Optics professor Shin-Tson Wu (center) and research assistants David Fox and Tracy Xu demonstrate a tunable-focus lens. Wu invented a zoom lens for cell phone cameras. [Photo: Jacque Brund]

They may not know it, but cell phone users are quite familiar with technology developed at the University of Central Florida. Professors there designed LED display screens that can be viewed in direct sunlight. Another cell phone advancement will hit the market soon: Optics professor Shin-Tson Wu has
invented and licensed a zoom lens for cell phone cameras.

Just down the hall in the College of Optics and Photonics, Leon Glebov’s team is working on holographic filters that allow lasers to pack more power in smaller devices.

Both scientists are part of a growing team of UCF professors bringing in more research dollars and national recognition. The optics college alone has received about $150 million in research funding since it began in 1986.

Today, UCF’s math, science and engineering projects are judged in competitions alongside entries from MIT, Stanford University and Cal Tech.

Optics faculty members have won international recognition. This year, Wu and Glebov received two of the industry’s top awards in optics. The highest honor, international society SPIE’s gold medal, went to the vice president of UCF’s Office of Research and Commercialization, M.J. Soileau.

In March, eight junior faculty members received career awards from the National Science Foundation, a record number from one university in any given year.

“Top young engineers and scientists are choosing UCF as the place to build their careers,” Soileau says. “This bodes well for the future of our university.”