Florida Polytechnic University named the commons area inside the Innovation, Science and Technology (IST) Building after Saddle Creek Logistics Services on Monday. Saddle Creek has been an industry partner with Florida Poly since the University opened its doors in 2014. The naming of the commons area after Saddle Creek reflects the importance of the partnership.
“Saddle Creek’s support has contributed directly to our students’ success and the growth of our university,” said Florida Poly President Dr. Randy K. Avent. “The naming of the commons after them is just one small way we can thank them for their commitment to Florida Poly and the education of our students who are preparing to enter the high-tech workforce.”
The newly named Saddle Creek Logistics Commons is an 11,000-square-foot space inside the IST Building. This area is an extremely popular place on the Florida Poly campus where you can find students gathering, studying and working side-by-side with their professors on various experiential learning projects. It has also been the main space for many of the University’s biggest events, including its annual PIVOT gala and the University’s recent Inaugural Graduation, which took place Jan. 3, 2017.
Monday’s naming ceremony included brief comments from leaders of both Florida Poly and Saddle Creek Logistics Services and culminated in unveiling a rendering of the sign that will soon mark the named space. The ceremony was followed by a reception and tours of the university.
Saddle Creek Logistics Services is a Lakeland-based omnichannel supply chain solutions provider founded in 1966. Their partnership with Florida Poly includes providing internships for Florida Poly students, partnering with faculty to develop an industry-relevant curriculum, and providing financial support. Saddle Creek contributed $1.25 million to the University this year.
“Over the years, technology has become critically important in the logistics business, and that’s one of the big reasons we partner with Florida Poly,” said Cliff Otto, CEO of Saddle Creek Logistics Services and a member of the Florida Polytechnic University Board of Trustees. “This University is preparing students to tackle real-world problems in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. We take great pride in being able to help Florida Poly do that.”
Saddle Creek Logistics Services is one of the largest privately held third-party logistics companies in North America with locations all over the country. They provide customers a variety of logistics services that include warehousing, omnichannel fulfillment, transportation and packaging.
They are also providing internships for Florida Poly students. Travis Hills, a sophomore from Tampa majoring in Computer Science with an emphasis in Cyber Security, is currently interning at Saddle Creek.
“What I learn in the classroom I’m able to apply at my internship. And what I learn at my internship I’m able to apply in the classroom,” said Hills. “It’s a great way for me to apply what I’ve learned and better prepare myself for real-world situations in my field of study.”
Saddle Creek Logistics Services is one of many top-tier companies partnering with Florida Polytechnic University. To ensure students graduate job-ready, Florida Poly collaborates with a network of more than 90 industry partners to offer guidance on developing a project-based curriculum and to provide internship opportunities that stress real-world experience.
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Tampa Bay Area Schools Recognized as Five Star Schools
Hundreds of schools statewide honored for exemplary community involvement
The Florida Department of Education announced today the names of schools in the Tampa Bay area that have earned the Five Star School Award for the 2015-16 school year. The award is bestowed upon schools that are committed to incorporating family and community members into the school environment to enhance student learning. Statewide, nearly 700 schools earned the recognition.
“Family and community involvement is essential to student success, and I am grateful for the parents, caregivers and community members who invest their time in our state’s schools.” said Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart. “When school leaders and educators engage the community, the result is higher academic achievement and more students prepared for future success.”
To earn Five Star School recognition, a school must show that it has achieved all of the benchmarks and criteria in five categories – Community/Business Partnerships, Family Involvement, Volunteerism, Student Community Service and School Advisory Council. Schools must also earn a grade of “C” or above or a school improvement rating of “Maintaining” or “Improving” for the year being recognized.
Below are the schools in the Tampa Bay area that received the Five Star School Award for the 2015-16 school year.
To view the entire list of schools awarded, please visit Five Star School Award.
For more information about the Florida Department of Education, visit www.fldoe.org.
Nelson files series of bills aimed at range of issues important to Florida
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) filed a series of bills today aimed at tackling a wide range of issues important to the people of Florida – from protecting the state’s tourism-driven economy from the threat of offshore oil drilling to improving low-income housing and helping citrus growers recover from the devastating effects of a deadly citrus disease known as greening.
Among the measures Nelson introduced today are:
- The Marine Oil Spill Prevention Act. In 2006, Nelson and then-Sen. Mel Martinez successfully brokered a deal to ban oil drilling off much of Florida’s Gulf Coast through most of 2022. As a result, a no-drilling zone currently extends 125 miles off much of Florida’s Gulf Coast and as far as 235 miles at some points to protect vital military training areas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. This moratorium is in effect until June 30, 2022. The legislation Nelson filed today would extend that ban for another five years, from 2022 to 2027. Text of the bill is available here.
- The Housing Accountability Act. To help thousands of low-income families living in federally-subsidized housing such as Eureka Gardens in Jacksonville and Windsor Cove Apartments in Orlando, Nelson today re-filed legislation he first introduced last year to hold the owners of low-income housing complexes more accountable for poor living conditions. Nelson’s bill would, among other things, require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to survey the tenants of these housing complexes twice a year about property conditions and management performance. It would also create new penalties for property owners who repeatedly fail these tenant surveys. Text of the bill is available here.
- Emergency Citrus Disease Response Act. To help Florida’s citrus growers replant millions of citrus trees lost to citrus greening, Nelson re-filed legislation today that would allow growers to immediately deduct the full cost of planting new trees, instead of over a 14-year period as required by current law. Citrus greening has been blamed for killing crops across the country, including more than 160,000 acres in Florida since 2005. Nelson’s bill would encourage growers to start the process of planting some of the nearly 20 million new trees experts say will be needed to get Florida’s citrus production back to the level it had reached nearly 10 years ago, before the greening disease began to ravage the state. Text of the bill is available here.
- Counterterror Alert Act. Nelson today re-filed legislation he says may have prevented the tragic mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando had it been in effect prior to the incident. The bill, which Nelson initially filed last summer shortly after the tragedy, would ensure that the FBI is alerted if a suspected terrorist tries to purchase a firearm. It came to light shortly after the Pulse nightclub attack that the gunman responsible for that attack had once been on a terrorist watch list. Nelson’s bill would ensure that any individual who is, or has been, investigated for possible ties to terrorism is entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, which gun shop owners use to run checks on prospective gun buyers. And it would require that the NICS system automatically notify the appropriate division of the FBI if a background check is conducted for a prospective buyer who is, or has been, investigated for potential ties to terrorism. Text of the bill is available here.
Panhandle Schools Recognized as Five Star Schools
Hundreds of schools statewide honored for exemplary community involvement
The Florida Department of Education today announced the names of schools in Florida’s Panhandle that have earned the Five Star School Award for the 2015-16 school year. The award is bestowed upon schools that are committed to incorporating family and community members into the school environment to enhance student learning. Statewide, nearly 700 schools earned the recognition.
“Family and community involvement is essential to student success, and I am grateful for the parents, caregivers and community members who invest their time in our state’s schools.” said Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart. “When school leaders and educators engage the community, the result is higher academic achievement and more students prepared for future success.”
To earn Five Star School recognition, a school must show that it has achieved all of the benchmarks and criteria in five categories – Community/Business Partnerships, Family Involvement, Volunteerism, Student Community Service and School Advisory Council. Schools must also earn a grade of “C” or above or a school improvement rating of “Maintaining” or “Improving” for the year being recognized.
Below are the schools in Florida’s Panhandle that received the Five Star School Award for the 2015-16 school year.
To view the entire list of schools awarded, please visit Five Star School Award.
For more information about the Florida Department of Education, visit www.fldoe.org.
UCF Professor’s Research Part of First Mission to Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids
University of Central Florida Physics Professor Dan Britt will help explore some of the oldest asteroids in the solar system thanks to a new NASA mission.
NASA, this month selected the Lucy mission, which will explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids for the first-time. The robotic spacecraft will also explore a larger asteroid within the asteroid belt. Scientists said they believe the Trojan belt is home to some of the oldest remnants of the solar system.
Information gleaned from this mission is expected to help mankind understand the formation of planets and the solar system. That’s why the team named its project Lucy – after the female skeleton fossil discovered in 1974, which changed the understanding of human origins on Earth.
The Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., will lead the mission, and Britt is serving on its science team and leading one of its Science Working Groups. Britt, director of the Center for Lunar & Asteroid Surface Science at UCF (https://sciences.ucf.edu/class/), will provide his expertise in physical properties of asteroids and their geology.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Britt said. “This mission has six flybys of the asteroids because of its trajectory and it has relatively low risks. Given the information we will be able to collect, it is quite an attractive mission.”
Several of the Lucy members are veterans from the New Horizons mission that helped shed new light on Pluto. Lucy is expected to launch from Kennedy Space Center in 2021.
“Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system,” said principal investigator Harold Levison. “Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins.”
Lucy is part of NASA’s Discovery Program. The Discovery Program was created in 1992 to sponsor frequent, cost-capped solar system exploration missions ($450 million) with highly focused scientific goals. Past missions include MESSENGER, Dawn, Stardust, Deep Impact, Genesis and GRAIL.
Gov. Scott: Obamacare must be repealed and replaced immediately
On Friday morning, in response to Leader McCarthy’s December 2nd letter, Governor Scott sent a letter urging Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare on day one of the new administration.
Excerpts from the letter are below:
“For far too long, it has been fashionable in Washington to say Obamacare can only be tweaked. We have seen debate after debate in Washington about this bad law but nothing has been changed. It has to be completely overhauled and now is the time to do it. We cannot let the usual political games or partisan gridlock of Washington get in the way of immediately repealing and replacing Obamacare with a plan that actually works.
The impact of Obamacare has been devastating in Florida and our nation. Obamacare was sold on a lie from the very start. Costs are skyrocketing, people have not been able to keep their doctors and many people have fewer doctors to choose from. The increases in health care costs are at a 32-year high and are expected to continue increasing in the coming months. Recent news of Obamacare rates rising 25 percent is absurd and families simply cannot afford it. We can do better and the families and businesses footing the bill deserve better.
…
I know the new administration is committed to getting rid of this bad law and it was great to hear this week that their first order of business will be to repeal Obamacare. I hope it happens January 20th…”
TO READ THE FULL LETTER, CLICK HERE.
Mast Calls on White House to Recognize National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
Letter to President Requests White House be Lit Blue in Recognition of Law Enforcement
U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18), on Jan. 6, 2017, sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that the White House be lit blue today in recognition of National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.
“Shining a blue light on the White House for a day is a powerful symbol of unified support behind police officers and national leadership toward mending public trust,” Rep. Mast wrote in the letter.
National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day takes place each year on Jan. 9 to show law enforcement officers that citizens recognize the difficult career of public service that law enforcement officers have chosen to undertake.
“An expression of support by the President would serve as a powerful symbol of encouragement to the thousands of law enforcement professionals who daily risk their lives for their fellow citizens,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said.
The full text of the letter is below:
January 6, 2017
President of the United States of America
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
It is with great respect for police officers across our country, and in recognition of National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, I request that you light the White House blue on January 9, 2017. Our nation has experienced four tumultuous years of tragic and divisive incidents that left a chasm in the minds of many Americans between peace officers and the citizenry they protect. The complexity and gravity of these incidents ought not be taken lightly, but must not be allowed to cast a disproportionate shadow over the selflessness of officers who risk their lives every day to assure the safety of their neighbors. As you wrote in an open letter to the law enforcement community last year, “as we bind up our wounds, we must come together to ensure that those who try to divide us do not succeed.” Shining blue light on the White House for a day is a powerful symbol of unified support behind police officers and national leadership toward mending public trust.
Last year marked the highest number of law enforcement casualties in the past five years. The law enforcement community lost 140 of their brothers and sisters in the line of duty. My State of Florida endured the untimely deaths of five officers who began a shift to protect and serve their neighbors, but never returned safely home. We mourn for their families and celebrate the lives of the officers, but it would be a monumental statement of national unity to collectively honor their profession at the White House on Monday.
Thank you for your consideration of this request to paint the White House in blue light for National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. It is a modest but potent symbol of our country’s enduring will to reconcile that which would seek to wrongfully divide us and a national expression of our gratitude to each law enforcement officer.
Sincerely,
Brian Mast
Member of Congress
Senator Victor Torres's statement on officers killed today in line of duty
Notified of the death of two Orlando-area police officers killed in the line of duty this morning – one shot, the other killed in a motorcycle crash responding to the shooting – state Senator Victor Torres (D-Orlando) issued the following statement:
“This has been a day of tremendous sadness for all of the people served by the dedicated members of the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. We have lost two brave and honorable police officers, who gave their lives in service to those they swore to protect.
“As a former New York City Transit Police Officer and lifelong public servant, I strongly condemn this violent act and I, too, pledge to work tirelessly to reform our laws, and end the ease with which hardened criminals can access high powered weapons. We owe at least this much to Sergeant Debra Clayton, and every other law enforcement officer who has made the ultimate sacrifice.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the family and colleagues of both officers killed in today’s tragic events. We must ensure that those who risk their lives every day in defense of our public safety will be protected under the full extent of our laws.”
Energy Grant to UCF to Accelerate Biofuel Research, Mainstream Adoption
The adoption of highly efficient, low-emission alternative biofuels just got a boost thanks to $7 million worth of Department of Energy grants announced earlier this month.
The University of Central Florida landed two grants worth more than $1.25 million, which will help the Department of Energy accelerate the introduction of affordable, scalable and sustainable high-performance alternative fuels for use in high-efficiency, low-emission vehicle engines. UCF and seven other teams won a total of eight grants.
Competition was stiff and the UCF team bested hundreds of other multi-university teams. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, also successfully won a grant. Its team includes UCF Engineering Professor Subith Vasu, who also is working with the UCF team.
“We are honored and excited to be the recipient of two of eight awards from this highly competitive program,” said Debra Reinhart, associate vice president for research and scholarship. “These awards place us in an elite group of researchers who are paving the way toward maximizing fuel-use efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts.”
The federal agency announced the awards as part of its Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines initiative, which “aims to simultaneously transform both transportation fuels and vehicles in order to maximize performance and energy efficiency, minimize environmental impact, and accelerate widespread adoption of innovative combustion strategies.”
But the challenge isn’t just finding the best fuel that works with high-performance engines. To achieve widespread adoption, there are many other challenges that must be solved. For example, can the new fuel be piped into stations without leaking into surrounding soil and damaging the environment? Will special seals be needed in engines or at distribution points to protect engine parts and humans from fumes?
UCF’s project will not only look at the viability of compounds and their potential use in high-performing engines, but the team will put the compounds through nine tests that will provide information about the likelihood of being able to safely, efficiently and cost-effectively mass produce and deliver the alternative fuels.
“We will be looking at hundreds of compounds,” said UCF Engineering Assistant Professor Kareem Ahmed, who is the lead investigator for the UCF-led project. “Some of them have never been tested, so we will be putting them through an array of tests to explore and evaluate fuel-spray atomization, flame topology, flame speed, auto-ignition, volatility, viscosity, soot/coking, and compatibility.”
These tests will provide the DOE information that will help the agency and engine manufacturers determine which fuels might be good ones to pursue for further development.
UCF’s experience with similar fuel studies for aircraft engines helped position the university to be competitive, Ahmed said. And the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research (http://cater.cecs.ucf.edu/) on the main campus is positioned to test and provide the data.
“This effort aims at holistic or comprehensive characterization of biofuels or any other alternative fuel,” said UCF Engineering Professor and CATER director Jayanta Kapat. He is also a member of the team. “Most prior research efforts have been aimed at production of fuels and/or evaluation of a few properties. However, automotive applications, and supply-and-delivery logistics require a plethora of properties to be within prescribed ranges for such fuel to be classified as a ‘drop-in’ replacement. This is the need that this project will address.”
Kapat said he believes this is the first effort in holistic or comprehensive characterization of biofuels in a U.S university.
Vasu’s work with MIT is unique, as well. The project will construct computer models to predict the combustion chemistry of proposed biofuels, which can then be used to determine which of the proposed fuels will have high performance in advanced engines. Vasu’s role will be to provide data from experiments in his lab, which will feed the computer models.
“MIT is a pioneer in this field of computer-generated models,” Vasu said. “They are the main people doing it in this country. I’m happy to be partnering with them. The shock tube experiments in my lab will provide data to calibrate their models and hopefully accelerate the process of finding the best fuel options among a sea of hundreds.”
Vasu will also work on the UCF-led team.
UCF researcher Richard Blair, who is also a member of CATER and UCF’s Cluster for the Rational Design of Catalysts for Energy Applications and Propulsion, is providing his expertise in chemical and physical characterization of fuels to the project. Blair’s work will provide new insight into the temperature-dependent properties of gasoline-equivalent fuels.
“We have seen that bio-derived fuels can have compositional differences that add challenges to realizing a drop-in fuel,” Blair said.
Ahmed said the development of this technology is critical not just for science’s sake, but for the nation’s security and economic future.
“Gasoline and diesel-fuel combustion is the dominant source of automotive power generation,” he said. “There is a broad desire to develop alternative fuels and blended fuels for automotive combustion for the foreseeable future. The depleting availability of fuels has had a destabilizing influence on the economic security of the nation, while emission of carbon dioxide from combustion continues to impact the environment. In this context, there is a critical need to explore and implement these alternative biofuels in combustion systems that have high conversion efficiencies and minimized environmental impact.”
Senator Randolph Bracy's statement regarding this morning's killing of an Orlando PD officer
Notified this morning of the death of an Orlando police officer killed in the line of duty, and the ensuing manhunt for the alleged killer, state Senator Randolph Bracy (D-Orlando) issued the following statement:
“I condemn this violence and I will work hard as the Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman to reform our laws, to make it harder for criminals to have access to high powered and illegal weapons in our communities. The alleged shooter in this case is linked to another murder in the area of Pine Hills at the end of last year, underlining the need for urgent changes to stop more bloodshed.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the family and colleagues of the slain Orlando Police Department officer involved in this tragic event.”
