After a long career dedicated to advancing research in her own field and as an administrator advocating and supporting fellow researchers, Reinhart plans to enjoy her retirement mixing family time with volunteer work. In addition to traveling, bicycling and spending time with her grandchildren, she will continue to serve as the associate editor and newsletter editor for the聽Waste Management Journal, on theBoard of Directors for Oak Ridge Associate Universities, on the Board of Scientific Counselors for US EPA and as an ABET program evaluator.

Effective June 7, stepping in to fill her big shoes on an interim basis is Winston Schoenfeld, who is no stranger to the Office of Research or the College of Graduate Studies.

Schoenfeld, an accomplished professor of optics, has served as director of the Solar Technologies Research Division at the Florida Solar Energy Center, which reports to the Office of Research. Since 2018, he has been leading the university-wide Energy Initiative, during which time he has worked closely with Reinhart. Schoenfeld was also named acting associate dean of the College of Graduate Studies in 2019. He has been overseeing the development of new academic degrees and the postdoctoral program in that role.

Schoenfeld was named to the position when Weishampel left 麻豆映画传媒 on a two-year appointment to the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., Weishampel will resume his duties when he returns to 麻豆映画传媒 June 14.

A retirement celebration is in the works for Reinhart who has spent a lifetime working to improve our world and supporting faculty aspiring to do the same. Her research has focused on solid waste management, with a focus on optimized waste collection and sustainable operation of landfills. She is a registered professional engineer in Florida and Georgia, a board-certified environmental engineer, and a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.

NASA, the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, the Tech Museum of Innovation, Solid Waste Association of North America, and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors have all recognized Reinhart for her excellence. She earned her engineering degree from 麻豆映画传媒 when it was still called Florida Technological University and returned to her alma mater in 1989 to teach and conduct research. She rose through the ranks and was named a 2009 Pegasus Professor 鈥� the highest faculty honor at 麻豆映画传媒. She has worked with industry and spent two years at the National Science Foundation. Reinhart dedicated the past decade to advocating for and supporting faculty researchers as a member of the leadership team in the Office of Research.

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 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 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.

鈥淭he success of axiVEND is another example of the impact we can have on our region by helping to nurture these companies,鈥� says Carol Ann Logue, director of programs and operations, Innovation Districts and 聽 鈥淭his 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.鈥�

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 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 Lake Nona Innovation District because a trusted colleague recommended it.

鈥淏y opening in the innovation district, using turnkey laboratory space was a quick way to get started,鈥� Suzanne Dufresne says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e quite thankful for having been a part of the incubator program. They offer a very valuable service for entrepreneurs.鈥�

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.

鈥淐OVID-19 created a large demand for testing in people, and for our equipment and services,鈥� Claude Dufresne says. 鈥淏eyond COVID-19, we see an emerging critical need for ongoing environmental and food supply monitoring.

鈥淔ood safety is an important factor for many consumers who trend to organic foods, but there is a significant lack of convenient accessible testing,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have the know-how and equipment to produce these tests quickly and inexpensively.鈥�

Claude Dufresne says the region鈥檚 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 麻豆映画传媒 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

Just months before completing 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 Nanotechnology Professional Science Master鈥檚 degree program, and what Bittman had hoped would be the final planning for a business launch, the federal government has selected Bittman for a prestigious program that will guarantee him a mid-level federal job for the next two years.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe it,鈥� he said about his selection. 鈥淚 was looking for work in the future. I almost missed the deadline and now I鈥檓 getting ready to find out where I鈥檒l be placed come the summer.鈥�

More than 6,000 students applied for the Presidential Management Fellowship operated by the. About 400 were selected based on their education level, experience, testing and essay submission. Only six people were selected from Florida and Bittman is the only one from 麻豆映画传媒.

The fellows will get to apply for federal positions that take advantage of their expertise whether it be biomedical science and nanotechnology 鈥� like Bittman鈥檚 鈥� or human rights, cultural affairs or economics. Fellows will be in placed in agencies such as the FBI, NASA, Centers for Disease Control, FDA, NOAA, FEMA, U.S. Secret Service, NSF and countless others based in Washington, D.C., and across the nation.

Bittman said the educational experience he鈥檚 had from his days in the Army to Valencia College to 麻豆映画传媒 has been invaluable in preparing him for this opportunity.

The Lake Mary High School graduate enlisted and spent four years in the Army serving in the airborne infantry, which included a deployment to Iraq.

During that time, he kept thinking about going back to school. So, he took online courses while in the service. When he left the service in 2013, he finished his AA degree at Valencia in one semester and used DirectConnect to 麻豆映画传媒 to transfer to the university. He completed his Bachelor of Science in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on biomedical studies and entrepreneurship. Then he applied to the nanotechnology program.

The program, although only three years, old has a 100 percent success rate. All of those who have completed the program have landed internships and jobs in industry, including Ocean Optics in Winter Park, GeNO LLC in Cocoa, Akron Biotech in Boca Raton, and Accenture in Austin, Texas, among other companies.

鈥淣anotechnology is an exciting, emerging field that takes quite a bit of specialization,鈥� said Qun Huo, the master鈥檚 program coordinator. 鈥淲e have outstanding faculty and a NanoScience Technology Center, which gives our students a unique opportunity to learn by doing with leaders in the field and in partnership with industry.鈥�

That鈥檚 been true for Bittman. He鈥檚 been working in Associate Professor Swadeshmukul Santra鈥檚 lab developing new materials at the nano/microscale level that may aid in eradicating agricultural diseases that destroy crops. The team also looks for ways these materials could apply to the field of medicine.

鈥淚鈥檝e gotten a first-hand look at how 麻豆映画传媒 is trying to fix a big problem in our state,鈥� said the 31-year-old. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing opportunity. I have always been interested doing some kind of business in the biomedical field. ut I鈥檝e kind of had an untraditional path, so it鈥檚 taking me a little while. But you have to go with opportunities when they happen.鈥�

For now, Bittman is working on completing his program and doing some research about the many federal agencies he would like to work for this summer.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty exciting,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 part of a plan and totally unexpected. I鈥檓 not sure where I鈥檒l be after I graduate in the summer. But I鈥檓 eager for the next adventure.鈥�

More than 1,000 麻豆映画传媒 students and faculty members will participate in the festival of performing and visual arts that will showcase studio art, music, theatre, dance, gaming, animation, photography and film. This is the first time all the 麻豆映画传媒 artistic endeavors can be experienced in one place, and all activities are free and open to the public.

The week also will provide invited high school music and theater students unique access to workshops led by 麻豆映画传媒 faculty members and an opportunity to showcase their talents during select performances at a state-of-the-art venue.

鈥淲e鈥檙e presenting the depth and breadth of 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 arts units to Orlando, taking them off campus and presenting them in one of the best spaces in the southeast,鈥� said Jeff Moore, director of the 麻豆映画传媒 School of Performing Arts and artistic director of the festival. 鈥淎lso, this shows how arts integration across all disciplines happens at 麻豆映画传媒. This creative environment is necessary to develop community outreach.鈥�

Events are still being added to the 麻豆映画传媒 Celebrates the Arts schedule, but some of the highlights will feature:

* 聽Icarus at the Edge of Time. The 麻豆映画传媒 Symphony Orchestra will perform the music of composer Phillip Glass with an accompanying movie by Al & Al, based on a children鈥檚 book by Columbia University physicist Brian Greene about a boy traveling in outer space who challenges the power of a black hole. Friday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m.

Kate Mulgrew, who portrayed Capt. Katharyn Janeway in the Star Trek: Voyager TV series, will provide live narration for the fable.

The Icarus presentation is part of a National Science Foundation project that seeks to broaden the participation of students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) research activities, and each year 麻豆映画传媒 organizes some STEM activities in an artistic way. This event will be an interdisciplinary arts-and-sciences collaboration involving the School of Performing Arts and the College of Sciences.聽鈥淚t is an excellent example of the integration of science, literature, and the performing and visual arts,鈥� said Debra Reinhart, 麻豆映画传媒 assistant vice president for Research and Commercialization.

* 聽Several musical collaborations are planned with 麻豆映画传媒 partners. The Flying Horse Big Band will perform a cabaret with the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, themed 鈥淪hakespeare in Love鈥� (Saturday, April 11, at 8 p.m.); 麻豆映画传媒 Choirs will provide the vocals for the Orlando Repertory Theatre鈥檚 production of Civil War Voices, which uses diaries and letters to tell the true stories of people who lived through the war (several matinee productions throughout the week); and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a rehearsal for Tosca with an instructional class for voice students following.

* 聽Theatre 麻豆映画传媒 performances will include scenes from Nine, Hair, class projects, alumni cameos, and scenes from students who have been nominated for Kennedy Center Irene Ryan Acting awards. The Theatre 麻豆映画传媒 Dance showcase will feature a selection of dance pieces choreographed and performed by 麻豆映画传媒 students and faculty members.

* 聽Music concerts will include performances from the Collide Percussion Music Festival, 麻豆映画传媒 Symphonic Band, 麻豆映画传媒 choruses, and the chamber and wind ensembles.

* 聽Students in the School of Visual Arts and Design will have works from digital media, film, animations, games and studio arts showcased on every floor at the Dr. Phillips Center. SVAD faculty will present lectures on the arts and will be available for portfolio reviews from high school students. A Game Jam will be held so patrons can watch games being developed during a 24-hour period.

* The Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy also will demonstrate the interactive development process of video-game design. Final products and artwork will be on display showcasing the works of students and professionals.

* Performances will be scheduled for select high school musicians. There also will be clinics and workshops for the participating musicians. Schools that would like to participate can contact Kelly Miller, coordinator of music education, at Kelly.Miller@ucf.edu.

Organizers of the festival hope to expand its length and scope in coming years.

鈥淲e are using this opportunity to share the products and performances of our university students and faculty. We want the world to know that 麻豆映画传媒 invests in the arts, and this festival makes that statement,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淭his celebration is a showcase for 麻豆映画传媒 to share the return on that investment with the city and the entire Central Florida region. We are looking forward to this inaugural event and sharing 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 arts activities,聽both on and off campus,聽with everyone聽for years to come.鈥�

Visit 聽for more information and updated scheduling. All events are free, but tickets are required for many of the programs. Tickets will be available on the website聽later this month.

Awards totaling $39.9 million will help 149 university researchers at 84 academic institutions purchase state-of-the-art research equipment, which will benefit science education, medical training and the preparation of troops.

鈥淥ur strategy of focusing on research that stimulates the local and state economies has served us very well in competing for these federal awards,鈥� said MJ Soileau, vice president for research and commercialization at 麻豆映画传媒. 鈥淥ur faculty have consistently shown that they can compete with the best and the equipment purchased with these awards will position them even better for future funding. This is particularly important since most contracts and grants are for specific work to be done and have little or no money for purchase of major capital equipment.鈥� 聽聽聽

The money coming to 麻豆映画传媒 will purchase major equipment for projects in the Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers|College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL|COP) and the Institute for Simulation and Training in partnership with the College of Nursing.聽 聽聽

The CREOL|COP projects include:

Professor Greg Welch from the College of Nursing, IST and the College of Engineering and Computer聽Science received $178,000 from the Office of Naval Research to purchase specialized humanoid robots with computer-rendered or rubber 鈥渟kin鈥� faces that allow the robots to聽perform as surrogate humans. The work he is conducting, along with professors Arjun Nagendran in IST and Charles Hughes in CECS, will create an聽integrated platform for testing and developing these surrogate humans and associated computer graphics and animation to assist in training for the聽military, healthcare and teaching.聽

The Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, and Air Force Office of Scientific Research fund the projects. They received 735 proposals requesting $278 million in support for research equipment.

麻豆映画传媒, the University of Illinois and Rutgers University were the only universities to receive five awards.聽

The other Florida universities receiving awards this year are the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University, with one award each.

Su, associate professor at 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center, is the only researcher from a Florida university to be selected and only one of 82 recipients nationwide announced today.

The award recognizes visionary science that exhibits the potential to transform scientific fields and speed the translation of research into improved health, according to the NIH director鈥檚 office. Su鈥檚 research focuses on using nanoparticles to concentrate and precisely direct radiation energy to destroy cancerous tumors.

Su says nearly half of cancer patients receive radiation therapy at some point during treatment, but X-ray doses can damage normal tissue around the cancer. The idea of using nanoparticles to improve radiation therapy has been studied for the past several years as a way to enhance the potency of the cancer killing radiation, while limiting damage to surrounding healthy cells.

Because of the imprecise nature of radiation it is often used at lower dose than required, Su said. But that can lead to incomplete killing of cancer cells and recurrence of a tumor later.

Su will be using nanoparticles in way they have not been used before 鈥� so that radiation energy will be deposited preferentially to tumors.

鈥淏y doing so, the total X-ray dose required to kill the tumor will be reduced, and the damage to normal tissues will be minimized,鈥� Su said.

The award is one of 10 Pioneer awards, 51 New Innovator awards, and 20 Transformative Research awards announced by the NIH today. The total funding is approximately $155 million.

The program funding all the projects, the High Risk Reward program, supports a series of exceptionally high-impact research programs that are broadly relevant to health and disease.

鈥淭he Common Fund High Risk High Reward program provides opportunities for innovative investigators in any area of health research to take risks when the potential impact in biomedical and behavioral science is high,鈥� said NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins.

The New Innovator Award received by Su supports investigators who had received their Ph.D. or M.D. within the last ten years.

Last year Su received the National Science Foundation鈥檚 prestigious early CAREER award for a project using phase change nanoparticles as thermal probes to detect multiple cancer biomarkers.

The presentation is part of a three-university tour across Florida.聽The 麻豆映画传媒 event will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, in the Cape Florida Ballroom of the Student Union.

The goal of the tour, called “It’s all about jobs,” is to communicate the importance and economic potential of a renewable energy industry in Florida to students, faculty, businesses and communities.

Panelists will include representatives from 麻豆映画传媒’s Florida Solar Energy Center, NextEra Energy, IBM, Siemens, Kitson and Partners and Citizens for Clean Energy. The representatives will discuss issues relating to Florida’s economy and the role of the energy sector.

Citizens for Clean Energy is a coalition of leaders, organizations and concerned citizens that support education and public policy change that advance clean energy jobs and technologies to improve the economy, energy security and environment.

The ranking, published in the March 2010 issue of IEEE Spectrum Online, calculates a “pipeline power” based on a variety of factors for U. S. patents issued between January and December 2009, including the number and types of citations a body of patents received by companies and other universities in their research.

麻豆映画传媒’s total “power” ranking rose more than 200 points from 242 to 458 this year.

Based on U.S. patents, here is the聽worldwide top 20 in the IEEE universities/education/training category:

1. Texas
2. Cal
3. 麻豆映画传媒
4. Iowa State
5. Washington
6. SUNY
7. Tufts
8. Wisconsin
9. Northwestern
10. Virginia Poly
11. Cal Tech
12. MIT
13. Stanford
14. Colorado
15. Harvard
16. UMass
17. Purdue
18. Oxford (UK)
19. Pohang (S. Korea)
20. Maryland

Founded in 1963, 麻豆映画传媒 is the third-largest university in the nation. 麻豆映画传媒 and its 12 colleges, located in Orlando, Florida, provide opportunities to over 53,500 students, offering 200 bachelor’s and master’s degrees and two-dozen doctoral programs. In 2007, 麻豆映画传媒 opened its on-campus football stadium and its basketball arena. In 2008, 麻豆映画传媒 became the first U.S. med school to offer scholarships to an entire class.

In the 2009 federal budget, the State University System of Florida received $62 million in research support. The 2010 budget provides $81 million.

“A 31 percent increase is huge,” Brogan said in a news release. “It will allow our institutions to expand their work to find solutions to problems facing our state and nation.”

The $81 million is in addition to the more than $1.2 billion in outside, non-state support that State University System researchers are expected to bring in through competition for grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies, private industry and other private sources, according to Brogan.

The 麻豆映画传媒 announced last week that its researchers got $121.7 million in research grants for the 2009 fiscal year, up more than $2 million from 2008.

M.J. Soileau, vice president for 麻豆映画传媒’s Office of Research & Commercialization, said $59.9 million of the fiscal-year 2009 research funding was federal dollars. State funds totaled $25.2 million, and private/other monies totaled $36.5 million. 麻豆映画传媒 applied for 1,412 total grants worth $570.2 million.

Source: Orlando Business Journal, Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 2:20pm EST