A new $1.1 million award to 麻豆原创 from NOAA Sea Grant as part of the Marine Debris Challenge Competition will fund joint research between 麻豆原创鈥檚 CEELAB and Aquatic Biogeochemistry Laboratory鈥檚 research on plastic-free restored habitats in coastal shorelines and oyster reefs. 麻豆原创鈥檚 work, in partnership with Texas A&M, and University of Texas Marine Science Institute was selected as one of 11 projects across Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin. Combined, the team received $2.27 million dollars for the collaborative project.

鈥淲e were delighted to receive funding from NOAA鈥檚 Marine Debris Challenge Competition 鈥� a highly competitive process,鈥� says Pegasus Professor of Biology Linda Walters, who leads Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab (CEELAB). 鈥淥ur take on this was to focus on coastal restoration. We are evaluating novel non-plastic materials used for oyster reef restoration to ensure that there aren鈥檛 negative impacts in surrounding marine habitats, including communities that live in the sediment or to larger animals, such as crabs, which call the oyster reefs home.鈥�

Walters says that marine debris 鈥� which includes microplastics and nanoplastics 鈥� is affecting every habitat around the globe.

鈥淓ven though we cannot see them, marine invertebrates and vertebrates consume them, which can negatively impact the animal,鈥� Walters says. 鈥淚f these animals are then consumed by humans, the plastic enters our digestive tracts. Other microscopic plastic particles are light enough to enter the atmosphere and move with the wind. Recent research is documenting that these particles can end up trapped in our lungs.鈥�

麻豆原创 is uniquely poised to conduct this research because of our substantial history of oyster reef restoration within Mosquito Lagoon and our local knowledge of the ecosystem, says Lisa Chambers, associate professor and principal investigator (PI) of the Aquatic Biogeochemistry Laboratory, a co-PI on the NOAA Marine Debris award.

鈥淭his research is timely and important because the desire to stop using plastics in coastal restoration has opened a floodgate of new and novel restoration materials,鈥� Chambers says. 鈥淭his funding supports the continued study of alternative, non-plastic materials for use in coastal restoration. We need to know how materials affect the microbes and natural chemical cycles in the coastal ecosystem and long-terms impacts of restoration efforts.鈥�

CEELAB focuses on a wide variety of problems impacting Florida鈥檚 coastal waters, in particular, the Indian River Lagoon system. The group, led by Walters and Melinda Donnelly, a research assistant professor in biology, has a long history of ecosystem restoration efforts that focus on restoration 鈥� including oysters, marsh grass, mangroves and seagrass.

As one of the longest running academically based coastal restoration programs in the U.S., CEELAB works with 麻豆原创 faculty, graduate students, undergraduate researchers, postdoctoral fellows, field technicians, numerous community partners and volunteers to restore Florida鈥檚 Indian River Lagoon. Current partners include the Marine Discovery Center in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Coastal Conservation Association, Canaveral National Seashore, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The combined efforts of 麻豆原创 and its partners highlight ever-changing best practices in ecosystem restoration and provide a ripe opportunity for research and innovation.

鈥淚t鈥檚 unique to have a long-term restoration project led by a university laboratory. We started community-based oyster reef restoration in 2007, living shoreline stabilization in 2012, and seagrass restoration in 2024,鈥� Walters says. 鈥淲e have created a 鈥榟abitat mosaic鈥� where all these species work together to make the environment better. We are finding lots of areas have degraded, whether through storms or human impact. It鈥檚 important to find solutions that bring the natural environment back.鈥�

NOAA also provides large, transformative awards to create communities of practice in coastal restoration and 麻豆原创 (co-PIs Walters and Donnelly) is receiving $1.2 million for restoration efforts as part of the NOAA funding of $9.4 million to the Indian River Lagoon鈥檚 National Estuary Program. NOAA is funding 32 projects nationwide.

鈥淩estoration efforts require funding and are vital for our communities 鈥� we are grateful for the continued support of NOAA and the National Estuary Program for our coastal restoration work in Mosquito Lagoon,鈥� Walters says.

CEELAB鈥檚 work connects 麻豆原创 biology students with firsthand experience, putting classroom learning into practice.

鈥淭hrough this grant, we鈥檙e providing opportunities for many students to gain field experience 鈥� from planting mangroves to conducting innovative ecosystem research 鈥� that has the mutual benefit of restoring vital habitats in Florida,鈥� Walters says. 鈥淎 lot of the graduate students whose work is funded through awards like this go on to become our coastal restoration leaders at the state or federal level.鈥�

More than 70,000 volunteers 鈥� including 麻豆原创 students, faculty, staff and community members 鈥� have contributed to the CEELAB鈥檚 coastal restoration work since 2007.

鈥淲e are all working together to restore a truly magical place 鈥� a place that鈥檚 home to birds, fish, mangrove islands, manatees, dolphins and everything that makes Florida special,鈥� Walters says.

However, an environmentally friendly solution may emerge within the next decade with the help of a 麻豆原创 researcher.

Engineering Professor Subith Vasu is working with commercial truck manufacturer PACCAR, owner of the Peterbilt and Kenworth brands, to create a hydrogen-based combustion engine for heavy-duty vehicles. The project is funded through a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and is the agency’s first effort to develop hydrogen combustion engines for commercial trucks.

鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate to be part of this project,鈥� Vasu says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very prestigious effort for 麻豆原创, to be part of this project that鈥檚 highly relevant in the decarbonization of transportation efforts around the globe. It will also be a great opportunity for students to get involved with an industry-funded project.鈥�

The Demand for Hydrogen

For decades, diesel has been the fuel of choice for large commercial vehicles. But in recent years, the government has pushed for a cleaner alternative. In 2021, President Biden appropriated $62 billion to the DoE, including $9.5 billion for clean hydrogen solutions as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. Over this past year, the Environmental Protection Agency also tightened its NOx emissions standards for heavy-duty commercial vehicles beginning with 2027 model year equipment.

While Tesla has developed a semi-truck that runs on electric motors, Vasu says there are some limits to the weight it holds and the distance it can travel.

鈥淭esla is developing electric supercars and semi-trucks, but there are limits to the batteries,鈥� Vasu says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e fine for driving down to the nearest town but driving from Seattle to Miami, you need significant battery power, also you don鈥檛 have time to wait until it is fully charged since most of these freightliners are under time pressure.鈥�

Building a Better Engine

Hydrogen can solve the problem of a longer-lasting battery, but PACCAR currently has more questions than answers. How will hydrogen behave in the extreme temperature and pressure of an engine? Under what conditions will it ignite? Alternatively, what conditions will prevent ignition?

Vasu and his team of researchers will find these answers through experiments run in their state-of-the-art shock tube. The data collected will be used to create computational models to share with PACCAR.

Vasu received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2012. He is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Vasu is a recipient of DARPA鈥檚 Director鈥檚 Fellowship, DARPA Young Faculty Award, the Young Investigator grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, American Chemical Society鈥檚 Doctoral New Investigator, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Dilip Ballal Early Career award, and the Society of Automotive Engineers SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational award. He has received many of the highest honors at 麻豆原创, including the 麻豆原创 Luminary and Reach for the Stars awards.

麻豆原创 and the Corridor launched the program to advance technology commercialization by strengthening the relationship between academic research and its real-world applications. The Industry Innovation Program provides critical funding for research led by expert faculty and students, addresses specific business challenges presented by an industry partner and encourages startups to translate technology in support of the industry partner鈥檚 economic development goals.

Duke Energy, a Fortune 150 company serving 8.4 million customers in six states, is the Industry Innovation Program鈥檚 first corporate sponsor providing $250,000 to facilitate research activities that will help to achieve its clean energy transition goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Duke Energy is seeking to advance research in Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) systems and carbon-efficient electricity generation. In a 2-to-1 match, The Florida High Tech Corridor committed another $125,000, bringing the total available funds for sponsored research to $375,000. Additional program funding through the college, department or 麻豆原创 Office of Research may also be provided to each project.

The Industry Innovation Program will enhance economic development through technological research and commercialization, build relationships between research faculty and businesses with a presence in The Corridor鈥檚 23-county region and promote workforce development by requiring student involvement. Upon the conclusion of each research project, industry partners may continue collaborating with researchers to investigate their topics further and eventually purchase or license the technology. Researchers may also spin off startups.

鈥淒uke Energy Florida has prioritized energy efficiency and grid resiliency to meet the needs of its customers today and better Florida鈥檚 infrastructure for the future. This collaboration is a meaningful way to advance research and propel commercialization conversations to meet these goals,鈥� says Melissa Seixas, state president of Duke Energy Florida. 鈥淲e look forward to seeing the outcome of these research projects and the innovative solutions they may bring to this industry.鈥�

Through a competitive process, including white paper reviews by university experts and Duke Energy technology specialists, the Industry Innovation Program selected five research teams to receive its inaugural awards:

• Like Li, Associate Professor
  Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research
  Project: Electrically Heated Thermochemical Energy Storage for Long-Duration Storage and Grid Decarbonization
  This project aims to develop a low-cost, zero-emission, solid-state fuel that enables energy storage for short or long periods. The environmentally sound fuel could be stored until needed to provide low-cost, high-temperature heat for the power block. The goal is to develop this technology for commercial use, helping to support clean energy and improve the reliability of the power grid.

• Manjunath Matam, Assistant Professor
  Florida Solar Energy Center
  Project: A Novel MAZE Connection Technique for Optimal Performance Floating Solar PV System
  Floating solar panel systems, which generate renewable energy on water, often lose efficiency due to dirt buildup. To address this issue, the team is testing a new wiring technique called the “MAZE connection” that improves performance under these conditions, making the systems more reliable and financially sustainable.

• Wei Sun, Associate Professor
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  Project: LESS-FUEL: Long-duration Energy Storage Systems for Florida Utilities toward Emission eLimination
  This research evaluates LDES systems to strengthen Florida鈥檚 power grid by storing energy for over 100 hours, ensuring reliability and resilience during demand fluctuations and extreme weather events. By assessing the viability of different LDES technologies, it aims to provide utilities with the tools to integrate these systems, supporting Florida’s transition to 100% renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

• Yifan Wang, Assistant Professor
  Florida Solar Energy Center
  Project: Optimal Design and Integration of Hydrogen Energy System with Solar and Peaker Plants
  To support a clean energy transition and reduce emissions, this project will explore integrating hydrogen energy storage with solar power and peaker plants, a type of power station that operates primarily during times of peak electricity demand. By using solar-powered electrolysis to produce green hydrogen, the system would provide long-duration energy storage and dispatchable power, helping to balance grid fluctuations. This project also will develop a dynamic model and an optimization framework to identify cost-effective strategies for designing and operating this type of integrated system.

• Marcel Otto, Assistant Professor
  Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research
  Project: Long-duration Thermal Energy Storage with Ultra-efficient Molten Salt and Ceramic Particles to sCO2 Heat Transfer
  This project is creating a system that stores excess electricity as heat using molten salt and ceramic materials, which can later be turned back into electricity when needed. It uses supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) to improve efficiency and reduce costs compared to traditional methods. This technology could make the power grid more stable and reliable by storing energy for hours or even days, which is especially helpful in places like Florida that rely on renewable energy. With this advancement, clean, renewable solar energy can be available even when the sun does not shine.

鈥淎t The Corridor, we like to say that 鈥榯ech for tech鈥檚 sake misses the point.鈥� Our strategic focus is on technology and research development for the betterment of our regional community, and this new program allows us to do exactly that,鈥� says Paul Sohl, CEO of The Corridor. 鈥淭he Industry Innovation Program is an exciting step forward, bringing the expertise of our 麻豆原创 researchers together with industry partners who are addressing some of the greatest challenges facing our region, our nation and the world. It is a powerful combination.鈥�

麻豆原创鈥檚 Vice President for Research and Innovation Winston Schoenfeld says the partnership and the projects it supports are examples of the many ways the university鈥檚 research capabilities can create lasting, far-reaching impact.

鈥溌槎乖� is honored to collaborate with the Florida High Tech Corridor and Duke Energy to provide this invaluable opportunity to our innovative faculty and student researchers,鈥� Schoenfeld says. 鈥淧artnering with industry leaders to solve real-world challenges not only ensures 麻豆原创 research leads to advancements that have societal impact, but also promotes an educational ecosystem that provides practical training and skill sets to best prepare students for the workforce.鈥�

Fang, who is an assistant professor in within the College of Sciences, is using the CAREER award to study the precise movement of electrons induced by light and to help educate others in her field.

Yao is an assistant professor in within the College of Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the Cyber Security and Privacy faculty cluster. He鈥檒l use his CAREER award to identify lapses in computer processing security at the micro level and find ways to defend against them.

The annual award supports an estimated 500 early-career STEM faculty from either institutes of higher education or academic nonprofit organizations who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

Through their NSF CAREER awards, both Fang and Yao are continuing to build upon their research and contribute to key components of their respective fields.

Capturing Energy in a Fraction of a Second

Li Fang
Department of Physics
Title: Photo-induced Ultrafast Electron-nuclear Dynamics in Molecules
Award: $813,981 over five years

Li Fang is examining some of the smallest components of matter in some of the shortest amounts of time.

She studies how electrons move after their initial absorption of photo-energy as they attempt to interact, break or form a bond with other molecular components. The purpose of examining these molecular dynamics is crucial in better understanding physics and energy, Fang says.

鈥淭he dynamics of these charged particles will provide fundamental knowledge about energy absorption, dissipation and rearrangement in building blocks of materials and therefore is relevant to energy storage and harvest,鈥� Fang says. 鈥淲e implement spectroscopic tools to track the extremely fast motion of these charges. An electron鈥檚 motion is the first step in all chemical and photo reactions and ions are the subjects of chemical bonds that exist basically in all materials.鈥�

Fang measures these movements in attoseconds and femtoseconds, which are one billion billionths of a second and one million billionths of a second, respectively.

Attoseconds are the natural time scale for electrons moving inside an atom while femtoseconds are the natural time scale for measuring nuclei moving within a molecule.

Fang鈥檚 NSF CAREER project will help her further uncover and measure how light can instigate changes at the molecular level and then share her research with the greater scientific community.

鈥淭he goal is to understand the ultrafast electron motion induced by intense laser beams and its correlation with the motion of the nuclei in a molecule,鈥� she says. 鈥淎n equally important part of my NSF CAREER award is the educational subproject, the goal of which is to introduce my research field 鈥榰ltrafast science鈥� to a broader audience through media and local events.鈥�

Fang came to 麻豆原创 in 2020 from the Ohio State University.

Since arriving, she has garnered significant funding and support for her projects. In 2020, Fang was one of 76 recipients 鈥� and the only recipient from Florida 鈥� to be awarded an early career research program grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

She also was instrumental in securing NSF funding of nearly $2 million for a powerful laser in 2021, aiming to build a user facility at 麻豆原创 to continue studying electrons and molecular bonds using precise measurements in attoseconds.

Fang says it was extremely gratifying to earn her NSF CAREER award, and it represents a culmination of her previous scientific endeavors.

鈥淚t definitely fit into my career and will help me fulfill my goals as a researcher and an educator,鈥� she says.

Fang is thankful for the assistance of her peers and collaborators in cultivating her studies and developing her NSF CAREER proposal.

鈥淭he NSF CAREER program at 麻豆原创 organized by Saiful Khondaker is very helpful with improving the writing of the educational subproject, which is crucial to the NSF CAREER project,鈥� she says.

麻豆原创 has provided Fang with the opportunity to excel in her research, and she anticipates many more impactful discoveries to come.

鈥淚 am looking forward to carrying out real scientific experiments and discovering new findings with the state-of-the-art lasers and the spectroscopy systems we have,鈥� Fang says. 鈥淕etting a prestigious CAREER award is just the start.鈥�

Fan Yao
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Title: Understanding and Ensuring Secure-by-design Microarchitecture in Modern Era of Computing
Award: $556,875

Effective computer system security requires searching high and low within its infrastructure to address vulnerabilities that could be overlooked and exploited.

Fan Yao has dedicated his research to thoroughly poring through potential weaknesses within the architectural and microarchitectural designs of computing and memory units to see how they can be safeguarded against malicious hacks and data breaches.

鈥淚n today’s interconnected digital landscape, we depend on computing devices to store and process our sensitive and personal data,鈥� he says. 鈥淕iven that hardware forms the foundational bedrock of all computing systems, its security is paramount. A computer with compromised hardware security is akin to a skyscraper built on shaky ground.鈥�

Specifically, Yao is using his NSF CAREER project to examine computer processors and analyze side channel leakage, which is compromised access to information or infrastructure through indirect means.

鈥淭hrough the automation of microarchitectural security analysis, we aim to uncover hidden hardware-level states prone to leakage, as well as to develop software-level patterns that can exploit these vulnerabilities to quantify their leakage potential,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ubsequently, the project will focus on designing robust defense strategies to prevent microarchitectural information leakage, thereby ensuring stronger protection for future generations of processors.鈥�

The awarded funds will continue to catalyze Yao鈥檚 research and allow him to further challenge the limits of computer security. He is hopeful that the results will serve as an educational cornerstone to both aspiring students and his peers, he says.

鈥淭his grant allows us to explore innovative security solutions more deeply and to train the next generation of researchers in this critical field,鈥� Yao says. 聽鈥淭his award fits perfectly into my career goals, as it enables me to establish a sustainable research program that can make meaningful contributions to both academia and industry.鈥�

Yao arrived at 麻豆原创 in the fall of 2018 after receiving his doctoral degree in computer engineering from the George Washington University.

The support and mentorship from 麻豆原创鈥檚 academic community and administration at 麻豆原创 has been crucial to helping him achieve his research aspirations, he says.

鈥溌槎乖� has been extremely supportive in junior faculty career development,鈥� Yao says. 鈥淢any of the preliminary results for this project were achieved through experiments facilitated by this support. I am also profoundly grateful for the comprehensive assistance received during the development of this proposal. This includes invaluable guidance from the 麻豆原创 CAREER mentoring program and the insightful feedback on my proposal provided by senior faculty members in our department.鈥�

Yao is proud to have been awarded an NSF CAREER grant, and says he is excited to further his research.

鈥淩eceiving the NSF CAREER grant is an incredible honor and a pivotal moment in my career,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t not only validates the importance and potential impact of our work on microarchitecture security, but also provides a substantial platform to expand our research efforts.鈥�

The metallization process produces the metal contacts that are placed on the surface of silicon solar cells to harvest electrical currents. Silver is typically used to manufacture the contacts due to its ability to withstand high temperatures without oxidizing, but it鈥檚 very expensive to use.

鈥淪ilver constitutes some of the highest costs to producing photovoltaic cells, and the photovoltaics industry is expected to consume 20% of the annual global silver supply by 2027,鈥� says Kristopher Davis, the project鈥檚 principal investigator and a 麻豆原创 associate professor of . 鈥淐opper is less expensive and also has a low electrical resistivity and is therefore a great potential alternative metal, but it has many challenges.鈥�

One of those challenges is the fact that copper can oxidize in high temperatures, negatively impacting its conductivity. To solve this problem, the researchers will use lasers to heat the copper nanoparticles and reduce the possibility of oxidation.

鈥淭his approach has the potential to increase the efficiency of heterojunction solar cells and dramatically reduce their manufacturing costs,鈥� Davis says. 鈥淭his will hopefully help accelerate the adoption of solar energy by lowering the cost barriers that exist for some consumers.鈥�

麻豆原创 researchers on the team also include Aravinda Kar, a professor in and Ranganathan Kumar, a professor of and the associate dean of research and administration for the .

The 麻豆原创 team will collaborate with their counterparts at the Institute of Energy Conversion, led by research scientist Ujjwal Das.

The project is one of 19 selected for funding from President Biden鈥檚 Investing in America agenda, and one of eight projects that aim to reduce costs and increase efficiency of panel recycling processes through Biden鈥檚 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

About the Researchers

Davis joined 麻豆原创 in 2017 as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering. He is a three-time graduate of 麻豆原创, having earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in optics and photonics and his B.S. in electrical engineering. He has joint appointments with the College of Optics and Photonics and the and is a member of the Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) faculty cluster initiative.

Kumar joined 麻豆原创 in 2003 as the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and now serves as the associate dean for research and administration for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, and his research has been funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Kar is a professor in CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research areas include laser-assisted manufacturing and materials processing as well as the design and processing of semiconductor materials and photovoltaic cells. He has won several awards, including the Arthur L. Schawlow Award from the Laser Institute of America (LIA). He is a fellow of LIA, as well as the National Academy of Inventors.

Neighborhoods throughout Orlando could easily find themselves without power, internet and mobility after significant weather events. Effective local response requires a mobile, self-sustaining solution to provide residents with services ranging from device charging and air-conditioned space to laundry to food distribution and even ice for food preservation. Even more, could such a solution also provide educational resources for residents to prepare for future emergencies more effectively?

Kelly Stevens, assistant professor of public administration and the project鈥檚 principal investigator, has been working with fellow 麻豆原创 researchers to bring this vision to life. Together with the City of Orlando and other community leaders, the team has spent the past year conceptualizing what an effective Resilience, Education, and Advocacy Center for Hazard Preparedness (REACH) hub would look like.

Now, they鈥檙e ready to put their ideas into action.

The team recently received approval and funding for the project鈥檚 second phase from the National Science Foundation鈥檚 CIVIC program, which involved presenting the findings from the project鈥檚 first phase and successfully demonstrating its feasibility.

Stevens serves on the REACH project team with Yue 鈥淕urt鈥� Ge, public administration associate professor, L. Trenton S. Marsh, urban education assistant professor, Liqiang Wang, computer science professor, and Zhihua Qu, electrical and computer engineering professor, who serve as co-principal investigators. Senior personnel on the project include Maritza Concha, nonprofit management lecturer; Christopher Emrich, emergency management professor; and Kristopher Davis, associate professor of materials science and engineering.

鈥淲e are extremely happy with the success of Phase I,鈥� Stevens says. 鈥淲e had over 300 responses from residents to the community survey we built with our partners, which informed our design process in a way that allowed us to really co-design these hubs with and for the community.鈥�

Stevens says feedback from the community was critical because residents鈥� responses provided insight into potential resources and amenities for the hub beyond the original concept 鈥� from an onboard ice maker to finding a more efficient way to distribute water than simply having water bottles onboard.

The architectural design produced by the team is critical to Phase II of the project, the principal goal of which is to build and test a prototype REACH hub in the communities where it will ultimately be used.

The hub is designed as a trailer chassis-based mobile unit that can be easily deployed in neighborhoods without power or service access. The unit will contain a slew of appliances and usable services for residents to charge their devices, cool off, access the internet and more. The key to the hub is its self-sustaining power, principally supplied through solar panels and supplemented by a conventional generator when under heavy load.

鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e working to select vendors that will construct the hub and everything on it,鈥� Stevens says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for someone who can build the hub itself, design the electrical and solar components, install the appliances, and ultimately provide us with a fully realized and working hub.鈥�

Stevens also notes the hub itself is only half the battle. Critical to the project鈥檚 value in the community is its educational component, designed to provide affected residents with necessary information about disaster preparedness and recovery before and after a disaster.

鈥淥ur 鈥榖lue skies鈥� curriculum will consist of community-driven, interactive and immersive STEM education learning stations,鈥� says Marsh, who serves as the project鈥檚 education lead. 鈥淲e want to build the programming around what residents recognize; the landmarks they view as signs of strength and resiliency, as well as areas they feel are more vulnerable or susceptible to inclement weather.鈥�

The hubs will also host just-in-time preparedness content for residents to assist with preparation and decision-making ahead of a potential emergency. Evacuation plans and food preparation, Marsh says, are plans the team hopes to focus content on.

Ideally, the team hopes to leverage emerging augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies in developing educational programming to provide residents with in-depth, immersive experiences. The 麻豆原创-led HazardAware project also collects data that can provide individual address-based natural hazard and home resilience information tailored to residents鈥� specific homes.

鈥淲e hope that we鈥檒l be able to further leverage our resources at 麻豆原创 to accomplish these goals with virtual and augmented reality programming, specifically through a potential partnership with the university鈥檚 ,鈥� Marsh says.

Once the prototype hub has been built and the educational programming completed, the team will run extensive tests and experiments on the hub鈥檚 appliances and power systems to ensure its viability in real-world scenarios. After that, testing will move into the community 鈥� where Stevens says the team will really get a sense of how the hub will work.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to implement four test deployments in local neighborhoods 鈥� three during 鈥榖lue skies鈥� and one after an actual emergency,鈥� Stevens says. 鈥淲e want to see how people actually interact with the hub 鈥� what they鈥檙e interested in, what parts are functional and even what parts aren鈥檛 super functional.鈥�

The final step, once testing is completed, is to hand off ownership of the hub to the city of Orlando. The city will be responsible for the deployment, maintenance and future development of the project. Michael Hess, director of the City of Orlando鈥檚 Future Ready program, and Ian Lahiff, an energy project manager with the city, serve as senior personnel on the project.

鈥淭he city has been our core partner from Day One, so we know they鈥檙e in this for the long haul,鈥� Stevens says. 鈥淥ur team is confident they will be good stewards of the project and its impact on the community.鈥�

The ultimate goal, Stevens says, is to produce an effective and efficient means of increasing resilience in the community.

鈥淲hen we can show our community that 麻豆原创 is leveraging its expertise and resources to produce technology 鈥� in a quick timeframe and at a very local scale 鈥� that can actually be used in the community, that鈥檚 the real impact,鈥� she says.

Researcher Credentials

Stevens received her doctorate in public administration from Syracuse University and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 School of Public Administration, part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Community Innovation and Education, in 2017.聽She is a member of聽麻豆原创鈥檚 Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Cluster听补苍诲听

Ge joined 麻豆原创 in 2018 and serves as co-lead of the Urban Resilience Initiative based at 麻豆原创 Downtown. He has also served on the RISES faculty research cluster since 2021. He holds a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.

Marsh earned his doctorate in teaching and learning with a concentration in urban education from New York University and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Community Innovation and Education in 2019 after a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan 鈥� Ann Arbor.

Qu arrived at 麻豆原创 in 1990 after earning a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently the Thomas J. Riordan and Herbert C. Towle Chair of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, he is also the founding director of both RISES 鈥� a university research center on energy systems 鈥� and the multi-institutional聽听(贵贰贰顿贰搁).

Wang earned his doctorate in computer science from Stony Brook University in 2006 and joined the 麻豆原创聽Department of Computer Science聽in 2015.

A total of 18 projects received Phase I funding across 15 universities. 麻豆原创 received the most awards, with all three housed within the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Dean Michael Georgiopoulos says this speaks to the quality of research produced by CECS faculty.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud to see that three of our research teams have been recognized by NASA for their innovative ideas that can shape the future of air travel and space flight,鈥� Georgiopoulos says. 鈥淥ur college has built a rich history with NASA and this award further solidifies the partnership between our respective researchers.鈥�

All Phase I award recipients will be eligible to compete for Phase II funding and University Leadership Initiatives and Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grants. Learn more about the projects below.

Project Title: Multimodal Wireless Piezoelectric Microsensors

Award Amount: $50,000

Researchers: Reza Abdolvand and Hakhamanesh Mansoorzare ’21PhD

The third time was the charm for the Artemis I launch. After two unsuccessful launch attempts due to dangerously high engine temperatures, a crack in the fuel tank insulation and multiple fuel leaks, the rocket finally soared into orbit off the Space Coast.

To prevent these issues from delaying future Artemis missions or other NASA space explorations, a team of 麻豆原创 researchers is developing a wireless multimodal sensor module that can monitor conditions such as temperature, pressure, acceleration and airflow in real time.

The module, less than a cubic centimeter, will include multiple microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators that will measure those conditions. MEMS resonators are often used for motion sensing, time referencing and signal filtering in electronic devices but show promise in the aerospace engineering field due to their light weight, highly accurate readouts and cost-effective manufacturing.

Although the sensors will be roughly the size of a pencil eraser, they will be able to withstand extreme temperatures since there is no battery or electronics in the device. This will be the first wireless multimodal sensor of its kind.

鈥淧iezoelectric MEMS resonators can detect change in environmental parameters without the need for any auxiliary power source such as battery as they could be powered wirelessly by a remote transceiver unit,鈥� says Reza Abdolvand, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. 鈥淭his will create a unique opportunity for development of compact and battery-less sensing units that could withstand a harsh environment.鈥�

Once manufactured, the sensing system can be used across various NASA missions to detect dangerous temperatures in critical spacecraft components, monitor the pressure in fuel tanks to prevent leaks, measure the temperature and pressure of lunar regolith, and assess the climate conditions for takeoff.

Project Title: SUPERSAF-SAF for Low Emission Supersonic Transport

Award Amount: $50,000

Researchers: Subith Vasu, Justin Urso, Ramees Khaleel Rahman, Gihun Kim

Supersonic commercial aircraft may be able to fly faster than the speed of sound and reduce the time for transatlantic journeys considerably, but their ultra-fast flights powered by fossil fuels could have a harmful effect on the environment. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Subith Vasu and his team of postdoctoral scholars aim to protect the environment by studying the emissions of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), a greener alternative made from sustainable resources such as wood residues, fatty acids, fermented sugars and processed alcohols.

Several government agencies have started to test these fuels for emissions.

The team in the Vasu Lab will conduct shock tube experiments to test the NOx and soot emissions of several different SAFs. That data will be used to improve the aviation industry鈥檚 and NASA鈥檚 current chemical kinetic models that can predict the soot and NOx output of various SAFs in flight conditions.

鈥淭he data we collect could significantly improve the current chemical kinetic model and advance the production of combustors for supersonic flights,鈥� Vasu says.

The research is timely, given NASA recently awarded contracts to both Boeing and Northrop Grumman to develop technology roadmaps and concept vehicles for supersonic aircraft. Vasu plans to work with industry partners on this research and to seek additional funding from NASA beyond the MPLAN grant.

Project Title: A CNS Digital Twin Framework for AAM

Award Amount: $50,000

Researcher: Adan Vela

Airplanes and helicopters are often spotted in the sky, but in the future, cargo-loaded drones and passenger-carrying air taxis might become a common sight. Through NASA鈥檚 Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) mission, the organization aims to create a safe and accessible aerial transportation system that can send cargo or people to hard-to-reach areas or even tourist destinations.

However, before AAM can take flight, engineers must address fundamental challenges of the communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) system that supports control, command and collision of these vehicles, as they could face challenges from the low altitude at which they fly or the lack of a human pilot. Buildings or terrain could distort or delay important CNS signals such as GPS or 5G.

To better understand this problem, Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Assistant Professor Adan Vela will develop the CNS-AAM simulation engine, a digital twin framework that mimics the CNS system that the AAM would require. With the aid of computer science students, Vela will create the simulation engine in Python. The resulting framework will allow NASA, the FAA and researchers around the world to digitally develop and test new artificial intelligence algorithms that manage aircraft and CNS technologies, including cybersecurity measures that could protect UAVs from malicious attacks.

If you鈥檙e an engineering student interested in working on this project, contact Associate Professor Adan Vela at adan.vela@ucf.edu.

Ethanol fuel cells offer cleaner emissions than fossil fuels and no charging times compared to electric vehicle batteries.

In recent studies published in the journals and Joule, 麻豆原创 Associate Professor Yang Yang and his team developed new catalysts to make direct ethanol fuel cells last longer and boost their power density to a record level.

Biomass-derived ethanol has been widely used in many industries, including as a liquid biofuel. However, the ethanol must go through a conversion process to become usable fuel and can only be indirectly converted to energy by blending with gasoline to achieve an acceptable conversion efficiency.

Direct ethanol fuel cells, unlike the traditional ways to use ethanol, allow for ethanol to be directly poured in and used for fuel that can be directly converted into electricity at high efficiency. The alcohol-based power source could be used to power vehicles and create nearly noise-less electric power generators, which could benefit both defense and residential usage.

The greater power density of the direct ethanol fuel cells developed in Yang鈥檚 lab means more power can be delivered using less space, which is key for practical applications like in vehicles where compact and low-weight power sources lead to more efficient travel.

鈥淥ur research enables direct ethanol fuel cells to compete with hydrogen-fuel cells and batteries in various sustainable energy fields, which have not yet been achieved before our invention,鈥� Yang says.聽鈥淓thanol is a clean and safe biofuel in the liquid phase, which is much easier and safer for storage and transport than pure hydrogen. Compared to the technology to extract hydrogen from ethanol and then convert hydrogen to electricity, our technology can directly convert ethanol into electricity, so it is an overall positive energy balance and negative emission technology.鈥�

About the Studies

Nature Communications

In this work, the researchers developed a new materials design principle based on the synergistic interface effect in which the combination of different materials leads to enhanced performance beyond the individual components.

For the design, the researchers used active palladium nanoparticles semi-embedded into graphitic shells, which were covered on the surface of cobalt nanoparticles, forming a unique palladium and cobalt nitrogen-graphite carbon structure.

When tested as both a positive electrode (cathode) and negative electrode (anode) catalyst, the structure delivered increased power density and stable operation for more than 1,000 hours, far exceeding current, commercial palladium carbon and other state-of-the-art catalysts, Yang says.

Joule

In this study, the researchers achieved a power density of almost 0.8 watts per square centimeter using a new high-entropy alloy catalyst they designed, setting a new performance record.

The catalyst can be used for both the cathode and anode to overcome challenges with sluggish reactions and high energy needs.

鈥淭he results really break the record by enhancing the fuel cell performance by a few folds compared to commercial catalysts,鈥� Yang says.

Next Steps

Yang says the research team is working to further improve the power density of the direct ethanol fuel cells by optimizing the composition of the catalysts and is also exploring ways to commercialize the technology.

Researcher Credentials

Yang holds joint appointments in 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and the聽, which is part of the university鈥檚聽College of Engineering and Computer Science. He is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT) Cluster. He also holds a secondary joint-appointment in 麻豆原创鈥檚聽 and . Before joining 麻豆原创 in 2015, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. He received his doctorate in materials science from Tsinghua University in China.

鈥淢y goal is to model floating offshore wind turbines and use the model to explore design improvements while concurrently investigating new ideas for control and sensing, a concept that is termed Control Co-Design,鈥� says Tuhin Das, the project鈥檚 principal investigator and a professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

He is working to build a software that simulates effects of external phenomena, such as waves crashing and changing winds, on the floating platform and the turbine system.

Floating offshore wind turbines are designed to diversify the repertoire of energy resources available in the U.S. and help increase the contribution of renewable energy to power grids as energy demands are steadily increasing.

Das began the work in 2020 with phase one of the project. His initial funding was $772,000. The researcher鈥檚 project recently received a boost with a new $3.3 million grant from ARPA-E to continue the research in phase two for the next three years.

鈥淚n phase one, our job was to show the kind of benefits we can bring to the modeling and simulation sector,鈥� Das says. 鈥淲e showed that our results were at par with industry-accepted models and experimental data.鈥�

Das鈥� software platform will become a product that can be hosted on a university web page and be licensed or commercialized, he says.

鈥淲e want this product to be mature enough so that at the end of the next three years, researchers from the industry and academia would be able to use this for advancing research in wind turbines,鈥� Das says.

To date, very few floating offshore wind-turbine farms are in operation, with the first one located off the coast of Scotland.

Das says he hopes that renewable energy companies can use his software to develop their own technology innovations and create more offshore wind turbines.

The research was proposed in 2019 to develop a simulation software that facilitates concurrent design and control of floating offshore wind turbines, ultimately leading to a wider adoption of this technology.

Das says, since then, the software, which uses acausal modeling as the foundational principle, has had rapid growth and has matured in its predictive capability.

鈥淎causal modeling takes a declarative approach to modeling governing equations, rather than the conventional approach of using assignment statements,鈥� Das says. 鈥淗ere, the causality is unspecified and determined only during simulation.鈥�

He says the approach is well-suited for modeling physical systems since the resulting models represent the physical structure of the modeled system closely.

鈥淚t leads to better reusability of models as compared to those containing assignment statements,鈥� Das says.

A feature of acausal modeling is bidirectional data flow between the ports of connected component models, he says.

In phase one, Das collaborated with researchers at the University of Maine who have been generating experimental data for the project and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory who have collaborated in validating the software.

Das’ team at 麻豆原创 currently consists of multiple 麻豆原创 graduate students and one postdoctoral research scholar.

鈥淲e are planning to work extremely hard the next few years, with some increase in student involvement, and by involving professionals that are well versed with software development,鈥� Das says.

Das earned his doctoral and master鈥檚 degrees, both in mechanical engineering, from Michigan State University. He joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, part of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 2011.

The goal of the consortium is to engage in research that supports the NNSA鈥檚 nuclear security and nonproliferation missions while building a next-generation workforce of nuclear scientists, engineers and researchers. The University of Florida leads the group, which is also comprised of seven national laboratories including Sandia, Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge.

鈥淭he role of universities for nuclear forensics research is to innovate and develop some of the most challenging and fundamental aspects of new technology and methods,鈥� says Keith McManus, the university program manager for defense nuclear nonproliferation research and development at NNSA, in a release. 鈥淥nce these basic aspects have been proven at the university level, the Department of Energy鈥檚 national laboratories can fulfill their unique role to perform mission-specific research and development that improves on capabilities for adoption by operational enterprises.鈥�

This is the first NNSA consortium that 麻豆原创 has joined. Two faculty members 鈥� Professor Subith Vasu of the and Assistant Professor Vasileios Anagnostopoulos of the 鈥� lead the charge for the university. They will work with researchers from other universities in the consortium, including Notre Dame, Clemson and Texas A&M, to address gaps and challenges within different aspects of nuclear forensics research.

鈥淎s a member of the consortium, we鈥檒l be conducting research on different aspects of nuclear forensics,鈥� Vasu says. 鈥淔or example, when you have a nuclear detonation, how do the fireballs interact with the materials and what residuals does it leave?鈥�

Other questions the team will seek to answer include how to determine what materials were used in a nuclear weapon after it鈥檚 been detonated, and how to detect a nuclear weapon or materials that may have been smuggled into the country. Vasu says this type of research has renewed relevance due to the war in Ukraine and public interest in whether or not Russia would resort to the use of nuclear weapons.

A separate challenge the NNSA aims to address is the dwindling nuclear forensics workforce. Vasu says that many researchers in this area started their careers in the 1960s and 1970s and are now headed into retirement. Through the consortium, the NNSA can build a pipeline of young professionals who have experience in nuclear forensics.

鈥淪tudents will do research, have internship opportunities, and when they graduate, they can be employed by the NNSA labs,鈥� Vasu says. 鈥淚t builds a pipeline for these labs and it鈥檚 also very prestigious for students to go work at a national laboratory.鈥�

For 麻豆原创, being included in the consortium is an impressive feat. Out of the 16 universities, 麻豆原创 is one of the few without a dedicated nuclear forensics degree program or department. Vasu says this speaks to the strength of 麻豆原创鈥檚 reputation for research.

鈥溌槎乖� has been working in this area for several years now, with research in aerospace, computer science and chemistry that can support our future work in nuclear forensics,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 possible that this work could lead to a nuclear forensics program at 麻豆原创 since we already have the base to create it.鈥�

Vasu joined 麻豆原创 in 2012 as an assistant professor, and prior to that, worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia National Laboratory. He is a member of the at 麻豆原创, is an associate fellow of the American Institute of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the International Energy Agency鈥檚 Task Team on Energy. He has ongoing projects with several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, among others.

Anagnostopoulos joined 麻豆原创 in 2018 as an assistant professor and currently runs the Environmental Radiochemistry Research Group within the Department of Chemistry. His research focuses on the fate and retention-release cycles of contaminants as well as nuclear fuel disposal.