The University of Central Florida saw another record year in research funding for fiscal year 2023, with more than $217 million in total sponsored awards. This is the eighth consecutive year of increased research funding for the university.
Top awards included funding for the UCF-led mission to the moon’s mysterious Gruithuisen Domes and for UCF’s Center for Community Schools.
UCF also continuously ranks as one of the top, patent-producing public universities in the world, and its Office of Technology Transfer, which brings researchers’ innovations to the marketplace, secured 56 U.S. patents in fiscal year 2023.
These patents included a coating for capturing and killing viruses on surfaces as well as methods of artificial intelligence-assisted infrastructure assessment using mixed reality systems.
The coating was developed collaboratively by researchers with the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) and the College of Medicine (COM), and the AI-assisted infrastructure assessment technology was developed by researchers in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering and the Department of Computer Science within CECS.
The Office of Technology Transfer also executed 26 licenses and options and facilitated the introduction of 24 new products on the market in fiscal year 2023. These products included new models of the UCF-developed gossamer wind fan that is sold in many major home improvement stores and a composite material that has aluminum particles dispersed in a continuous phase, which is used as a high-performance solid propellant.
Key federal funders for fiscal year 2023 were the U.S. Department of Defense ($31.21 million), the U.S. National Science Foundation ($26.95 million), NASA ($22.91 million), and the National Institutes of Health ($19.63).
Colleges receiving top funding were College of Sciences ($43 million), CECS ($40 million), and COM ($21 million).
“UCF’s remarkable growth in research funding is a testament to our commitment to pioneering innovation,” says Winston V. Schoenfeld, UCF’s interim vice president for research and innovation. “The record-breaking $217 million in sponsored awards reflects the dedication of our faculty, staff, and students and their relentless pursuit of knowledge and transformative projects like the moon’s Gruithuisen Domes mission and our impactful Center for Community Schools.”
“Our Office of Technology Transfer is a showcase of innovation, bridging discoveries to real-world applications, as evident in groundbreaking technologies like virus-killing coatings and AI-assisted infrastructure assessment systems,” he says. “The collaborative efforts across colleges showcase our interdisciplinary strength in driving impactful advancements. We’re proud of our researchers’ dedication and the work they are doing reinforcing UCF’s position as a top research university.”
To learn more about this year’s success stories, visit the UCF Office of Research 2023 Annual Report.
