UCF in the News

The University of Central Florida offers a comprehensive DNP program, providing an advanced pathway for aspiring family nurse practitioners. The clinical placement coordinator for the graduate program manages student assignments to clinical sites and preceptors, eliminating the need for students to find their own placement.

Central Florida’s two major health systems, Orlando Health and AdventHealth Central Florida, are widely using artificial intelligence for administrative work and, increasingly, to sound early alarms about potential illnesses, including deadly pancreatic cancer and sepsis. Eventually, some experts think AI could even be used to diagnose patients and make treatment decisions. Even more ambitious efforts are taking place at the University of Central Florida. Roger Azevedo, a professor in the School of Modeling Simulation and Training at UCF with a Ph.D. in educational psychology, is working to create a human digital twin — a digital replica of a person — that potentially could be used in patient care or clinician training. UCF has received millions of dollars in federal funding for this effort. He’s also collaborating with other researchers to use AI to monitor and improve clinician performance using eye-tracking and other sensors. He sees a future where such technology is employed to monitor team dynamics in an operating room. “AI …could indicate ‘Hey, you’re not looking at the right anatomical region, or you’re not looking at the right team member who can actually support you, given what you’re doing right now,’” Azevedo said.

A U.S. business and the next generation of moonbound spacefarers are learning that landing upright on the lunar surface is much harder than it looks. Intuitive Machines' spacecraft took this selfie, pictured above, about 35 seconds after tipping over during its descent on Feb. 22. Because the lander is on its side, the mission will be forced to end prematurely. Based on the positions of Earth and the moon, they'll probably lose contact with their lander, dubbed Odysseus, on Tuesday. While some observers have criticized how "successful" this landing attempt should be considered — NASA administrator Bill Nelson was quick to say the Houston-based space contractor had "aced" the landing last week — scientists are reminding the public why this keeps happening. Japan's own lander also made it to the lunar surface last month, but with its thruster end pointing up. "When a lander is tipping, inertial forces push it over, while gravity pulls its feet back down flat. On the Moon, gravity is reduced by a factor of 6, but inertial forces are not. *Everything is 6 times tippier on the Moon*," wrote Phil Metzger, a planetary physicist at the University of Central Florida, in an X post. "You *must* plan to reduce inertial forces by a factor of SIX lower than how your hardware operates on Earth if you want things to be as stable on the Moon as they are on the Earth."

Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University ranked No. 1 on the list of the best hospitality and hotel management schools in the world for 2024; according to a new study by the CEOWORLD magazine, William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at the University of Nevada placed second on the list, followed by the School of Hospitality Business of the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University at No. 3. The 2024 rankings placed UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management in fourth ahead of the Pennsylvania State University School of Hospitality Management, into fifth; while Collins College of Hospitality Management of the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, ranked sixth; and College of Hospitality Management at Johnson & Wales University seventh. Overall, among the top 10 best hospitality and hotel management schools in the world for 2024, the eighth, ninth, and tenth positions are held by the International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University, School of Hospitality Leadership (SHL) at University of Wisconsin, and School of Hospitality Business Management at Washington State University.

Florida politicians have recently debated creative solutions to combat climate change, from electric cars to lab-grown meat. While not as shiny or controversial as other initiatives, carbon capture has shored up increasing political support over the past few years. The idea behind the new technology is to keep carbon dioxide — a common greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming — out of the atmosphere. There are a handful of methods. Richard Blair, a research professor at the University of Central Florida, said he doesn’t see continued reliance on fossil fuels as a bad thing. ”What’s the criticism of extending the life of fossil fuel plant?” he said. “Let’s say a fossil fuel plant produced no CO2. Is there a problem with that?” However, Blair agrees the industry still has a long way to go before carbon capture is commercially viable.

The small icy worlds on the edge of our solar system may be better contenders for life than we first thought, scientists have found. The dwarf planets of Eris and Makemake, situated in the Kuiper Belt beyond the orbit of Neptune, may have geothermal activity beneath their surfaces, according to two new papers in the journal Icarus. "Eris and Makemake unveil a surprising narrative of internal dynamism," co-author of both papers, Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, a research professor at the University of Central Florida's Florida Space Institute, said in a statement.

The endowment for the University of Central Florida is among the highest for public schools and third-highest in the region at $174.72 million for fiscal 2022, up from $162.82 million in 2019. UCF's endowment has grown even further recently, as its June 30, 2023 amount is $228.4 million.

The University of Florida (UF) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) have been ranked among the top institutions for online bachelor’s programs by U.S. News & World Report for 2024.