This May, Diane Maldonado graduated with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from UCF. Maldonado’s program focused on business administration and criminal justice, and she also completed a minor in Crime, Law, and Deviance. Maldonado, a purchasing coordinator for the UCF NanoScience Technology Center, pursued a degree after 20 years of service at UCF in four…

Swetha Barkam has been selected as a ACerS President’s Council of Student Advisors delegate for 2015-2016. The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is a non-profit professional organization for the ceramics community, with a focus on scientific research, emerging technologies, and applications. The mission of PCSA is to engage students as active and long-term leaders in the…

Two UCF students won awards at NanoFlorida 2015, otherwise known as the 8th Annual Nanoscience Technology Symposium. The event was held May 12-15 at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Hao Li, from UCF’s Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, won second prize in the poster competition. Mikaeel Young won third prize in the oral presentation…

A nanoparticle additive for jet and rocket fuels that was developed by Sudipta Seal and his research group has been licensed to a company established by a former university researcher. Helicon Chemical Co., LLC, obtained exclusive rights to the technology that improves the dispersion and burning rates of solid fuel propellants. “It makes them safer,…

Swetha Barkam and Ankur Gupta are winners of the 2014-15 Graduate Student Research Scholarship from UCF’s Student Government Association. The $500 award recognizes graduate students for their research activity, conference presentations, and academic excellence. In addition, Barkam won the SGA Campus Involvement Scholarship. The $250 scholarship is awarded to students for their campus and community…

Corey Rodas, AMPAC, NSTC and MSE undergraduate student received an honorable mention at the 2015 Showcase of Undergraduate Research in the Life Sciences category for his poster Silk Fibroin Electrospun Nanostructures For Biomedical Applications. Sudipta Seal the MSE Interim Chair and Director of AMPAC and NSTC was Corey Rodas’ mentor for his research. The Showcase…

The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is offering financial support to select students to attend the European Ceramic Society Summer School and Biennial Conference in Spain. ACerS is seeking graduate and undergraduate students from the United States who are interested in attending the Summer School program, which will be held June 17-19, 2015 in Madrid, Spain.…

An article co-authored by Qun “Treen” Huo is featured on the cover of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. The article, entitled “Different Interaction Modes of Biomolecules with Citrate-Capped Gold Nanoparticles,” contains analysis that could lead to new biomarker discovery with diagnostic applications. Huo holds joint Appointments in the NanoScience Technology Center and Department of Chemistry…

Panit Chantharasupawong and Zenan Yu are winners of the 2014-15 UCF Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Panit and Zenan are both Ph.D. students in the Nano Energy-Photonics Group, led by Dr. Jayan Thomas. Panit Chantharasupawong is a doctoral candidate in the College of Optics and Photonics, and Zenan Yui is a doctoral candidate in Materials…

Helping the world one cocoon at a time, nanobiotechnology researcher Swetha Barkam extracts raw silk from cocoons to create polymer-based technology for commercial use in products such as “smart patches” which would get resorbed into the body, minimizing cost and health risk. The goal: fully green, sustainable and inexpensive healthcare solutions for underprivileged populations. Barkam…