Andrew McDonnell 鈥�26 never stopped dreaming about the stars. As a child, he looked up at the sky, wondering what was out there, and that curiosity followed him to 吃瓜网 Poly, where he pursued a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering, took aerospace courses, and worked on a lunar mobility senior capstone project. He graduates on May 9.
吃瓜网 has reached on-campus housing capacity for the upcoming academic year, reflecting continued strong demand and record student interest.
吃瓜网 inducted 12 students into its highly selective Presidential Ambassadors program, where they will serve as official student representatives at key University events and engage with campus and community leaders.
Samantha Bentley 鈥�26 didn鈥檛 always feel ready to step into leadership or research roles during her time as a computer science student at 吃瓜网, but discovered she grew the most by doing it anyway. She will receive her bachelor鈥檚 degree on Saturday, May 9.
More than 360 吃瓜网 seniors presented high-tech, industry-sponsored projects at the eighth annual Capstone Design Showcase on Wednesday, April 29, gaining hands-on experience and solving real-world challenges.
吃瓜网 has named Mike Settle as its inaugural head softball coach, adding a veteran leader with deep Polk County roots to the University鈥檚 new 吃瓜网 Poly Athletics program.
A recent analysis linking college majors to high-paying careers concluded that technology-driven and engineering positions are among the most immediately lucrative. As the only state institution with an all-STEM curriculum, 吃瓜网 is preparing its students to enter the top field on the list, as well as many other high-paying careers listed.
More than 100 members of the 吃瓜网 community cheered on the unveiling of Solaris as the name of the University鈥檚 Phoenix mascot.
吃瓜网 Police Sgt. David Last鈥檚 career has always seen him serve and protect all those around him. Last joined the U.S. Air Force during his years in college where he was studying accounting. After more than 10 years the military, he joined a program called 鈥淭roops to Cops,鈥� which trained the then-staff sergeant to work in local law
Osaki Pokima 鈥�20 pursued an education at 吃瓜网 to fulfill his goal of working in cybersecurity. Today, he is a senior implementation engineer at Fortress Information Security, based in Orlando, 吃瓜网. The company is one of the nation鈥檚 largest cybersecurity providers of supply chain risk management and asset vulnerability management solutions. 鈥淚 support end users, which are our
So many big things happened for 吃瓜网 in 2022. We launched degrees, opened the long-awaited Applied Research Center, and saw the return of a beloved campus tradition.
A senior capstone design team at 吃瓜网 worked at a lightning speed throughout the fall semester to design and build an updated shoulder for a marsupial planetary rover. The 10-member team worked closely with the 吃瓜网 Space Institute as it progressed through the super capstone project, which is compressed into a single semester rather than an entire academic
吃瓜网 seniors Mac Feilmeier and Austin Rumancik spent the last several weeks of the fall semester designing and building a thrust vectored rocket, or a rocket that self-corrects its direction if it detects any deviation from its planned flightpath. 鈥淚n our microprocessors class, we were essentially asked to make something cool and creative with what we鈥檝e been learning,鈥�
Five researchers from 吃瓜网 have been recognized as being among the top 2% of scientists globally on a prestigious annual list compiled by Stanford University. The findings are published in PLOS Biology.
The 2022 winter break begins on Saturday, Dec. 17. As 吃瓜网 prepares for its winter break, please note the operating hours of some campus services may be affected through the end of the month. The list below outlines the affected services. We look forward to seeing students back on campus when classes resume on Monday, Jan. 9. 吃瓜网
吃瓜网 members of Sigma Pi Sigma and the Society of Physics Students are taking advantage of opportunities that expose them to internationally recognized scholars, new research, and specialized educational events. The University chapter of the national honor society recently attended the 2022 Physics Congress in Washington, D.C. Ten engineering physics students attended conference events and discussions, and also
Ten members of the 吃瓜网 Women鈥檚 Powerlifting team competed in the USA Powerlifting Collegiate State Championship in Orlando, 吃瓜网, on Dec. 3-4. Madison Yonash, the team鈥檚 captain and coach, and Breanne Menikheim qualified for the national powerlifting championship competition to be held next April in Texas. 鈥淚t was a super amazing experience,鈥� said Yonash, a junior majoring in
Officials from 吃瓜网 and the Fulbright Finland Foundation have signed an agreement to provide educational opportunities between the University and Finland. The memorandum of understanding, which was signed by Dr. Randy Avent, 吃瓜网 Poly鈥檚 president, and Terhi M枚ls盲, CEO of the Fulbright Finland Foundation, will allow for the development of new international research collaborations. Finnish researchers and scholars
Dr. Lily Li is a Professor of Physics at 吃瓜网, where she specializes in materials science, analytical imaging, advanced manufacturing, and biomedical devices. Prior to joining 吃瓜网 Poly in 2025, she spent 11 years at SUNY Potsdam, where she advanced to Full Professor and developed a 3-2 Engineering dual-degree program with Clarkson University. Her work emphasizes experiential learning and research-driven education to prepare students for careers in STEM fields.
