Monthly Archives April 2015

Jack’s work in microwave propulsion

Congratulations to Jack – a Hagerty high school senior mentored by Imad – for earning a number of awards at the regional and state level for his work in microwave propulsion. Jack has been investigating the underlying physical theories of microwave propulsion, in order to produce a more efficient and more powerful propulsion simulation and device.

At the Seminole County Regional Science, Math, and Engineering Fair, Jack won first place in Physics and Astronomy, as well as two special awards from the US Air Force, and Crooms Academy.

With his success at the regional science fair, Jack progressed to the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair, where he earned the Grand Prize/Best in Show award and First Place in Physics and Astronomy. He was also awarded two special awards from the US Air Force and NASA at the state level, and has been nominated to progress to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), where he will compete with the top 1,700 students in the world.

Graduate student Alex Bullock demonstrates tensile testing with in-situ piezospectroscopic mapping

Graduate students Stephen Sofronsky and Alex Bullock, as well as undergraduate students Hunter Williams, Ryan Hoover, and Alex Selimov, led a demonstration for UCF’s Solid Mechanics class.

The student visitors had the chance to explore tensile testing of materials with advanced-sensing coatings, as well as compression testing of nano-composites in conjunction with in-situ piezospectroscopic mapping.

Imad Hanhan, a graduating senior who has earned an NSF graduate research fellowship.

Congratulations to Imad for winning a National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellowship. The NSF graduate research fellowship program (GRFP) is highly competitive and recognizes outstanding students’ potential “for significant achievement in science and engineering.” Nationwide, more than 16,000 students applied, and 2,000 were selected.

Imad joined the research team in the summer of 2013, and has been highly active in undergraduate research through the UCF Research and Mentoring Program (RAMP) and the NSF Innovation through Institutionalized Integration (ICubed) fellowship. Imad has also completed an Honors in the Major thesis, and will be graduating in May 2015 with honors. While researching advanced composites and stress sensing, Imad has traveled and conducted research at the Canadian Light Source, as well as Purdue University. As an undergraduate, he has also published a number of conference papers and a journal paper, and was awarded best research poster at MAE Research Day 2014, top research talk at Purdue’s Summer Research Symposium 2014, and honorable mention at UCF undergraduate research showcase 2015.

After graduating, Imad will be pursing his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University.

Order of Pegasus is the most prestigious and significant award a student can attain at the University of Central Florida. Order of Pegasus recognizes exemplary performance by UCF students in the areas of academic achievement, outstanding university involvement, leadership, and community service. Albert was one of 19 students inducted to the prestigious Order of Pegasus Class of 2015. See the news article here.