab on �鶹ӳ����ý’s main campus, inside . The new lab will serve as a research and development manufacturing facility for ficonTEC, and will also be open to �鶹ӳ����ý students, faculty and local industry partners. The lab is expected to open in March.

Torsten Vahrenkamp, ficonTEC’s CEO, says the move started as an answer to interrupted global supply chains and growing demand for their products, in particular in North America where there is greater adoption of integrated photonics. The partnership with CREOL offers the added benefit of teaming up ficonTEC systems and engineers with  �鶹ӳ����ý’s faculty experts and leaders in the field.

“We could not have hoped for a better environment from which to re-launch our USA activities,” Vahrenkamp says.

CREOL students and faculty regularly produce prototypes and theoretical devices but are limited in their ability to create a functional model. ficonTEC’s Application Lab will bring the precise, advanced equipment needed to fabricate the finished prototypes that attract investors.

“This partnership brings a new dimension to CREOL’s established photonics R&D groups and in the United States as a whole.” — David Hagan, dean of the College of Optics and Photonics

“This partnership brings a new dimension to CREOL’s established photonics R&D groups and in the United States as a whole,” says David Hagan, dean of the College of Optics and Photonics. “It provides �鶹ӳ����ý students an unmatched opportunity to learn the techniques of photonics integration.”

ficonTEC’s expertise lies in the creation of assembly and test machine systems for the production of photonic components. Their intellectual property is founded on roughly 1,000 operational production systems located globally, and in applications that include communications, smart mobility, sensors for IoT, sustainability, clean energy and others. Applications include 3D facial recognition,  mapping sensors in modern smartphones and the LIDAR assembly that self-driving cars use to scan their surroundings.

“Like many other companies before them, ficonTEC looked around the country and chose Orlando for its U.S. headquarters because of the assets we have built at �鶹ӳ����ý and our photonics incubator,” says Carol Ann Dykes Logue, site manager for the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubator. “This is a significant accomplishment to house this at our facility and in our community, and it should be a keystone for this industry for years to come.

CREOL offers graduate degrees in optics and photonics and a bachelor’s degree in photonic science and engineering. In the first months at �鶹ӳ����ý, ficonTec plans to  work with photonic integrated circuits in CREOL labs as well begin training students on virtualized assembly systems.

FiconTEC is the fourth company to join �鶹ӳ����ý’s Photonics Incubator within the CREOL facilities, and the first and only to offer its own manufacturing capabilities. The incubator is also home to LC Matter Corporation, Plasmonics and Olkin Optics. Companies in the Incubator may use CREOL laboratory facilities, benefit from collaborations with faculty and graduate students, and access �鶹ӳ����ý’s business development resources.

On Dec. 1, 2021  the programs will leave their Church Street Exchange space for a storefront property on Orange Avenue between Church Street and Pine Street. On Tuesday, a grand opening was held at the new location at 130 S. Orange Ave., the ground floor of the historic Kress Building. The 3,579-square-foot space currently includes a couple of office spaces but includes critical conference and meeting space for programming.

“T���re’s an allure to being in the heart of downtown and for people being able to see the activity taking place as they pass by,” says Rob Panepinto, director, Innovation Districts Strategy and Partnerships and senior strategic advisor for Partnerships and Innovation at �鶹ӳ����ý. “Plus, a key in the space was its flexibility to accommodate not just the current environment of office space in downtown but quickly adjust to future needs of our businesses.”

The �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.

For Innovation District companies, this new space provides central meeting space for the organization’s mentorship and First Customer programs.

“One of our primary focuses throughout the Innovation Districts is to connect these scalable companies to regional leaders who can impact their businesses,” Panepinto says. “This space will quickly become a hub for this type of activity and will certainly create an impact on our entire region.”

For StarterStudio, this move is the culmination of a return to its core mission of providing resources to early-stage tech and tech-dependent entrepreneurs. The organization was the region’s first coworking space, but, in 2019, StarterStudio decided to move away from that model. StarterStudio is a nonprofit that works with partners throughout Central Florida to strengthen the tech startup ecosystem and to elevate the region in the eyes of investors, educating them about the advantages of investing locally in tech startup companies.

“We set out to expand our programs and deemphasize the place as the coworking market matured and commercialized,” says Lilian Myers, executive director of StarterStudio. “We are focusing on the mission that was originally intended to fulfill the strategy of being the only non-profit accelerator focused on tech and tech-enabled companies.”

In 2020 and 2021, the organization doubled its programming for entrepreneurs. The new location will allow StarterStudio to offer in-person programming, along with online programming. Much of it current programs will be moving to this hybrid model.

“We’re certainly pleased to have the �鶹ӳ����ý Research Foundation in the Kress Building,” says Rob Yeager, landlord for the Kress Building of Sullivan Properties. “This space at the center of Downtown Orlando gives our city a great opportunity to really watch these companies grow and impact our entire region.”

axiVEND specializes in providing sophisticated instruments and test-development solutions to companies involved in the research, development and production of diagnostics test kits, sensors and microarrays.

The company spent 18 months in �鶹ӳ����ý’s Life Sciences Incubator in the Lake Nona Innovation District. It is the newest of the three Central Florida districts. During that time, axiVEND benefited from lab space to grow its enterprise and virtual training to better plan for financial stability.

“T��� success of axiVEND is another example of the impact we can have on our region by helping to nurture these companies,” says Carol Ann Logue, director of programs and operations, Innovation Districts and   “This company will be creating high-wage, specialized jobs in our local area for years to come, the exact reason why our community is investing in these programs.”

Claude Dufresne and his wife Suzanne founded and own the company. Claude Dufresne is a chemist and Suzanne is a microbiologist. The spent much of their careers with Merck & Co. in New Jersey. They chose to move to �鶹ӳ����ý’s Lake Nona Innovation District because a trusted colleague recommended it.

“By opening in the innovation district, using turnkey laboratory space was a quick way to get started,” Suzanne Dufresne says. “We’re quite thankful for having been a part of the incubator program. They offer a very valuable service for entrepreneurs.”

axiVEND will use its new 6,000-square-foot Winter Garden location to expand and continue developing new products such as multiplex testing products for the food industry for pathogen and contaminants detection. Using their new tests, laboratories can detect multiple bacteria or pesticides of interest with one test, as opposed to multiple single tests for each pathogen or contaminant.

“COVID-19 created a large demand for testing in people, and for our equipment and services,” Claude Dufresne says. “Beyond COVID-19, we see an emerging critical need for ongoing environmental and food supply monitoring.

“Food safety is an important factor for many consumers who trend to organic foods, but there is a significant lack of convenient accessible testing,” he says. “We have the know-how and equipment to produce these tests quickly and inexpensively.”

Claude Dufresne says the region’s infrastructure, which allows for easy nationwide shipping and the population growth in Central Florida, were key factors in choosing the Winter Garden site.

Logue says the success of each company the incubator helps, contributes to the local economy and demonstrates the value of programs that support the business development ecosystem in Central Florida.

The �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program currently serves 115 companies in several counties. For the 2017-2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and more than $1.3 billion on regional sales, according to a Florida High Tech Corridor bi-annual analysis. The program began 20 years ago and has seen

The sale is the largest biotechnology company purchase in Central Florida’s history. The only other company to come close was VaxDesign, which sold in 2015 for $60 million.

“This is exactly why the region has invested in biosciences,” says Robert Igarashi, co-founder of CytoSen. “It is so companies like ours could blossom.”

The terms of the sale include an upfront consideration of 1.94 million shares of Kiadis stock. Once the company accomplishes six clinical development and regulatory milestones, CytoSen’s owners will receive another 5.82 million shares. As of June 5, Kiadis’ shares were trading at 7.80 Euros, or $8.81.

The deal showcases the power of Central Florida’s economic development ecosystem, powered by years of dedicated partnerships led by �鶹ӳ����ý.

For Kiadis, the acquisition is an opportunity to bring two different types of cell-based immunotherapies together under one company.  The result could potentially help cancer patients around the world.

“I am excited about this unique opportunity to bring NK cells and T cells together to benefit patients with devastating diseases,” adds Robert Friesen, chief scientific officer for Kiadis.

CytoSen’s journey began in 2016 when Alicja Copik, a researcher at �鶹ӳ����ý’s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, developed a nanoparticle, which stimulates natural cancer killing cells, increasing their ability to fight cancers.

When it came time to build a company to commercialize the technology for greater patient benefit, Copik, Igarashi and other co-founders formed CytoSen. CytoSen licensed the technology from �鶹ӳ����ý and entered the �鶹ӳ����ý incubation program.

“The �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubator Program has been a very good vehicle to foster this company to its present form.” — Robert Igarashi, co-founder of CytoSen

“T��� has been a very good vehicle to foster this company to its present form,” Igarashi says. “This was an early stage operation at the beginning, and they significantly helped us reach this major milestone.”

The company started at the Research Park Incubator and for the past two years was headquartered at the Winter Springs Incubator.

“This is an outstanding success story for the �鶹ӳ����ý Business Incubation Program,” says Carol Ann Dykes Logue of the �鶹ӳ����ý Research Park Innovation District. “While certainly this is an atypical accomplishment, this proves anything can be possible with a great product or service accompanied by a great business.”

The company plans to continue to operate out of the Winter Springs Incubator, providing economic impact to the east Seminole County community.

“Our programs are uniquely designed to help grow companies, allowing them to work together and prosper while continuing to grow the cities that partner with �鶹ӳ����ý on this program,” says Jerry Ross, president of the National Entrepreneur Center. “CytoSen’s success should help other companies in the biotechnology field in our program see the potential future and help them grow as well.”

“Award funding buys a young company time. Time to negotiate a contract with better terms, time to further vet their plans, and time to accelerate their growth before taking dilutive capital.” says Joseph Sleppy ’18, the company’s CEO and a �鶹ӳ����ý electrical engineering graduate. “We would not be here without funding from sources, like competitions or grants. They bought us time to develop a product and prepare for our next steps. Non-dilutive funding supported the intellectual freedom and creative direction of Capacitech.”

Capacitech won $15,000 in the 2019 Cade Museum Prize, which challenges inventors and entrepreneurs to demonstrate a creative approach to addressing real-world issues. The company was awarded $10,000 from Space Florida in the seed-funding category of the Florida Venture Forum’s Florida Early Stage Capital Conference, one of the largest such gatherings in the state. Additionally, Capacitech received $1,000 at the two-day tech conference eMerge Americas!.

Capacitech produces cable-based capacitors, a thin, wire-shaped device that stores energy. When installed into solar energy systems, the device works with the system’s equipment to enhance performance, improve efficiency, and extend their operating life, which will reduce consumer costs. The concept behind cable-based capacitors was developed by Capacitech cofounder Jayan Thomas, a �鶹ӳ����ý nanotechnology professor and a specialist in energy conversion and storage.

“Since our beginning, Capacitech has been focused on using our technology to make the world a better place.” —  Joseph Sleppy ’18, Capacitech CEO

“Since our beginning, Capacitech has been focused on using our technology to make the world a better place. When I envision the future, I see cleantech. Capacitech’s cable-based capacitor is an enabling technology for cleantech and thus for the future, too.” says Sleppy. “Right now, Capacitech’s focus is solely on complementing residential solar power systems. Looking ahead, I see us complementing utility scale solar projects, too, as well as using our cable-based capacitors to energize a new age of electric vehicles, information technology backup power systems, medical technologies like exoskeletons, and space exploration, among a wide range of other areas.”

Earlier this year, InnoEnergy — the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe — named Capacitech one of the top 30 startups in the world. The company won first place in the Florida Venture Forum’s Collegiate Business Plan Competition and received a highly competitive NSF Grant last year. In 2016, Capacitech won the �鶹ӳ����ý annual Joust , a Shark Tank-like contest where �鶹ӳ����ý students pitch judges on business concepts.

Sleppy gives credit to a wide range of entrepreneurial-support resources at �鶹ӳ����ý for lending a hand into Capacitech’s growth and success. When he and Thomas established the company in 2016, they found assistance through the , the College of Business , and the . �鶹ӳ����ý has placed an institutional emphasis on fostering relationships between entrepreneurs and innovators that will produce business partnerships like Capacitech.

“It is clear that �鶹ӳ����ý is not just a university. It is part of an innovation and entrepreneurial community within a major metropolitan area that has been very inviting to up-and-coming companies like Capacitech,” Sleppy says. “Thanks to Florida’s innovation ecosystem, we have another $26,000 of funding to apply towards building a Capacitech enabled future.”