Sudipta Seal, Ph.D.

University of Central Florida material sciences engineers Melanie Coathup and Sudipta Seal have designed a cerium oxide nanoparticle—an artificial enzyme—that protects bones against damage from radiation. The nanoparticle has also shown abilities to improve bone regeneration, reduce loss of blood cells and help kill cancer cells.

Their study, a collaboration with Oakland University, North Carolina A&T University, the University of Sheffield and University of Huddersfield in the U.K., was published in Bioactive Materials… Continue reading.

THree University of Central Florida professors are being recognized for their prolific spirit of innovation, which has benefitted economic development, quality of life and the well-being of society.

The three have distinguished themselves for creating inventions in the areas of photonics and nanotechnology, which have everyday applications.

For their work, the National Academy of Inventors named Michael Bass, Peter J. Delfyett and Sudipta Seal, NAI Fellows for 2013.

When Sudipta Seal and his co-principal investigator Larry Hench applied for a grant from the National Science Foundation, their goal was to create a material that could remove large volumes of oil from seawater economically and using a process that would be completely green.

In July 2010, Seal and Hench received a Rapid Response Grant from NSF’s Division of Materials Research to develop a novel process for treating fly ash — a by-product of burning coal — to absorb oil.

RAPID awards are given to projects that address urgent challenges caused by natural or man-made disasters and similar unanticipated events.

Seal’s and Hench’s grant was one of several that NSF awarded to help with cleanup and environmental protection after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The foundation made more than 60 awards, totaling nearly $7 million, in geosciences, computer simulation, engineering and other fields.

In the months after the largest oil spill in U.S. history, scientists faced the challenge of how best to clean up the millions of barrels of oil polluting seawater, marshes and beaches. There were questions about the relative safety of the various absorbent materials, as well as their expense and disposal. Furthermore, some of the materials dispersed rather than removed the oil, which led to further challenges.

University of Central Florida professor was awarded for his outstanding contribution to engineering during the 2013 Central Florida Engineers Week Awards Banquet.

Sudipta Seal, an engineering professor and director of the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center and Nanoscience Technology Center at UCF, was the recipient of the Technical Excellence award for Academia. Seal was among a select group of engineers, companies (both private and public) and projects who were nominated for this year’s awards.

Dr. Sudipta Seal and David Reid will be honored by AVS: Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing. The AVS Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 in Tampa, FL.

Seal will receive the 2012 AVS Fellow award “for pioneering developments in design and synthesis of nanostructures for protective coatings, sensors, and anti-cancer treatments; and for avid support of nanotechnology education.”

David Reid, a Ph.D. student in Dr. Seal’s research group, is a finalist for the 2012 AVS National Student Award for his outstanding contribution in nanotechnology research.

Five University of Central Florida scientists and an internationally renowned musician were recognized as Pegasus Professors today, during the annual Founders’  Day ceremony in the Student Union.

The award is the most prestigious a faculty member can receive at UCF. The honor recognizes extraordinary contributions to the UCF community through teaching, research and service. Each recipient received a statue of the UCF Pegasus, a gold Pegasus Professor medallion and a check for $5,000.

This years winners are: Professor Donald C. Malocha from the College of Engineering and Computer Science; Physics Professor Talat Shahnaz Rahman from the College of Sciences; Martin Richardson, a professor in the College of Optics and Photonics and director of the Townes Laser Center; Sudipta Seal, an engineering professor and the director of the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center; Stella Sung, director of CREATE and an internationally known musician, and biology professor and marine conservation expert Linda Walters.

People don’t usually see the ash left over from the electricity that’s burned when they turn on their lights or run their air conditioners.

But at coal power plants, fly ash builds up every day, laced with heavy metals and toxins—one of the most difficult waste-management issues in the developed world.

In the United States, where a catastrophic 2008 coal ash spill sullied land, rivers, and homes over 300 acres (121 hectares) of Tennessee, government and industry are locked in a dispute over future handling of the nettlesome by-product of fossil-fueled electricity.

The good news: Waste from coal power plants doesn’t have to be a waste.

It can be recycled into a wide variety of materials, from concrete to fertilizer. Fly ash, the fine, powdery silica material that is part of the coal ash waste stream, in fact, has an array of physical and chemical properties that have led to inventive ideas for new applications. Entrepreneurs are looking at ideas for using it to build lighter armored vehicles or to clean up oil spills.

But policymakers around the world face a difficult challenge: How to encourage safe reuse of coal ash, while discouraging unsafe uses and protecting people and ecosystems from the risks that have escalated as coal ash waste piles and landfills have grown.

UCF researcher Sudipta Seal is highlighted in “florida HIGH .TECH 2010″ magazine as one of four Orlando-area “Faces of Technology” entrepreneurs whose innovative work has the potential to revolutionize the high-tech industry. 

Seal is director of UCF’s Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center and NanoScience Technology Center, a research and educational facility that develops nanostructures for applications in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, retinal degeneration, aging, UV protection, anti-inflammatory therapies, and developing novel nanoparticle strategies for radiative and non-radiative therapies for cancer.

The annual magazine, published by the Maddux Business Report in partnership with the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, is considered a comprehensive guide to Central Florida’s high tech community.