In the past, the biggest threat from a data breach was to the individual. But now with the onset of Big Data, there are much bigger threats and even bigger opportunities.
Few people, however, understand what Big Data is or how it can be used, said Lee Odess ’99, vice president of UniKey and the keynote speaker for UCF’s Big Data Symposium on Jan. 26 at the UCF FAIRWINDS Alumni Center.
“The goal of my presentation is more or less to give real life examples of what Big Data is and the impact it can have,” Odess said. “Typically you are either supersmart on Big Data and have a hard time communicating it, or you are a person who has heard of it but isn’t too sure how to get started. My goal is to bridge the two.”
Practical examples of Big Data are everywhere and can be implemented by both big and small companies. For instance, a company can analyze marketing impacts via its social media reach; predictive analytics can narrow in on customers shopping preferences; or it can help analyze where a business should open up its next retail location.
Big Data’s role in our society is one of the reasons UCF’s colleges of Science, Business, and Engineering and Computer Science came together to host the symposium. UCF business professors Robert Porter and Amit Joshi, statistics professor Shunpu Zhang, and Ivan Garibay, director of UCF Research Information Systems and chief information officer at the UCF Office of Research and Commercialization, are among the speakers who will talk about practical ways companies, nonprofits and individuals can tap into Big Data to benefit their communities and society.
Odess was a natural choice for the keynote because of his familiarity with the use of Big Data within his own profession.
“For UniKey we didn’t wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, we need Big Data.’ We did however say ‘Hey, we need to start understanding exactly how, when, where our customers are using the locks and mobile applications powered by UniKey,” he said. “So we put the systems and tools in place to be able to collect every bit of data we could. Then once we had it, we spent the time to come up with the algorithms and dashboards to easily digest the information. Now, with a touch of a button we are no longer guessing how, when and where customers are using the product. We are 100 percent clear on it.“
In 2012, Odess was the director of sales operations for security company Brivo Systems, when he was watching Shark Tank on TV one night and saw fellow UCF alumnus Phil Dumas ’05 pitching his smart lock. It was the first time in Shark Tank history that all five investors wanted to buy into an idea.
Odess reached out to Dumas after the show and said that given their UCF roots and similar industries, they should get to know each other. Dumas agreed.
They kept in touch during the years, and when Brivo Systems was sold in 2015, Odess wanted to join a startup that had growth opportunity. He saw UniKey as that opportunity.
His day-to-day responsibilities as vice president include business development, human resources, participation in the overall strategy for the company and its existing customer base.
Dumas and Odess aren’t the only Knights with UniKey. Odess said 80 percent of the the company’s 50 employees are alumni.
“Initially people think we’re from Silicon Valley. When we tell them we’re from Orlando, we explain to them we have some hidden gems here, one of them being the university,” he said. “We look for people that want to be in this area. We think the school does a really good job preparing the students for work. It just makes sense. There isn’t a need for us to look outside what’s in front of our face.”
Odess speaks from experience.
Born in Cleveland, he grew up in South Florida before he moved to Pittsburgh, where he graduated from high school. He considered nearly two dozen universities and picked UCF because he said it just felt right.
“There seemed to be a lot of history to be written,” he said. “I liked that.”
The day after he graduated with his bachelor’s in business, he packed up his car and started driving toward Pennsylvania, where a job with Lutron Electronics awaited him.
After eight years with Lutron, he moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for a variety of companies, including several startups of his own, Fresh Confections and energy + light + control llc.
In order to become more acclimated to a new city, he rekindled his relationship with UCF by joining the D.C. alumni chapter.
Now that he’s back in Orlando, he is happy to have an opportunity to further his relationship with his alma mater by lending his time to the symposium.
“I’m proud of the fact that I have an opportunity to make a difference,” Odess said. “There’s a true partnership with the university – it has aspirations and goals, and I feel like it realizes that the people that have come out of it are going to help carry it in that direction.”
The Symposium will be held Jan. 26 from 6 to8 p.m. at the UCF FAIRWINDS Alumni Center. The event is free, but RSVP online is required. To learn more about the event, including a full list of speakers, click here.
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What’s in a Name? Osceola’s Advanced Manufacturing Consortium Now Called BRIDG
The International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research, known as ICAMR, announced Tuesday that it will officially do business as BRIDG, an acronym that captures the central mission of the innovative technology collective – “Bridging the Innovation Development Gap.”
Leaders say the new name better stands for what they do – connecting researchers and industry to accelerate the development of emerging technologies.
Since it launched in 2014, the consortium has provided a platform for advanced manufacturing development to “bridge the gap” between advanced research at Florida’s universities or industry innovators and cost-competitive manufacturing of new products tied to connected devices and the Internet of Things.
Its partners now range from a Belgium-based leading international hub in nano-electronics and digital technology to a home-grown photonics and smart sensor developer.
“We’re entering a new phase of this project that will transform Osceola County and Florida’s economy, giving us a competitive advantage over advanced, nano-scale manufacturing centers around the globe, and our new identity reflects that,” said Chester Kennedy, CEO for BRIDG.
In addition to a new name for the consortium, Osceola County has renamed the 500-acre, master planned site where the consortium is headquartered from the Osceola Tech Farm to NeoCity.
Osceola County leaders say the name signals a new horizon for the region’s high-tech economy, and the site will be more than a traditional research park with its community connections and surrounding natural landscape.
In March, BRIDG will open its new design center at NeoCity, across from Osceola Heritage Park. The 109,000-square-foot facility will be one of the most advanced fabrication labs in the world and offer partners and others the opportunity to share equipment and conduct research needed to profitably access the next-generation sensor economy.
The design center and consortium are led by Osceola County, the University of Central Florida and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council (known as The Corridor), and are poised to change the region’s technology industry.
“Tonight was a glimpse of things to come. It’s here, and it’s real. It is the future of nano-technology research and development. The global high-tech spotlight is shining on us as we change the face of Florida’s economy – putting us at the forefront of the next generation of nano-scale, micro-electronics,” said Osceola Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington. “None of this would have been possible without unanimous support of this Osceola County Commission, which has had the vision and foresight to make the commitment to fund this journey.”
The project has garnered widespread support.
State lawmakers approved $15 million toward the project last spring, and, in a major announcement in July, Belgian nanotechnology firm imec announced its partnership and plans to build its research and development design center at NeoCity, in collaboration with BRIDG. The company’s new U.S. headquarters will focus on photonics and high-speed electronics integrated circuits.
“With our local and global partners, we will create new solutions and economies of scale to transform the smart sensor industry, while diversifying the economy to lift our community,” said Dale Whittaker, UCF Provost and Executive Vice President. “That’s what happens when you bring together the best minds from the research labs and manufacturing centers with future-focused government leaders.”
Other major partners include Harris Corporation, Argonne National Laboratories, Kissimmee-based Photon-X, Florida International University, University of South Florida and University of Florida among others.
“This project is another demonstration of the power of partnerships, as almost from the start people and organizations have raised their hands and opened their wallets – even before being asked – to join the founders in a venture we all know will create jobs and amazing new technology,” said Randy Berridge, president of The Corridor.
To access new logos for BRIDG and NeoCity, along with photos, please visit: https://goo.gl/ub52Bf
About BRIDG
BRIDG is an industry-led consortium for advanced sensors, optics and photonics and other advanced manufacturing devices, focusing on the development of innovative manufacturable processes, materials and equipment for next-generation smart sensors and other future high-tech products. Supported by Osceola County, the University of Central Florida and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, BRIDG facilitates the connection between innovation and industry and “bridges” the innovation development gap that makes commercialization possible. BRIDG is initially targeting the mega-growth technologies that will lead to over 50 billion smart sensors and imagers predicted by 2020, transforming the way humans interact with the world every day. Learn more at http://GoBRIDG.com.
About Osceola County
Osceola County is a fast-growing, dynamic and innovative community. While we honor the history and traditions passed down from our pioneer ranching families, we are focused on a vision to be the center of research and manufacturing innovation for “smart sensors” that will supercharge the regional economy as the leader in what will be a $154 billion industry by 2020. As part of the Orlando Metropolitan Area, we proudly host approximately 7 million annual overnight guests who enjoy easy access to Central Florida’s world-famous theme parks and Osceola County’s unique sights and unmatched hospitality.
About UCF
The University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the nation with more than 64,000 students, uses the power of scale and the pursuit of excellence to make a better future for our students and society. Described by The Washington Post as demolishing “the popular belief that exclusivity is a virtue in higher education” and credited by Politico with creating a “seamless pipeline of social mobility,” UCF is recognized as one of the best values in higher education. UCF aligns its teaching, research and service with the needs of the community and beyond, offering more than 200 degree programs at more than a dozen locations, including its main campus in Orlando. Faculty and students are creating innovations in areas as diverse as simulation and training, optics and lasers, hospitality management, video game design, business, education and health care to solve local and global problems. For more information, visit www.ucf.edu.
About The Florida High Tech Corridor Council
The Florida High Tech Corridor Council is an economic development initiative of the University of Central Florida (UCF), the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of Florida (UF). The mission of The Corridor is to grow high tech industry and innovation through partnerships that support research, marketing, workforce and entrepreneurship. A partnership involving more than 25 local and regional economic development organizations (EDOs), 14 state colleges and 12 CareerSource boards, The Corridor is co-chaired by the presidents of UCF, USF and UF. The Corridor includes the presidents of two state colleges, the president of the Florida Institute of Technology and representatives of high tech industry. The unique partnership has resulted in a strategic approach to high tech economic development that supports matching funds research, marketing, workforce development and entrepreneurship leveraging governmental, EDO and corporate budgets on a regional rather than local basis. For more information, visit www.floridahightech.com.
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.
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.”
