UCF was founded in 1963 as Florida Technological University to supply talent for the United States space program at Cape Canaveral. The university now identifies itself as America’s Space University and marks its origins each year with UCF Space Week.
The school is ranked as the No. 1 provider of talent to the aerospace and defense industries, according to Aviation Week. Private firms such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Amazon Leo have facilities on the Space Coast, reflecting a shift toward commercial space activity. The Barry S. Miller College of Business supports Space Week, having helped host The Economist’s Space Economy Summit last year and again this October, where faculty will explore the implications of a SpaceX initial public offering for space commercialization. The college also offers a space MBA that blends traditional business disciplines with space finance, entrepreneurship, strategy, policy and leadership.
One former student ambassador, Harper Cheyenne ’21, studied finance, marketing and astrophysics at UCF and now works for NASA as a test director after experience as a systems engineer for Kennedy Propellants and Life Support Services. She is known on campus as Rocket Girl.
Press release issued by UCF Today:
https://www.ucf.edu/news/why-ucf-is-a-leader-for-the-next-space-economy/
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