MAXIMIZING COMPETITIVE EXCELLENCE PILLAR

ALL ENGINES ARE FIRED. We are launching a new era of greatness.

AND WE CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO JOIN US. The future is moving fast, and the world needs problem-solvers who can keep up.

Go for Launch is a historic campaign for the future of our university and our world. This is UCF’s moment to lead with purpose, meet the world’s growing needs, invest in our strengths and put our name in the stars. We are ambitiously embracing the endless possibilities ahead.

Our aim is clear: Fuel discovery and innovation.

Advance future frontiers. Elevate student success.

Maximize competitive excellence.

That’s why our researchers are developing solutions the world needs most. Our programs are preparing students to meet the future where it’s going. And our community of innovators is achieving breakthroughs in AI technology, creating a world-class destination campus and competing at the highest echelons in academics and athletics.

We’re not just imagining the future — we’re building it.

With each discovery and every journey, we transcend boundaries and defy expectations to chart our own path forward. It’s this kind of excellence that has put UCF on the map.

We are acting on our ambition, because the future can’t wait. This campaign will move us all forward together, toward a future that UCF is building today.

And when you join us, you help launch UCF into a greater orbit. Together, there’s no limit to where we can go.

JOIN US WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN OUR MISSION TO DRIVE COMPETITIVE EXCELLENCE AND PROPEL UCF FORWARD INTO ITS NEXT BOLD ERA. THERE’S NO LIMIT TO WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE TOGETHER.

MISSION: GOFORLAUNCH.UCF.EDU

MAXIMIZING COMPETITIVE EXCELLENCE

They said greatness takes centuries. But Knights never waited. We dreamed. We built.

We charged forward. That spirit still drives us today. As a newly preeminent institution and one of the nation’s most innovative universities, we are boldly defining our next frontiers.

PRIORITIES CELEBRATING A BOLD LEGACY UCF was born of bold aspirations, charged with fueling talent and technology for the early space industry. Since day one, resilience and ambition have defined Knight Nation. Our first classes took place in unfinished buildings. We cobbled together labs from surplus equipment.

We didn’t inherit traditions — we invented them. We never had the luxury of waiting our turn. Instead, we got to work and built something extraordinary together.

Over the decades, we’ve embraced even broader horizons and charted a course to all-new destinations. Today the university is competing on the world stage, armed with an innovative spirit, laser-focused on technology and fueled by a fierce drive to advance knowledge and understanding for a better world.

Our students, faculty and staff are at the heart of it all — a community of innovators, competitors, leaders and visionaries who are answering the call to boldly invent a future that few have dared to dream about.

LAUNCHING A NEW ERA That future is happening here and now. At UCF, innovation is fueling discoveries that will solve the world’s greatest challenges. Health and human performance are becoming limitless. Collaboration and partnerships are propelling us toward a better tomorrow. And our competitive spirit is inspiring champion-caliber greatness.

For us, the call to achieve, to lead and to win rings in our ears, and we are challenging ourselves to new levels of competitive excellence. Thanks to the generous support of our alumni, donors and fans, we’ve unlocked the power of preeminence, with the state of Florida designating UCF as one of its leading institutions. Now every dollar you give is more powerful than ever before.

From athletics to AI, from healthcare to space exploration, we’re creating a future the world has only begun to imagine. This is what preeminence looks like — not centuries in the making, but forged by grit, ambition and an unwavering belief that greatness belongs to those who dare to charge ahead.

And we are just getting started.

WHERE ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE INTERSECT

TRANSFORMATION IS HERE

AND CHANGE LIVES When Kyle Coutray was in high school, he witnessed a fellow student’s accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was then that he discovered his life’s mission: helping people with TBI and other cognitive or mobility issues. Now a student at UCF’s Burnett Honors College, he’s in an elite dual-degree program in computer engineering and biomedical sciences, specializing in neuroscience.

His studies and research focus on using technology to read brain signals and translate them into action through a brain-computer interface. This could ultimately help people with prosthetics to better control the movement of their prosthetic limb, for example, or even help with speech.

“The brain really is the last great frontier of human understanding.

Its complexities hold so many possibilities for life-changing discoveries,” says Kyle, who is a 2025 Astronaut Scholar, a prestigious program for the best and brightest minds in STEM.

“I’m thankful for the incredible experiences and opportunities I’ve had at UCF,” says Kyle, who has received several donor-funded scholarships on his journey.

“It’s exciting to see how decoding neural signals and developing assistive technologies can restore function and empower people of all abilities. I don’t just want to study the brain — I want to give people their life back.”

WE ARE FOCUSED ON A LEVEL OF COMPETITIVE EXCELLENCE THAT DRIVES SUCCESS ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY AND ELEVATES OUR STANDING NATIONALLY. HERE’S WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE WHEN YOU HELP CHAMPION GREATNESS AT UCF.

TRIPLE KNIGHT LEADING THE WAY IN HYPERSONIC FLIGHT Rachel Hytovick ’20 ’24MS ’25PhD is defining a new frontier in air travel that will one day fly passengers from Florida to Europe in an hour. She made a breakthrough discovery when her team found a way to harness hypersonic energy — a longstanding problem in the field.

A triple Knight in aerospace engineering, Rachel is now on to the next challenge: stabilizing that energy so it can power flight. With an award from the Department of Defense, she and her team at UCF’s HyperSpace are conducting a series of flight tests over the next five years.

“These are big ideas — bigger than most people would ever imagine. But at UCF, we dream up big ideas every day, and we have the determination to make them happen,” says Rachel, who recently earned her PhD and a faculty position at UCF. “Now as a faculty member, I am thrilled to teach and guide future scientists and aerospace engineers at UCF.”

As a result of infusing technology across every discipline, our innovative research and students’ educational experiences reach all-new heights.

By making AI ubiquitous across our curricula and research, and ensuring universal AI fluency, students have access to the tools of tomorrow and are positioned to lead the inevitable economic leap forward.

Growing the Competitive Success Fund means we continually enhance our athletic programs while recruiting, retaining and developing our studentathletes, who complete at the highest levels.

By building the campus for the future, we bring to life an innovative and inspiring destination for learning, industry co-location, breakthrough research and Big 12 athletic excellence.

Updating and enhancing our sports venues means we inspire all who compete and all who cheer us on by adding seating at the Addition Financial Arena, upgrading our baseball and softball stadiums, completing the Hagle Football Gateway and updating sports spaces at The Venue.