Speaker/Lecture/Seminar

Alexander Mertens is vice president of investments and finance at Elevation Financial Group, where he oversees all fund acquisition and disposition efforts, capital stack initiatives, and the development and implementation of fund reporting and management programs. As the leader of Elevation's investments and finance team, Mertens optimizes fund performance through robust asset management and fund modeling initiatives.* Join Alexander Mertens as he shares his pathway from intern to vice president of investments. * Learn how Mertens took his experience learned from UCF's Burnett Honors College and College of Business to chart his path to earn the top Investment spot at Orlando-based PERE firm Elevation Financial Group. * The workshop will explore opportunistic real estate investing and the parallels of this principle in professional career advancement.Registration Link: https://ucf.startuptree.co/event/s/fhQtjtgQd7yT9xeDRvGzzz/From-Intern-to-Vice-President-of-Investments-%257C-Finding-Your-Pathway-to-Professional-Success

Amy Giroux and Mike Shier will deliver a talk about their recent work with Plains Indian tribes, entitled "And so, They Took Our Children: The Fort Marion Origins of Carlisle Indian Industrial School"

Join LFI & C-SPAN Classroom as we look at how the Declaration served as an inspiration to Indigenous Americans in 1975 with the Indian Self-Determination Act. We'll be joined this month by Daniel S. Murphree, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of History at the University of Central Florida. He'll be exploring how Indigenous Americans have fought to obtain the promises outlined in the Declaration of Independence.Virtual Location URL: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e1be077a-5288-401f-aa74-7bd9bfe1cc1e@bb932f15-ef38-42ba-91fc-f3c59d5dd1f1 Registration Link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e1be077a-5288-401f-aa74-7bd9bfe1cc1e@bb932f15-ef38-42ba-91fc-f3c59d5dd1f1 Registration Info: Register here

Title: Inverse Designed, Densely Integrated Classical and Quantum PhotonicsAbstract: Recent breakthroughs in photonics design, along with new nanofabrication approaches and heterogeneous integration, play crucial roles in building photonics for applications including optical interconnects and quantum technologies. This design breakthrough, called photonic inverse design, involves efficiently searching through the space of all possible photonic device geometries, considering fabrication constraints, and using fast electromagnetic solvers and optimization tools. Additionally, new photonic platforms have been developed, enabling functionalities beyond silicon on insulator. These include silicon carbide, diamond, and Titanium: sapphire on insulator, as well as ultra-strong electro-optic materials, such as strontium and barium titanate. With these new approaches to design and fabrication, novel optoelectronic devices and systems have been designed and demonstrated, including error-free and fast chip-to-chip and on-chip optical interconnects compatible with commercial foundries, chip scale Ti: sapphire lasers and amplifiers, CMOS-compatible isolators and laser frequency stabilizers, and silicon carbide and diamond chip-scale quantum technologiesAbout the Speaker: Jelena Vuckovic (PhD Caltech 2002) is the Jensen Huang Professor of Global Leadership, Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics at Stanford. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and an external scientific member of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics. Her honors include the Zeiss Award, Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, Geoffrey Frew Fellowship from the Australian Academy of Sciences, the IET A. F. Harvey Engineering Research Prize, Mildred Dresselhaus Lectureship from MIT, and the Humboldt Prize. She is a fellow of the APS, Optica and IEEE. Vuckovic is a co-founder and a lead scientific advisor of SPINS Photonics and a lead editor of Physical Review Applied.Virtual Location URL: https://ucf.zoom.us/j/97575154727?from=addon

Explore how stories become legends, pass on traditions, and stick around a long time. Four iconic storytellers share their favorite tales and reveal how they have used stories to build everything from better ways to appreciate the natural world to multi-billion-dollar theme parks.* Bob Allen: Former Disney creative executive, founder of the brand and experience design firm IDEAS and the Zennovation Network * Rick Allen: Former Walt Disney World Operations executive * Jody Maberry: Entrepreneur and nationally celebrated podcast host * Bob Weis: Author and past President of Walt Disney ImagineeringHear from the leaders behind some of the world's most celebrated places and experiences, examine how and why story works, how to tell better ones, and how stories become legends.Networking follows from 5-6 p.m.Hosted by UCF Themed Experience and the Zennovation Network. Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-stories-become-legends-tickets-1898250230539?aff=oddtdtcreator Registration Info: Event is free, but registration is required.