Students

Under a high-stakes, simulated cyberattack and mounting pressure, the UCF Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition (C3) team proved it can defend, adapt and outperform — earning first place at the 2026 Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC). The team rose above nine competitors, including Tennessee Tech University, Clemson University, the University of South Florida and the University…

UCF student programmers are poised to showcase their formidable skills on a world stage after a top five finish at this weekend’s International Collegiate Programming Contest North America Championship (ICPC NAC). Computer science students Brian Barak ’25, Thomas Meeks and Benjamin Prins competed as UCF Triangulate, one of the 52 university teams at the NAC who earned…

The foundation of future medical educational tools may have just been developed at UCF thanks to an interdisciplinary collaboration for student research projects. As part of the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science Fall 2025 Senior Design Showcase, two research projects featured UCF College of Medicine faculty mentorship that resulted in new ways for students and medical professionals to collaborate…

Have you ever examined your home security camera footage to figure out what’s been captured? At some point, you’ve probably questioned what your camera flagged — did it record the shadow of palm tree leaves swaying in the breeze, or a coyote that ran across your front lawn? Akash Kumar has focused his doctoral research…

One of the university’s most dedicated Hack@UCF members will grace the commencement stage this fall, leaving a legacy that will benefit the cybersecurity community for years to come. Jeffrey DiVincent ’23, a security engineer at Amazon’s Seattle office, is poised to become a two-time Knight, having graduated with his bachelor’s degree in computer science two…

UCF computer science major Julia Moras knows firsthand about living with epilepsy. Now, through a new interdisciplinary education and research effort, she’s examining through her undergraduate honors thesis how artificial intelligence (AI) might help fellow patients better predict an epileptic seizure. Moras is part of new UCF research and educational opportunities created by Laura Brattain, a biomedical engineer…

What you need to know: This U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship program is among the most prestigious honors possible for students pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM fields around the U.S. Why this year is significant for UCF: From the 13,000 graduates who applied for the fellowship nationwide, the NSF awarded…

There are times when Dylan Vidal, Leonard Gofman, and Richard Phillips get together and sound like brothers, or at least roommates. They laugh at random comments with the inside knowledge of guys who have done some life together. They finish each other’s stories because they know them so well. They share a passion for technology,…

A new desktop game is turning parasitic wasps into unlikely heroes. Released Sept. 9, on the digital platform Steam, The Crawling Dead introduces players to biology topics and the crucial role of this insect species in controlling pests and benefiting the environment. Led by UCF Professor of Biology Barbara Sharanowski and developed by computer science undergraduate students, the new game blends research with…

Two computer science students earned an opportunity to broaden their horizons by studying abroad, learning new languages and immersing themselves in different cultures, to prepare for careers in public service. Caroline Krieg and Quianna Numa received the Boren Scholarship, an award given to undergraduates who excel academically and are committed to serving in the federal…

A student engineering project that began with using artificial intelligence (AI) to track cafeteria forks transformed into a system that will help Orlando Health surgeons perform robotic surgeries more efficiently. Laura Brattain, a UCF biomedical engineer, mentored six College of Engineering and Computer Science seniors, who developed the AIMS (AI for Medical Surgery) system that keeps track of…

On a campus that boasts more than 1,400 acres, finding your way from one end of campus to another in the shortest amount of time is essential. Computer science student Luke Dederich realized this as he tried to determine the fastest way to walk from his dorm to class. Would cutting through the parking lot…

UCF students are headed to the most elite programming competition, the World Finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest, for the 13th time in 14 years. They placed in the top 10 in the North America Championship (NAC), which UCF hosted Memorial Day weekend. Mechanical engineering master’s student Tyler Marks ’24, mathematical sciences master’s student Andy Phan ’21…

Student software developers hacked their way to multiple accolades at Bitcamp XI, held this spring at the University of Maryland. Twenty-five members of Knight Hacks took part in the hackathon, where more than 1,000 participants brought their ideas to fruition in a 36-hour development marathon fueled by creativity, very little sleep and sheer drive to…

A doctoral student dedicated to creating authentic experiences in virtual reality (VR) has earned a Best Paper Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI), held in Yokohama, Japan. The distinction was awarded to the top 1% of paper submissions. Jake Belga ’20 ‘23MS, a fifth-year…