The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is estimated to be highly active. Projections suggest 24 named storms, with 11 anticipated to become hurricanes, according to The Weather Channel and Atmospheric G2. Six hurricanes are forecasted to become Category 3 or higher, presenting substantial threats to coastal and inland regions.

University and Personal Planning

At Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, teams plan and train for hurricane season year-round. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Emergency Management team works hard to prevent, prepare for, manage and recover from a variety of threats to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, including severe weather.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is a designated StormReady university through the National Weather Service.

In addition to the work being done at the central level, led by the Department of Emergency Management, we encourage all departments to evaluate their own hurricane procedures and staffing plans at this time, in advance of an imminent storm.

When tropical weather systems are threatening, Emergency Management is in communication with our local National Weather Service office in Melbourne, NOAA and the National Hurricane Center. If a serious storm or hurricane threatens our region, Governor Ron DeSantis and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ President Alexander N. Cartwright have the authority to cancel classes or close campuses. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ often does so in consultation with other area colleges, school districts and government officials.

We encourage students and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ employees to put together their own hurricane safety kits and to create a plan with their families and loved ones should a storm impact Central Florida.

Prepping a Hurricane Kit

Knights should assemble a hurricane kit, which should provide enough essentials to survive at least three days. Kits should include:

• Water
• Nonperishable food
• Weather radio
• Flashlight
• First aid kit
• Batteries
• Can opener
• Cash
• Cell phone charge
• Identification cards
• Any necessary prescription medications

This year’s Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday extends June 1-14. This two-week tax holiday allows Floridians to prepare for hurricane season while saving money on essential disaster preparedness items.

How to Stay Informed

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alert text and email message system will be used to keep the university community notified of severe weather threats. All students and employees automatically are signed up to receive these messages, and settings can be updated via . A parent, spouse or other secondary contact’s email address also can be added, allowing them to receive the updates.

In addition to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Alert messages, details about any class cancelations, impact to services or campus closures will be shared on the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ homepage, and @Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and @Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½Police on social media. Faculty members also are encouraged to post any changes to class assignments due to campus closures on Webcourses.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has been impacted by hurricanes before, and we have been able to weather those storms while maintaining our strong commitment to academic excellence and student success.

While we hope for a hurricane-free season, it is always best to prepare and educate yourself in advance of a storm, especially in time such as now that requires extra considerations and flexibility.

Let’s each do our part by staying aware and prepared, and together, we’ll make Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ a safer place for all of us.

The company, led by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ materials science and engineering alumna Christina Drake ’07±Ê³ó¶Ù, is working with a multidisciplinary team of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researchers, including Chair Sudipta Seal, Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences Director Griff Parks and College of Medicine Professor Melanie Coathup, to further research the residual antimicrobial technology.  Kismet Technologies is one of 10 recipients of the STTR award this year.

College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Michael Georgiopoulos says this award demonstrates the power of collaboration at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

“One of the key goals of CECS is to be the nation’s technology partner leader,â€� Georgiopoulos says. “This collaboration of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ faculty with Kismet Technologies is a testament to the creativity, innovation, and building-together culture of our faculty and alumni.â€�

During phase I testing, the team proved the antimicrobial technology could kill COVID-19 and other serious viruses such as parainfluenza and Zika.

“We made remarkable progress in phase I,� Parks says. “We had a multidisciplinary team that brought their expertise in materials science, biology, microbiology and project development. It was such a great learning experience for the whole group.�

But the group still has more to learn about the antimicrobial technology, which was submitted for patent filing last year.  How long can it last under hospital conditions on surfaces? Does it work as effectively on biologically soiled surfaces? These are some of the questions the team hopes to answer during Phase II testing.

“The next steps are to thoroughly test the antibacterial properties of the coating under varying, and as such, more realistic human and environmental conditions; conditions that may challenge the potency of the formulation,� Coathup says. “We aim to confirm its efficacy despite these circumstances.�

Those real-world conditions include testing the antimicrobial technology on surfaces coated in dust, dirt or other biological fluids. The goal is to understand the product’s limits and opportunities in demanding healthcare settings.

Aside from the final product, the best thing to come from the project is the partnership between Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researchers. Parks says there are many more opportunities for the College of Medicine and the College of Engineering and Computer Science to work together and share their expertise.

“The partnership between COM and CECS is only the tip of the iceberg of what we could be doing,� Parks says. “If you get the right people talking, interacting, thinking about the problem and each bringing to the table what they’re good at, it works.�

About the Researchers

Seal joined Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the , which is part of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the College of Medicine and is a member of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™sÌýµþ¾±¾±´Ç²Ô¾±³æ faculty cluster initiative. He is the former director of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s  and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

Coathup is a professor of medicine at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ College of Medicine, the director of the Biionix faculty cluster, and a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. Coathup’s research is focused on orthopaedic innovation with the view of applying scientific discovery to improve the treatment and care of patients. Her research focuses on novel biomaterials and small molecule therapeutics that boost bone repair when under challenging and complex physiological conditions, such as during aging, infection, radiotherapy and bone health when in the extreme environment of space.

Parks is the College of Medicine’s associate dean for Research. He came to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2014 as director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences after 20 years at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin and was an American Cancer Society Fellow at Northwestern University.

The Pegasus Professor and chair of the says this patent was awarded much faster than most, which demonstrates the importance of the disinfectant.

“We are very excited to get this patent accepted so quickly, and we’re glad that the work is of great value for combatting viruses and pathogen-born infections,â€� Seal says. “Thanks to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for recognizing this work and to the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Office of Technology Transfer for its support.â€�

Co-recipients of the patent include Seal’s postdoctoral researcher, Craig Neal ’14 ’16MS ’21PhD, and his former research assistant, Udit Kumar ’22PhD.

How the Disinfectant Works

The COVID-killing coating is made with a nanomaterial that activates under white light, such as sunlight or LED light. As long as the nanomaterial is exposed to a continuous light source, it can regenerate its antiviral properties, creating a self-cleaning effect.

The efficacy of the disinfectant was tested and proven through a study that was published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces this past year. The study found that the coating can not only destroy the COVID-19 virus, but it can also combat the spread of Zika virus, SARS, parainfluenza, rhinovirus and vesicular stomatitis.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s RAPID program and conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including Griff Parks, a professor in the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and the co-principal investigator of the grant.

Next Steps

Now that the disinfectant has been patented, the research team will continue testing the product and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will seek a commercial partner to manufacture and sell it to a wide range of customers within the next few years.

“We plan to carry on the work in larger samples and also to test in vivo models and other means of infection control,� Seal says. “The process is well defined, and we plan to work with an industry partner to bring it to the mass market.�

Seal joined Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the , which is part of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the College of Medicine and is a member of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s prosthetics clusterÌýµþ¾±¾±´Ç²Ô¾±³æ. He is the former director of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

“It is always a delight to have our research work featured in a reputed journal,� said Udit Kumar, a doctoral student in the (MSE) and the lead author of the journal article. “Given the theme and possible impact of antiviral research in current times, our article will definitely aid our fight against global pandemics.�

The paper outlines the most recent study from a multidisciplinary team of researchers that includes Sudipta Seal, the chair of the MSE department, and Griff Parks, a College of Medicine virologist and director of the . They experimented with the nanomaterial yttrium silicate, which has antiviral properties that are activated by white light, such as sunlight or LED lights. As long as there is a continuous source of light, the antiviral properties regenerate, creating a self-cleaning surface disinfectant.

“Yttrium silicate acts as a silent killer, with antiviral properties constantly recharged by the light,� Kumar says. “It is most effective in minimizing surface to the surface spread of many viruses.�

Kumar says their test of yttrium silicate in white light disinfected surfaces with high viral loads in approximately 30 minutes. Additionally, the nanomaterial was able to combat the spread of other viruses including parainfluenza, vesicular stomatitis, rhinovirus, Zika and SARS.

“This disinfectant technology is an important achievement for both engineering and health because we all were affected during the pandemic,� Seal says. “COVID is still ongoing and who knows what other illnesses are on the horizon.�

Other Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researchers, including , nanotechnology student Balaashwin Babu ’20 and materials science and engineering student Erik Marcelo, are co-authors on the paper.

“This publication is the culmination of timely insight by the investigators as to the importance of rapid development of broad-spectrum anti-microbials, as well as hard work in the lab to show the potency of our new materials,� Parks says. “This is an outstanding example of the power of cross-discipline research — in this case, materials science and microbiology researchers from CECS and COM.�

The research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s RAPID program.

Seal joined Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center, which is part of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the College of Medicine and is a member of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s prosthetics clusterÌýµþ¾±¾±´Ç²Ô¾±³æ. He is the former director of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s NanoScience Technology Center and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

Parks is the College of Medicine’s associate dean for Research. He came to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2014 as director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences after 20 years at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin and was an American Cancer Society Fellow at Northwestern University.

Study title: Potent Inactivation of Human Respiratory Viruses Including SARS-CoV-2 by a Photoactivated Self-Cleaning Regenerative Antiviral Coating

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is continuing to closely monitor COVID-19, and we encourage you to follow the latest CDC guidance to protect yourself and our campus community. As we have demonstrated at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ since the pandemic began, each one of us can help reduce the spread of the virus by practicing the small precautions that have helped keep positive cases at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ low.

Campus Communications from the Week of Jan. 3

• Jan. 4: Happy New Year, Knights!
• Jan. 4: Welcome Back Faculty and Staff
• Jan. 4: Spring 2022 Classes at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Resume Jan. 10
• Jan. 5: Spring Semester COVID-19 Updates
• Jan. 5: Updated Faculty Guidance for Spring Courses
• Jan. 6: Managing With Compassion During COVID-19

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will continue increased cleaning and classroom disinfections, access to hand-sanitizing stations and the distribution of masks.

With the rise of the Omicron variant, we urge all students, faculty and staff to get fully vaccinated and boosted. While Omicron is highly transmissible and infectious, in preventing hospitalization and severe illness. Vaccines and boosters remain available, free of charge, at the Student Health Center via walk-up or appointment or .

The nature of Omicron means that it also is important to wear a well-fitting mask when in close proximity to others, stay home and avoid contact with others if you are ill. Consider getting tested if you may have COVID-19 symptoms. Testing is especially important if you have increased risk factors or severe symptoms.

Testing continues to be available free of charge for students, faculty and staff in Garage A at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s main campus. The drive-through testing is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Currently, the Garage A testing site is experiencing high demand, so please consider making an appointment. Students also can be tested for no charge at Student Health Services.

If you test positive, you must call the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ COVID Line, 407-823-2509, and follow the nurses’ instructions. Additionally, follow the latest CDC guidance, which now recommends that fully vaccinated and boosted individuals who test positive or show symptoms should isolate for five days and follow with five days of strict mask wearing.

If you feel sick, stay home and away from others until you are asymptomatic. You should not go to class, work or other activities if you feel sick. Consider getting tested if you may have COVID-19 symptoms and especially if you have increased risk factors or severe symptoms, and call the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ COVID Line if you test positive.

“We understand that you may have questions as we work through the effects the Omicron variant of COVID-19 may have on our campuses,â€� Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ President Alexander N. Cartwright wrote to faculty and staff this week. “First and foremost, we ask for patience, kindness and empathy for your fellow faculty and staff and for our students. I know everyone is doing the best they can under the circumstances, and we should continue to give each other grace whenever possible.

“As we are learning to live with the virus, university leadership continues to be in constant communication with health officials, medical experts, the State University System and the Florida Board of Governors. Despite the continued challenges imposed by COVID-19, I have tremendous optimism for what we will accomplish together this year.�

The latest information on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s response to the pandemic can be found on the university’s coronavirus website.

The optical sensor uses nanotechnology to accurately identify viruses in seconds from blood samples. Researchers say the device can tell with 95% accuracy if someone has a virus, a significant improvement over current rapid tests that experts warn could have low accuracy. Testing for viruses is important for early treatment and to help stop their spread.

The results are detailed in a new study in the journal Nano Letters.

The researchers tested the device using samples of Dengue virus, a mosquito transmitted pathogen that causes Dengue fever and is a threat to people in the tropics. However, the technology can easily be adapted to detect other viruses, like COVID-19, says study co-author Debashis Chanda, a professor in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s

“The sensitive optical sensor, along with the rapid fabrication approach used in this work, promises the translation of this promising technology to any virus detection including COVID-19 and its mutations with high degree of specificity and accuracy,� Chanda says. “Here, we demonstrated a credible technique which combines PCR-like genetic coding and optics on a chip for accurate virus detection directly from blood.�

The device closely matches the accuracy of the gold-standard PCR-based tests but with nearly instantaneous results instead of results that take several days to receive. Its accuracy is also a significant improvement over current rapid antigen tests that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Centers for Disease Control have cautioned could produce inaccurate results if viral loads are low or test instructions are not properly followed.

The device works by using nano-scale patterns of gold that reflect back the signature of the virus it is set to detect in a sample of blood. Different viruses can be detected by using different DNA sequences that selectively target specific viruses.

Key to the device’s performance is that it can detect viruses directly from blood samples without the need for sample preparation or purification, thus speeding up the test and improving its accuracy.

“A vast majority of biosensors demonstrations in the literature utilize buffer solutions as the test matrix to contain the target analyte,� Chanda says. “However, these approaches are not practical in real-life applications because complex biological fluids, such as blood, containing the target biomarkers are the main source for sensing and at the same time the main source of protein fouling leading to sensor failure.�

The researchers confirmed the device’s effectiveness with multiple tests that used different virus concentration levels and solution environments, including those with the presence of nontarget virus biomarkers.

Abraham Vazquez-Guardado, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University who worked on the research as a doctoral student in Chanda’s lab, says he’s excited about the potential.

“Although there have been previous optical biosensing demonstration in human serum, they still require off-line complex and dedicated sample preparation performed by skilled personnel — a commodity not available in typical point of care applications,� Vazquez-Guardado says. “This work demonstrated for the first time an integrated device which separated plasma from the blood and detects the target virus without any pre-processing with potential for near future practical usages.�

Chanda says next steps for the research include adapting the device to detect more viruses.

Study co-authors are Freya Mehta, Beatriz Jimenez, Keval Ray, Aliyah Baksh — undergraduate students at NanoScience Technology Center; Aritra Biswas ’21MS — a doctoral student with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s College of Optics and Photonics; Sang Lee ’16  — a master’s student at the NanoScience Technology Center; Nileshi Saraf — a graduate of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s doctoral program; and Professor Sudipta Seal —chair of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Material Science and Engineering.

Chanda has a joint appointment in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of NanoScience Technology Center, the and the College of Optics and Photonics. He received his doctorate in photonics from the University of Toronto and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2012.

The research was partially supported by National Science Foundation and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s COVID-19 Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Initiative program.

The hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 3.5 million jobs lost in 2020, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute.

On top of this, many of those workers aren’t planning to return, says Robertico Croes, a professor in the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s .

“Lifting the international travel ban will increase tourist demand to Orlando, and the international tourist market is important for the industry’s quick recovery,� Croes says. “However, the increase in international tourist demand could be a double-edged sword.�

The labor shortage is not going to be resolved any time soon, which means the quality of the tourist experience is going to be impacted, Croes says.

“So, while the lifting of the travel ban is good news to increase tourist demand, if those tourists leave unsatisfied with their experience, the chance of them returning or recommending Orlando is negatively impacted, which could exacerbate the labor shortage in the long run,â€� he says.

Croes recently co-authored that surveyed hospitality workers from across the nation. The researchers found that 59% of unemployed hospitality workers were not coming back, while 30% of the employed hospitality workers are considering quitting their job.

Reasons workers aren’t returning include safety concerns about COVID-19 exposure and perceived lack of career benefits in the U.S. hospitality industry, according to the study.

Respondents were from every state and U.S. territory Puerto Rico with approximately 30% of the respondents working in Florida, Texas, California and New York.

“When there is a shortage of employees in a hospitality business you may have unsatisfied and frustrated customers due to lower than expected service delivery due to workers being overworked and spread too thin,� Croes says. “A consequence of a hospitality labor shortage is customers not returning and higher employee turnover, both of which have a negative financial impact for hospitality businesses.�

In September, 863,000 hospitality employees quit, which is twice as high as the national quit level, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“This means that the hospitality quit pattern continues unabated,� Croes says. “For a destination, such as Orlando, which has a large hospitality industry, this reality is dire and could affect businesses, families, livelihoods, the local economy, and the overall wellbeing of the community at large — for example, through reduced convention development tax collection.�

To help remedy the problem, the researchers recommend raising wages and enhancing career benefits for lowest paying jobs.

Study co-authors were Kelly Semrad, an associate professor, and Manuel A. Rivera, assistant dean and an associate professor, both in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

Croes received his doctorate in applied economics from the University of Twente in the Netherlands. He joined Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Rosen College of Hospitality Management in 2002.

Like the rest of the 1,700 participating graduates expected to attend this special commencement celebration, Park completed the requirements for her degree in 2020, but the Florida Board of Governors required all of Florida’s state universities last year to hold virtual commencement ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Honestly, I thought the university talked about a make-up ceremony last year because they didn’t have the heart to say ‘canceled,’ � says Park, who earned a master’s degree in materials science and engineering.

Many graduates from the spring, summer and fall classes of 2020 shared her skepticism and went on with their lives and careers. Park moved to Baltimore to begin her doctoral research at Johns Hopkins. A year passed. Then an unexpected email hit her inbox announcing the opportunity for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s 2020 graduates to reserve a spot in the arena for an in-person ceremony. Appropriately, it would be held on the Friday of Homecoming weekend.

“At first I had to think about leaving my research team at Johns Hopkins,� says Park, “but then I thought about my parents.�

Making the Most of an Opportunity

Every returning graduate has a personal reason for coming back to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ for that brief moment on stage.

Park and her younger sister, Yuri, grew up in Apopka. Park remembers her mother not being at the breakfast table on most mornings. After school she and Yuri would go directly to their father’s dojang, where he taught taekwondo. Park would complete her homework in the dojang, train with her dad and ride home with him. It became her daily routine.

“I didn’t completely understand why my mom was gone for so many hours every day,� says Park.

She also wondered why her mother stressed academics so much.

“Mom helped with my schoolwork as much as she could after dinner. I could tell our education meant a lot to her.�

Park’s prowess in math and science grew so rapidly that eventually her mother could only offer encouragement, while her dad instilled the focus and discipline of taekwondo. Park used every bit of it to excel. She was accepted into Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s mechanical engineering program and earned a spot in the McNair Scholars Program, which provided a path toward post-graduate work.

In addition to learning about formulas and equations, Park developed an ability to think critically during her undergraduate education, and she began to finally realize something about her parents. She’d known the basic facts: that her mom and dad immigrated from South Korea in the early 1990s, as Park says, “for the reason any immigrant does, because they saw the U.S. as the land of opportunity.â€� With a changed perspective at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, she also appreciated what they’d left.

“They sacrificed everything they’d known in Korea: their jobs. Their relationships. Their language,� she says. “They literally had to start over when they came to the U.S.�

In the past 20 years, South Korea has rapidly developed both socially and economically. But when Hyun and Mi Young Park lived there, they faced limitations. They grew up in impoverished communities and had limited access to higher education. At that time, just one in three high school graduates in Korea went to college. As recently as 2009, 50% of the women in the country were employed, and 6% had either enrolled in, or completed, graduate school.

This explained why Mi Young pulled such long hours at a beauty-supply store and why Park and her sister spent so much time in the dojang. The land of opportunity wasn’t just for mom and dad.

“They wanted to make sure my sister and I could have what they never had growing up — the best education possible,� Park says. “Now I realize that’s all they thought about.�

Worth the Wait

Park received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ graduation ceremony in 2019. She knew it would be emotional for Hyun and Mi Young to see their daughter walk across the stage — representing the concept of opportunity being transformed into reality.

“I wanted that moment so badly for them,� Park says.

In the days leading up to commencement, though, her grandmother became severely ill. Hyun, Mi Young, and Yuri had to fly to South Korea. Park walked alone at graduation before joining the family for her grandmother’s final weeks.

“That was a very emotional time for reasons we didn’t anticipate,� she says.

For the next 18 months, she poured her focus and discipline into master’s studies in materials science and engineering. She became the first in her family’s lineage to earn a postgraduate degree, while also earning Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Order of Pegasus — the most prestigious and significant award a student can attain at the university — which would reserve her a seat in the first row at the August 2020 graduation ceremony.

“That part of graduation was going to be a surprise for my parents.�

The surprise turned to another disappointment when COVID-19 forced the ceremony to be postponed with no guarantee of when a make-up ceremony would be scheduled. A few weeks later, Park left to begin her research on materials used to build aircraft and spacecraft at Johns Hopkins.

“It’s better than I thought it would be,� she says. “I’m working in a lab with scientists who are motivating me to be a better researcher and a better person.�

In fact, when she briefly contemplated whether to return to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ for graduation, her research team insisted that she go. They don’t even know Park’s whole family story.

“The ceremony is for mom and dad. I want them to know in my moment on stage that I’m saying, ‘I realize everything you did for Yuri and me. Now look. Your sacrifices were all worth it.’ �

“I’m grateful to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ for following through on a promise,â€� she says. “For me, I’m looking forward to my mom’s galbi-jjim [braised beef]. But the ceremony itself …â€� she pauses for a few seconds. “The ceremony is for mom and dad.

“I want them to know in my moment on stage that I’m saying, ‘I realize everything you did for Yuri and me. Now look. Your sacrifices were all worth it.’ �

Spring, Summer and Fall 2020 grads representing each of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s 13 colleges have registered for the ceremony, which will take place Nov. 5 at 9 a.m. at Addition Financial Arena and be livestreamed on .

Darin Edwards ’97 ’10MS ’11PhD — who led the charge to create Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine — will serve as the keynote speaker for the 2020 Graduation Celebration.

In 2020, the Florida Board of Governors required all of Florida’s state universities to hold virtual commencement ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ conferred more than 18,000 degrees during its 2020 virtual commencement ceremonies.

During the ceremony, graduates will cross the stage during the traditional Pomp and Circumstance processional as their names are called. Each graduate is allowed up to four guests in attendance. .

The deadline to participate in the Nov. 5 ceremony has passed. Participation in the ceremony is specifically for those graduates who missed in-person commencements experiences in 2020.

About Keynote Speaker Darin Edwards ’97 ’10MS ’11PhD

Edwards is the director of immunology in the infectious disease group at Moderna, where he led the research and development on their mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, he directs the immunology team in support of vaccine development programs and foundational research efforts, and leads work with external academic and industry collaborators including Moderna’s collaborative research efforts with the National Institute of Health, WHO, and Harvard’s pathogenesis working group.

Prior to joining Moderna in June 2019, Edwards served eight years for Sanofi Pasteur in Orlando, where he worked to develop vaccines against infectious diseases, including RSV, influenza, dengue, and yellow fever.

Edwards is a much-published researcher and academic speaker. Through his educational background at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, combined with his years of experience working on the development of next-generation vaccine technology, he has had the unique opportunity to make a direct and positive impact on global health.

He earned a bachelor’s in biology, a master’s in molecular biology and microbiology and a doctorate in biomolecular sciences from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, where he was also a .

The health and well-being of all Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ graduates and their guests are the top priority of the university. Face coverings are expected while indoors for all attendees — whether vaccinated or not, in accordance with the latest CDC guidelines.

The concept is based on new work from the researchers showing that food product ingredients can be used to thicken and reduce a person’s saliva, thus decreasing the transmission potential of airborne pathogens. The results were published recently in the journal .

“This is a new concept in the context of source control,â€� says study co-author Kinzel, an assistant professor in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s . “There are obviously masks, but this is the first research focusing on what comes out of one’s buccal cavity or mouth.â€�

The work builds on the Kinzel and Ahmed’s previous studies examining the effectiveness of masks in the classroom, features that could make someone a super spreader, and initial studies of food ingredients to control airborne disease transmission. Ahmed is an associate professor in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

“The group has researched droplet formation for years,� Kinzel says. “When we heard sneezes transported aerosols over 27 feet early in the pandemic, we realized that this has to be small aerosols, similar to what you see in a misting nozzle. Our thinking has been let’s focus on altering those droplets such that they fall to the ground and not travel so far.�

For the study, the researchers examined characteristics of saliva, such as thickness and amount, and their influence on how far droplets and aerosols from a human’s sneeze travel, which are factors related to airborne pathogen transmission.

High-speed cameras were used to capture the sneezes frame-by-frame in mid-air, and image processing software was used to quantify droplets and aerosols. Subsequent numerical methods using computational fluid dynamics provided detailed quantification to better understand the sneeze events.

Saliva was altered using a range of food-grade compounds, including cornstarch, agar agar, xanthan gum and ginger.

The researchers found that ginger reduced the amount of saliva expelled from a sneeze by more than 80% and was as effective as a mask in reducing the distance of droplets and aerosols from a sneeze.

Cornstarch and xanthan gum were found to increase the thickness of saliva by 5 and 2,000%, respectively. They also reduced the distance of aerosols from a sneeze more than not wearing a mask. However, a mask was still more effective in reducing aerosol distance than cornstarch and xanthan gum.

A neck gaiter combined with a surgical mask was the type of mask used in the study.

The findings suggest that certain food products can be tailored to both thicken and reduce saliva emitted to reduce airborne disease transmission. This can also be used in combination with a mask, or without as the impact of the pandemic changes, and could perhaps allow for increased capacity, Kinzel says.

One such product could be a chocolate to deliver the saliva changing compound, the researcher says.

“Much like vitamin gummies, this would not be a candy, but rather a form to deliver the solution,� he says. “It could perhaps be referred to as a ‘chocaceutical.’�

The research was funded in part by the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, Fluid Dynamics at the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Study co-authors were Jonathan Reyes, a postdoctoral researcher in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering who works in Ahmed’s lab; Douglas Fontes, a postdoctoral researcher with the ; Alexander Bazzi, a graduate student in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s master’s program in mechanical and aerospace  engineering; and Michelle Otero, a graduate of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s doctoral program in mechanical engineering.

Kinzel received his doctorate in aerospace engineering from Pennsylvania State University and joined Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2018. In addition to being a member of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a part of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s College of Engineering and Computer Science, he also works with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s .

Ahmed’s doctoral degree is in mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a faculty member of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research and part of the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion. He served more than three years as a senior aero/thermo engineer at Pratt & Whitney military engines working on advanced engine programs and technologies. He also served as a faculty member at Old Dominion University and Florida State University. At Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, he is leading research in propulsion and energy with applications for power generation and gas-turbine engines, propulsion-jet engines, hypersonics and fire safety, as well as research related to supernova science and COVID-19 transmission control. He is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics associate fellow and a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research faculty fellow.