IEEE Recognizes UCF Faculty for Their Contributions to Technology
Pegasus Professors Issa Batarseh and Ronald DeMara have been recognized for their contributions to the field of engineering with prestigious industry honors from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Batarseh has been named the recipient of the 2025 IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies while DeMara has been elevated to the rank of IEEE Fellow. Both professors are tenured within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Medal of Honor
The IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies is awarded to an individual or team of up to three members that has made significant impact in the areas of intelligent transportation systems, wireless communications, sensor networks control and control and automation, computing and signal processing.
Batarseh was recognized for his outstanding accomplishments in the application of technology that can improve the environment or public safety. His citation reads: “For pioneering contributions to the advancement of renewable energy systems through significant improvement in the overall energy efficiency of microinverters.”
“I am deeply honored to receive the 2025 IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies, an acknowledgment that underscores the impact of our work on renewable energy systems and the environment,” Batarseh says. “This recognition is not just a personal achievement but a testament to the collaborative efforts of the talented colleagues and students I have had the privilege to work with over the years. At a time when sustainable solutions are critically needed, I am humbled to see our contributions recognized at this level, reaffirming the importance of innovation in shaping a better future for humanity.”
As a recipient of the IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies, which is sponsored by Toyota, Batarseh will receive a bronze medal, certificate and a $20,000 award. He will be presented with the award at the IEEE Vision, Innovation and Challenges Summit and Honors Ceremony at the Hilton Odaiba in Tokyo on April 24, 2025.
Batarseh was also recently named an ambassador for the National Academy of Inventors, which he has been a member of since 2016. In his 33-year career with UCF, he has served in prominent leadership positions within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and established the Florida Power Electronics Center, which has garnered more than $20 million in research funding since 1998.
His research focuses on power electronics with a specific focal point on advanced solar energy conversion systems that can save time and money. He’s a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and IEEE.
A Hard-Working Fellow
Batarseh is now joined among the ranks of IEEE fellows by his colleague, DeMara. IEEE recognizes DeMara for his contributions to runtime reconfigurable computing and resilient datapath design.
IEEE fellows are selected through a rigorous screening process and less than 0.1% of voting members are selected for this honor.
“IEEE Fellows are selected by their professional peers to have demonstrated exceptional technical accomplishments, including the innovation of novel design concepts,” DeMara says. “Moreover, those advancements were brought into practice via electronic products that contributed tangible benefits for humanity and society as a whole.”
DeMara joined UCF in 1993. He teaches courses in computer architecture, computer organization, evolvable hardware and parallel processing. Over the years, he has served as the computer engineering program coordinator, the founding director of the Evaluation and Proficiency Center and an iSTEM Fellow. He has garnered more than $6 million in research funding, obtained nearly $600,000 in lab equipment, and received several university and industry awards for his teaching and research.