Michael Ferrante, an engineering management graduate and special instructor in UCF's College of Engineering and Computer Science, has been named the 2026 Engineering Faculty Member of the Year by the Florida Engineering Society. The recognition came as a surprise to Ferrante, who does not teach full-time. He has championed student success for over 50 years, beginning in the 1970s when he helped record UCF courses on Betamax tape for traveling engineers.
Ferrante is chief advisor for Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Honor Society, and has served on the CECS Alumni Council, the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Institute and the UCF student chapter of the Florida Engineering Society. He networks on behalf of students at national conferences, secures scholarships and brings industry leaders to campus for recruitment events. When he began advising the UCF chapter 12 years ago, it had three students; today it has grown to more than 100 and regularly initiates dozens of new members each semester. He also secured approval at a Tau Beta Pi national convention so that computer science majors could join, and UCF is one of an elite number of colleges nationwide permitted to induct them.
Computer science major Julia Moras was among those members and has led the UCF chapter as its president for the past two years, now also serving as student advisor. Next year the Florida Delta chapter will celebrate its 50th anniversary at UCF and host the District 5 conference for the third time. Ferrante's other work includes four decades of service to the Naval Air Warfare Center, time as a weapons expert and test sniper for the U.S. Army's small arms development program, a vice presidency with a local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, 40 years as a volunteer reserve captain with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and a current seat on the Zoning and Planning Board for the City of Winter Springs.
Press release issued by UCF Today:
https://www.ucf.edu/news/award-winning-advisor-shaping-ucfs-brightest-engineering-minds/
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