罢丑别听 received a $1.155 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to establish and launch the new program, which is expected to start in Spring or Fall of 2025. The grant, part of the Department of Education (DOE) Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, or FIPSE, program, started this month. SMST faculty will spend this year developing the new program and the next two years implementing and evaluating it.

The grant will enable 麻豆原创 to build on its academic and research strengths in digital twins, which are digital replicas of complex real-world systems. By manipulating digital twins, scientists, doctors, urban planners, and others can analyze, predict, optimize, and make real-time decisions on products, processes, and systems.

The new DOE grant will allow 麻豆原创 to expand educational programs focused on digital聽twin. Graduate students enrolled in the program would learn about designing, implementing, managing, and creating innovations for digital twin technologies, and they would gain real-life experiences through industry as part of the program.

Along with the $1.155 million in FIPSE funding, 麻豆原创 will include about 25% in matching funds to bring the total grant to almost $1.5 million.

Ghaith Rabadi, modeling and simulation professor and graduate program director, will lead the certificate program along with SMST faculty members Roger Azevedo, Joe Kider, Sean Mondesire, Soheil Sabri and Bulent Soykan.

“The award further strengthens the digital twin strategic initiative program at 麻豆原创 and ensures a definitive pathway to educate the next generation in this transformative technology,” says Rabadi.聽鈥淕raduates will be well-prepared to become leading researchers and innovators in a field rapidly becoming a vital part of our regional and state economies.鈥�

The initiative is crosscutting within the university and will encompass ongoing digital twin research in multiple sectors, including microelectronics, space, multi-domain operations, test, and evaluation, human digital twins, AI-enabled capabilities and machine interface, airports of the future, smart cities, energy infrastructure, and more.

This is 麻豆原创鈥檚 second federal grant connected with digital twin research. As part of a 2022 Department of Commerce grant awarded to Osceola County and several partners, 麻豆原创 researchers are replicating the semiconductor production line at the Center for NeoVation in Osceola County, with a goal of increasing productivity and reliability.

Digital twin research is also a focus of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Strategic Investment Program. Led by Grace Bochenek 鈥�98PhD, director of SMST, that collaboration also includes faculty from engineering and computer science, psychology, and arts and humanities. The goal is to develop a digital twin framework and tools that can be adapted by governments, industry, and academia based on their needs. Potential applications include healthcare, smart cities, transportation and defense.

麻豆原创 is ranked No. 4 in the nation for conferring bachelor鈥檚 degrees to Hispanic/Latino/a/x, marking the third consecutive year the university has been recognized in the top 5 by Hispanic Outlook magazine. The ranking, which was released today and lists top-performing educational institutions, considers degrees awarded in the 2020-21 academic year. 麻豆原创 is also ranked No. 12 for Hispanic enrollment among four-year schools and No. 21 for awarding master鈥檚 degrees to Hispanics. In 2020-21, 麻豆原创 awarded 4,240 bachelor鈥檚 degrees and 563 master鈥檚 degrees to Hispanic students. During the same academic year, 27.8% of the student body identified as Hispanic/Latino/a/x.

This year, Hispanic Outlook聽also ranks 麻豆原创 within the top 10 schools nationally across five degrees:

• 4 for Visual and Performing Arts
• 5 for Engineering
• 7 for Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
• 7 for English Language and Literature/Letters
• 8 for Legal Professions and Studies

麻豆原创 encourages Hispanic students to engage with academic-based opportunities that connect them to their cultural backgrounds. This includes funding students鈥� involvement with the HSI Battle of the Brains 鈥� a week-long networking event that matches students at HSIs to opportunities in the industry and includes a 24-hour hackathon/business plan competition, which a team of 麻豆原创 students won in March. 麻豆原创 also offers a聽Latinx Leadership track聽within LEAD Scholars, a selective two-year leadership development program for undergraduate students.

鈥淲e know that these types of co-curricular experiences have a positive impact on students and make earning a degree that much more meaningful,鈥� says Cyndia Mu帽iz 鈥�13EdD, 麻豆原创鈥檚 director of HSI Culture and Partnerships. 鈥淲e will continue to create spaces where students can lean into their cultural assets as they prepare for their respective career fields.鈥�

Today, 麻豆原创 is also recognized as an HSI Fulbright Leader for the second year in a row by the U.S. Department of State鈥檚 Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). This designation recognizes the noteworthy engagement that selected HSIs have achieved with the prestigious Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. A total of 43 institutions have received this designation for the 2021-22 academic year. In 2021, 麻豆原创 was named a top producer of Fulbright Students by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

鈥淏eing named a Fulbright HSI Leader again is a testament to the community that 麻豆原创 faculty and staff foster on campus and has led to us endorsing the highest number of applicants for this U.S. Fulbright Student Grantee cycle,鈥� says Morgan Bauer, 麻豆原创鈥檚 director for the Office of Prestigious Awards. 鈥淲e are so excited for all applicants who decide to pursue the amazing opportunity that Fulbright provides.鈥�

麻豆原创 is committed to fostering a culturally responsive learning community and facilitating experiences for individuals to broaden their worldview. Engagement in the Fulbright Program allows Knights 鈥� including five students and alums and three faculty selected earlier聽this year 鈥� to participate in cultural exchange and international networking opportunities through education, field work, research and daily routines. Through 麻豆原创鈥檚 own Study Abroad program, the university provides several experiences for students, including those of Hispanic backgrounds, to learn and be immersed in the culture of Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Per煤. The inaugural Study Abroad program at the 麻豆原创 Barcelona Center for International Experiences also launched earlier this year.

Providing a spectrum of opportunities for Hispanic students to explore their interests and enhance their knowledge and skills are crucial elements of a meaningful college experience that foster students鈥� ability to make an impact in the real world. To elevate 麻豆原创鈥檚 ability to do this, this fall Amazon awarded the university more than $88,000 to support HSI initiatives and the , which provides scholarship and fellowship opportunities for students, as well as faculty and staff with the resources necessary to better serve students through research activity and other professional development programs.

Part of Amazon鈥檚 generous investment will directly fund scholarships, micro-grants and paid internships that benefit Hispanic students. Another portion will fund professional development opportunities and conferences, with an intentional emphasis on increasing Hispanic representation in the computer science and tech field. This includes support for 麻豆原创鈥檚 chapter of the student organization Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Amazon鈥檚 emphasize on bolstering Hispanic representation in computer science and tech fields builds on a U.S. National Science Foundation effort 麻豆原创 joined last year to increase the number Latinos in computing 鈥� as well as the No. 7 ranking 麻豆原创 received from Hispanic Outlook this year for computing-related degrees.

Amazon鈥檚 funding will also be used for HSI-sponsored programming research and events that celebrate Hispanic backgrounds, such as HSI Week activities, the Latinx Leadership course, and an聽 Amazon Leadership Series. The series included a fireside chat with Latinos at Amazon this fall and will feature a half-day of workshops on tech and non-tech roles, imposter syndrome, and other talks for engineering and business students in the spring.

Earlier this year 麻豆原创 joined a national alliance of more than a dozen HSI R1 (very high research activity institutions, designated by the Carnegie Classification) universities to double the number of Hispanic doctoral students and increase the number of Hispanic faculty at member institutions by 20%.

Last year, 麻豆原创 was one of 10 institutions awarded the Seal of Excelencia from Excelencia in Education, the nation鈥檚 premier authority on efforts accelerating Latino student success in higher education. The honor, which a total 30 institutions have earned, signifies evidence of effective and intentional institutional practices that serve Latino students; positive momentum for Latino students鈥� progress; and a dedication to transform the institution into an environment where Latino students can thrive.