The College of Sciences continues to highlight the remarkable achievements and innovations of our fellow Knights, from UCF’s standout 30 Under 30 awardees to our recognition as one of the top schools for video game design in the world. This month also highlights a special community-centered event at the UCF Arboretum and the exciting launch of SPHERE X. 

The Order of Pegasus stands as the pinnacle of recognition for students at UCF, celebrating extraordinary achievements that embody the core values and spirit of the university. 

The 13 College of Sciences recipients of the Order of Pegasus award represent the highest ideals of what it means to be a UCF Knight. Throughout the community they are enriching the human experience by meeting the challenges of our world. By engaging with hands-on research, they are uncovering new knowledge and contributing to broad-based prosperity.

The College of Sciences is celebrating its eight alumni who were selected as 30 Under 30 awardees. These exceptional AlumKnights have gone above and beyond in their careers while making an incredible impact in their post-collegiate journeys at a young age. 

One of those recipients is alumnus Paul Gill, who received a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 2018. “Receiving recognition from UCF is incredibly meaningful because of how intertwined this institution has been, and will continue to be, with my life,” Gill says. “UCF has given me and my family so much, so all I want to do is represent and support the university to the best of my ability.”   

The UCF Department of Statistics and Data Science collaborated with Pegasus Partner, Addition Financial, to host its annual analytics competition and named its winners at the Big Data Analytics Symposium, hosted at UCF this past month.  

Vice President of Research and Innovation Winston Schoenfeld, Ph.D., welcomed attendees to the event. “This event serves as more than just a learning opportunity—it is a gateway to real-world applications and career opportunities,” says Schoenfeld. “The presentations, networking sessions, and discussions you participate in today may spark new ideas, forge valuable connections, and even lead to your next big career move.”  

A unique valuable learning opportunity is through the Additional Financial Analytics Competition. UCF student participants apply their education to a real-world problem, analyzing real-world data to gain actionable insights into the factors influencing consumer decisions when choosing financial institutions for mortgage loans. 

The winning team, comprised of Jackson Windhorst (Data Science major) and Katelyn Choudhari (Data Science major, Statistics minor), presented their research and findings to the room of attendees, which included industry partners, faculty, and fellow students. They were recognized, along with the second and third-place winners, by Addition Financial at the event.

UCF is recognized for its excellence across its video game design programs, which have prepared hundreds of graduates who help craft some of the best-selling video games in the world — fueling a $400-billion industry. 

UCF’s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), the university’s graduate video gaming program, has produced more than 200 graduates who worked on several of the most popular games sold in 2024—including No. 1 seller Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, No. 2 EA SPORTS College Football 25, No. 6 EA SPORTS Madden NFL 25 and No. 10 EA Sports MVP Bundles. 

“[It’s so important to] have a school like FIEA where you are actually in an industry-simulated environment versus just reading textbooks and watching lectures,” says EA SPORTS Development Director Zachary Karlins ’19, who was one of 42 FIEA alums who worked on College Football 25. 

“FIEA is receiving a record number of applicants for the Fall 2025 class,” says Benjamin Noel, executive director of FIEA since its inception. “It’s the best year for our grads ever, and we are pleased at the recognition of the program mission to create talented high-wage developers for the growing video game business.”

Our featured staff member of the month is a wildlife appreciator, a whiz on figuring out building issues on campus, and a proud UCF Alumna. 

Jennifer Steele works in the College of Sciences (COS) Dean’s Office as Manager of Facilities Utilization. She serves as building manager for the College and works closely with staff, faculty, and students on facilities and space related issues.  

She’s worked at UCF for 23 years, starting as a Lab Manager in the Department of Chemistry before transitioning into her current role in 2015.  

Steele has always appreciated animals, but began actively feeding birds a few years ago—and expanded her hobby to campus where there are many natural spaces to explore.  

“I was a Biology major at UCF, and have enjoyed the UCF Arboretum and watching campus wildlife since I was a student,” says Steele. “I noticed the birdbath and feeder while taking an afternoon walk on the trails. Now, I try to stop by two or three times a week and fill the birdbath.” 

Her love of animals began at a young age and continues to serve as a passion for her. “My family has always appreciated and cared about animals. I grew up with pets, from a young age, and field trips to see animals were always my favorites. We currently have a house full of rescue cats and one dog, Daisy, who bring us so much joy.” 

The COS Staff Council helps to support, acknowledge, and celebrate the work of staff members, like Jennifer Steele, who help ensure the College of Sciences delivers impact.  

On February 24th, the College of Sciences hosted an interdisciplinary seminar entitled, “Novel Materials for Health, Energy, and Other Applications,” bringing faculty together to share approaches to conducting research from across the College. 

Pegasus Professor and Associate Dean of Research Joshua Colwell hosted the event, which featured engaging research presentations from four faculty members, refreshments for guests, and a dynamic Q&A session. 

Colwell shared this in-person event is part of a new series of seminars for College of Sciences faculty and special guests to learn more about what is happening in various scientific disciplines and consider opportunities to work together.

The next interdisciplinary seminar on the topic “Quantum Information Science” is scheduled for April 14. Email Associate Dean of Research Josh Colwell for details.

As we quickly approach the annual Day of Giving this April 10, the UCF community is buzzing with excitement about the opportunity to give back. One of those donors comes from an inspired and unexpected background, a current member of UCF’s faculty in the College of Sciences.   

The new Dr. Michelle Dusseau Communication and Community Impact Scholarship invites student applicants to reflect on their time at UCF and how that will help them become contributing members of their community. To be eligible, students need to be an undergraduate in the communication major.  

“I recognize that financial circumstances are challenging for many people for a variety of reasons,” says Dusseau. “Because I’m endowing the scholarship myself, any donations in any amount on Day of Giving to this scholarship will immediately go into the scholarship delivered to the winning student in the Fall of 2025. Even at a smaller amount, it’s a life-changing amount for a student.”  

NASA’s newest astrophysics observatory, SPHEREx, recently launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Accompanying the telescope is a suite of four satellites known collectively as PUNCH, which will study the sun’s outer atmosphere and solar wind. 

The infrared space telescope will spend about two years orbiting Earth from over 400 miles overhead, collecting data on more than 450 million galaxies. Physics Professor Yan Fernandez and his research group F were tapped to collect data from the SPHEREx mission, driving innovation and exploration across space.  

“We are potentially going to have tremendous statistics to play with in terms of understanding compositional and physical diversity among asteroids and comets,” says Fernandez. 

The UCF Arboretum is host to a community garden, natural lands, student initiatives on Leading by Learning™ and on March 13, community members and donors gathered with UCF staff, faculty, and students in scenic Arboretum Park to learn more about the Arboretum’s initiatives. 

UCF College of Sciences Dean and Vice Provost of Strategic Initiatives, Maggy Tomova, opened the reception by emphasizing the value of the Arboretum’s role in supporting students’ educational journeys. She stressed how providing hands-on experience outside the classroom helps students develop competitive skills for today’s rapidly changing environment.  

“As one of the most innovative universities in America, we provide students opportunities to have practical applications of what they study. We call this experiential learning, and the UCF Arboretum is a unique example of that,” says Tomova. 

Written By: Juno Le | The Charge

UCF’s Astronomy Society hosted a special late-night Knights Under the Stars event at the Robinson Observatory for a public viewing of the total lunar eclipse. The Robinson Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the university’s College of Sciences. The observatory is located right off of Libra Drive opposite to the UCF Police Department. 

Dr. Richard Jerousek, Director of the Robinson Observatory and UCF physics lecturer, was also present at the eclipse viewing to provide guests with scientific information. 

“Right now, we’re looking at the lunar eclipse and it’s almost to totality,” Jerousek said outside of the observatory as guests were waiting for the eclipse to reach totality. “We see a thin sliver of the lit portion of the moon, the rest of the moon is getting orange and that’s because all of that light is filtered through Earth’s atmosphere.” 

Written by: Mason Gray | The Charge 

NASA recently assessed asteroid 2024 YR4, also known as the "city-killer" asteroid, which now has a lower probability of impacting Earth in 2032. The chance of an impact has dropped significantly to 0.0012% at the time of publication, but questions remain about Earth's asteroid defenses. 

Dr. Joshua Colwell, UCF PegasusProfessor and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Sciences, said lead time is critical for deflecting an impending asteroid. Lead time is the head start scientists have to determine when an asteroid is expected to impact Earth, according to Dr. Colwell. 

"If we have years of lead time, then you can do something about it," Colwell said. "So if you think about if something's heading towards you and you want to make it miss you, you just need the tiniest little deflection on it. And because it's so far away, that tiny little deflection will mean that it will miss you by a large amount." 

Architect Magazine 

Increasing interest in space travel and extraterrestrial resources has focused attention on building habitable dwellings on our closest planetary neighbor, the Moon. Establishing a long-term human presence on the forbidding lunar landscape will require far more materials than can be transported from the Earth. Scientists and engineers are, therefore, investigating the utilization of in-situ materials for lunar construction. This project actually has a name, In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), and is seen as an essential strategy to solve the logistical challenges and significant costs associated with extraterrestrial construction. 

“This [technology] is great for people out there working on another planet who don’t have a lot of support,” said Philip Metzger, a physicist at the University of Central Florida. “But there are already plenty of analogues to that here on Earth.” 

The New York Times 

“However, if you want to be proactive when starting a job, embrace being new and ask a lot of questions," said Mindy Shoss, a professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida. 

While you may not have a say in all of the tasks you need to do at work, you might be able to reduce your risk of burnout by controlling when you do them, Dr. Shoss said. This degree of control may not exist in all jobs, but Dr. Shoss prefers to do writing and research in the morning, when she feels the most alert and productive, she said. She saves her meetings with colleagues for the afternoon. 

Buy Side from the Wall Street Journal 

Why choose one photo to frame when you can have a thousand? Digital picture frames allow you to display those shots that would otherwise live on your phone. 

 While bigger might seem better in terms of resolution, Debashis Chanda, a professor in the College of Sciences’ Department of Physics and College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida, says that isn’t always the case.  

Speaking about 2K frames (which are frames with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels), he says: “I think it’s a lot of unnecessary pixels for a photo frame, as 2K is way too many pixels for our human eye to resolve.” While we did find that a 2K resolution didn’t look markedly better than the Mason’s 1600-pixel resolution to our eyes, we did think the Mason’s picture was sharper than the 1280 x 800-pixel frames we tested. 

CNET 

Commercial moon missions with NASA connections are all the rage right now. Firefly Aerospace stuck the lunar landing of its Blue Ghost mission on March 2. Intuitive Machines hoped for a similar success with its IM-2 mission Thursday morning. The Athena lander made it to the moon's surface, but ended up on its side. 

It's much harder to touch down on the moon than on Earth.  

"The moon has a large enough gravity to make it challenging to land softly, but no atmosphere to help slow down a lander," says Josh Colwell, associate dean of the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida. "The surface is very rough at all spatial scales, so the tipping over of a lander is a real risk." 

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Room 0101 in the College of Sciences Building at the University of Central Florida is a standard-issue lecture hall. Students sit in upholstered chairs, bolted to the floor in rows, with little desks that fold down from the arm rests. The setup makes it easy to surreptitiously text friends or consult ChatGPT, but awkward to work with one another. Even for those sitting near the front, the professor is far away — up on stage, behind a big lectern.

In short, everything about the architecture says that students are there to sit and listen. At a university with more than 59,000 undergraduates and a student-faculty ratio of 28 to 1, what else could they expect? Julie Donnelly, a lecturer in chemistry, thinks they can expect something more. The instructor has designed her section of Chemistry Fundamentals II, which meets in this room, to feel smaller than its nearly 400 students. The course is structured to foster collaboration through structured work in small groups, using an approach called team-based learning. 

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