STEM at UWF
Finding Solutions: Pioneering Innovation and Research
- Students in the region and all over the world can take classes at UWF using the latest advances in online instruction. That includes our military service members. We’ve received Congressional funding to research and develop mobile instruction programs for military personnel.
- To emphasize our commitment for filling the strategic workforce needs of the defense industry, the UWF Emerald Coast Electrical and Computer Engineering undergraduate program moved into the University of Florida Research and Education Engineering Facility (REEF) located at Eglin Air Force Base in fall 2007. At REEF, UWF students have the opportunity to participate in graduate research projects and move seamlessly in the UF graduate program.
- The university’s success in bringing ultra high-speed bandwidth to Northwest Florida is a prime example of community collaboration. The LambdaRail High Speed Network will eventually impact the way the military, health care industry and business community operate.
Cutting Edge: Building for Tomorrow
- Because our environment and future coastal construction is so important, UWF is partnering with local professionals to construct the B.E.S.T. House. This energy-efficient home, built employing sustainable design techniques and systems, will serve as a campus centerpiece for research, applications and trends in the construction industry.
- UWF recently broke ground on its new state-of-the-art Science and Engineering Building, slated to open in 2010. This showcase building, designed for the future, will feature cutting-edge teaching and research spaces, including a virtual classroom, robot guides and solar windows that generate electricity. More than 950 students and 53 faculty in the areas of electrical, computer and software engineering, math and statistics, physics, computer science and computer information science, dedicated to discovering the way we will teach and learn tomorrow, have joined to together to form the School of Science and Engineering.
K-12 Partnerships: Investing in our Future
- UWF has hosted the West Florida Regional Science Fair for middle and high schoolers for more than a decade. The university also supports such programs as unmanned vehicle competitions, the Physics Olympics and the Chemistry Olympics.
- The innovative gaming simulation for eighth graders, “Math Matters,” provides practical application of Sunshine State Standards in math and reading.
- UWF hosts the Emerald Coast BEST Robotics hub with support from Gulf Power and other corporate sponsors. The BEST Robotics competition is designed to boost middle and high school student interest in the STEM disciplines. Teams from 20 schools including approximately 700 students participated in the 2007 competition.
- In 2003 the UWF Electrical and Computer Engineering Department initiated an academically rigorous pre-engineering program at Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach. This program introduces students with strong math and science aptitudes to the critical thinking and problem solving skills that make successful engineers.
- UWF offers numerous science, technology, engineering and mathematics summer camps each year.