Florida Polytechnic University’s Phoenix Racing team is preparing for its first 1,500-mile cross-country solar race, the centerpiece of two national competitions in Minnesota this month. The team will compete in the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix before tackling the weeklong Electrek American Solar Challenge, a grueling endurance race from the Twin Cities to Texas.
Gov. Ron DeSantis approved $19 million for Florida Polytechnic University in the state’s 2026-2027 budget on Monday, June 29, fueling the University’s continued growth and expansion as Florida’s only public STEM university.
Florida Polytechnic University had the largest one-year performance gain among all state universities in the Florida Board of Governors’ 2025-26 Performance-Based Funding Model, earning a score of 87 out of 100 and securing nearly $11 million in performance funding.
Florida Polytechnic University graduates earn the highest salaries among alumni from Florida’s public universities five years after graduation, according to a recent analysis by the Tampa Bay Business Journal based on new Florida Department of Education data.
The Florida Polytechnic University Foundation Board of Directors has new leadership, five new members, and five reappointed community leaders. The Florida Poly Board of Trustees approved the appointments on May 22.
Few coaches can match a resume that includes winning an NBA championship alongside Michael Jordan and leading a college program to sustained success on the national stage. Dennis Hopson has done both. Florida Poly has named Hopson as the first head coach of its Men’s Basketball program.
LAKELAND, Fla. – The Combat Robotics Division of Florida Polytechnic University’s Purple Fire Robotics club is ready for a challenge unlike any it has ever faced. The team is preparing to pack up its champion robots and travel nearly 9,000 miles to prove their mettle at Techfest, a renowned robot fighting event hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
The technical know-how that senior Arthur Gelman sharpened in his computer science courses at Florida Polytechnic University is being put into practice this summer in a remote internship with MMG Fusion, a marketing and technology company based in Severna Park, Maryland. As a junior software developer, Gelman is working to help MMG Fusion complete its integration of a newly acquired
LAKELAND, Fla. – A team of researchers at Florida Polytechnic University is turning a disused golf cart into a solar-powered autonomous vehicle that will be used to advance cutting-edge research for years to come. The project is funded by the University’s Advanced Mobility Institute and will be used to support a $350,000 National Science Foundation award to develop a large-scale Hardware-in-the-Loop simulation
As the National Hurricane Center tracks Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, it’s a good time to revisit your personal disaster preparedness plans. The atmospheric disturbance is expected to become Tropical Storm Isaias soon and possibly make landfall in Florida by this weekend. With a hurricane season that forecasters expect to be busier than normal, these preparations can’t wait. By taking simple
Research underway at Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute (FIPR), a research entity within Florida Polytechnic University, was featured on “Action News Jax” as part of an investigative report on the future production of rare earth elements in the United States. The segment highlights a collaboration with Critical Materials Corporation (CMC), a company based in Jacksonville, Florida, which aims at providing a new source
Students who have a great idea and the drive to make it become a reality are finding support this summer with Phoenix Flight, Florida Polytechnic University’s new entrepreneurial internship program. The program took shape this summer after COVID-19 restrictions and closures caused many planned student internships to be delayed or canceled. More than 40 students are working in teams to
Juliana Laurin is using her passion for STEM to encourage children’s interest in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines. Her summer internship with Stemwerx is focused on creating an engaging experience for elementary-age kids through an innovative virtual book about engineering. “My team is in charge of planning, designing, and rendering three-dimensional computer-aided assets for the augmented reality aspect of
Students will have a fun, new musical outlet for their time and talent when Florida Polytechnic University kicks off its fall semester. The University has hired two band directors to lead the new Florida Poly Scatter Band. Scatter bands, also known as scramble bands, perform similarly to university marching bands, but rather than marching to form complex geometric formations, these
Lakeland, Fla. – July 20, 2020 – Florida Polytechnic University, known for shaping the state’s future STEM talent, today announces a partnership with Florida Funders, a hybrid of a venture capital fund and an angel investor network, to provide the next generation of students with meaningful connections in the technology startup industry. The partnership fosters the potential career placements of
Hackathons are a way of life at Florida Polytechnic University. The Programming Club is making sure students from all majors have the tools they need to join in and succeed at its upcoming Code of the Phoenix Mini Hackathon on July 25. The club is hosting virtual workshops throughout the month of July on topics such as the basics of
Materials science professors, researchers, and students from around the globe convened online recently for the International Webinar on Materials Synthesis and Characterization 2020, hosted jointly by Florida Polytechnic University and Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University in India. “The international scientific community learned about current trends and need-of-the-hour technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data, and 3D
The work senior Alexis Downing is doing as an intern with Argonne National Laboratory, a world-class science and engineering research center, will pave the way for a successful future in research. Downing is completing a remote Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) with the national lab located in Lemont, Illinois. She is working on its Muon g-2 experiment, which is measuring
Dr. Lily Li is a Professor of Physics at Florida Polytechnic University, where she specializes in materials science, analytical imaging, advanced manufacturing, and biomedical devices. Prior to joining Florida Poly in 2025, she spent 11 years at SUNY Potsdam, where she advanced to Full Professor and developed a 3-2 Engineering dual-degree program with Clarkson University. Her work emphasizes experiential learning and research-driven education to prepare students for careers in STEM fields.
