Center changes name to reflect mission, Emerald Coast

August 11, 2005

The Graduate Engineering and Research Center became the University of Florida Emerald Coast Research and Engineering Education Facility (REEF) on Aug. 11.

Several notable industry and government representatives attended, including Maj. Gen. Bob Chedister, commander of the Air Armament Center; Mike Anderson, mayor of Fort Walton Beach; David Braithwaite, president of Compass Bank; and College of Engineering Dean Pramod Khargonekar, among others.

The name was changed to more accurately reflect the scope of its mission, and identify and honor its Emerald Coast roots. The facility houses classrooms for about 100 graduate students seeking master’s and doctorate degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering, electrical and computer engineering and industrial and systems engineering.

UF-REEF also is home to numerous laboratories designed to test advances in aerodynamics, applied computational mechanics, directed energy physics, composite materials and other areas receiving high priority attention from the Department of Defense.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has provided funding for many of the research efforts conducted at the UF-REEF. As a major component of its mission, UF-REEF supports the munitions research and other technical studies conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, and many of UF-REEF’s graduate students are either active duty military personnel, Air Force civil servants or engineers affiliated with Eglin’s contracting firms.

“What we offer is UF’s strong university reputation in an incredible location with a small campus atmosphere, engaging with high level technical leaders at Eglin AFB,” said Dr. John “Row” Rogacki, who became director of the facility in August 2004 after years with NASA and the Air Force Research Lab.

Ongoing research involves laboratory studies of short duration events, like impact of projectiles and shock waves using the diagnostic tools necessary to measure what goes on during those events such as lasers and high-speed imaging cameras. The REEF offers master’s, doctoral and certificate-level programs with an emphasis on:

  • Agile autonomous flight
  • Micro-air vehicles
  • Computational mechanics
  • Probabilistic optimization
  • Microwave photonics
  • Systems Engineering
  • Application of electromagnetic fields

In 1969, the University of Florida opened its center in Okaloosa County to support engineering research at Eglin AFB. Currently, the UF-REEF employs both resident and visiting international faculty with world-class reputations who gather in Okaloosa County to collaborate on a variety of next-generation science and technology issues.