May 2025 | Amy Keller
The University of Central Florida was born in 1963 out of a vision that it would fuel the talent and technology needs of the nation’s growing space program.
Six-plus decades later, the school is still delivering on that mission and aims to propel it to new heights as a key leader of the new Florida University Space Research Consortium. Announced last November, the consortium creates a partnership between UCF, the University of Florida and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for collaboration on projects with NASA and Florida’s private sector.
Winston Schoenfeld, UCF’s vice president for research and innovation, says the consortium is a “game changer” that aligns university talent with the needs of the rapidly growing space sector here in Florida and across the nation. “As we look to send astronauts to Mars and explore deeper in space, there really are major technical challenges that will truly require strongly innovative interdisciplinary approaches to be able to solve,” he says.
A technical working group of individuals from the three universities has already had several meetings to date, not just with each other, but also with NASA representatives. Those meetings included a January event at Kennedy Space Center where researchers were able to learn more about NASA’s interests and current work and tour some of the space center’s facilities.
“The initial focus has been on really creating a stronger awareness and connectivity across the consortium,” Schoenfeld says. “A lot of this is looking at how do we set up future workshops and meetings that really will allow us to continue to collaborate together in an effective way and really propel the future of our state’s space industry.”
What might that collaboration look like? Schoenfeld envisions scientists at partner schools one day working together to build shelters on the moon or Mars using moon or Martian dirt, or regolith. [See “Spotlight on ‘SpaceU,’” page 52].
“In this example, you need materials scientists and planetary geologists to address regolith sintering, 3D printing, radiation shielding and lunar dust mitigation,” he says. “It also requires structural and civil engineering experts that provide solutions for autonomous construction, structural design and thermal regulation.” Others might work on the design of habitat and life support systems, as well as mission logistics, transport and deployment.
He says the “next generation of space engineers must be trained so that the cross-disciplinary workforce is ready to bring space-based construction from concept to reality.”
Other schools are eager to get involved. Jeanette Nuñez, the interim president of Florida International University and chair of the Space Florida Board of Directors, says FIU will seek to join the consortium “in the near future.” With the global space economy projected to become a trillion-dollar industry within the next decade, Nuñez sees Florida’s universities as being in a prime position “to capitalize on that tremendous growth” by providing research and a skilled workforce. “FIU, of course, is already involved in aviation and aerospace, but I would like to take it to the next level.”
Schoenfeld says the consortium is looking at how to expand. “Meeting big challenges is a team sport — and we need all players. No one institution is able, or even a small group of institutions, will be able to do this alone. We’re already working towards how we include other institutions in the state beyond the initial three.”
Brittney J. Miller contributed to this report.