Big ideas don’t wait — and neither do the researchers behind them.
The 2026 Reach for the Stars honorees — six UCF assistant professors — are already making a substantial impact on their respective fields through meaningful research and creative work that extends far beyond campus, with national and international influence.
Across disciplines, their work and research reflect a shared mission to advance ideas into impact — uncovering what shapes ethical decision-making in the workplace; exploring the origins of our solar system; developing computational solutions to meet future energy demands; designing more intuitive and reliable software experiences; strengthening education for students with disabilities; and engineering faster, more energy-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Together, this brilliant group represents the kind of bold, forward-thinking innovation UCF continues to champion.
Each year, the Reach for the Stars awards recognize early-career faculty opening new doors for what’s possible across their fields. The prestigious award is second only to Pegasus Professor as UCF’s highest faculty honor.
In recognition of their achievements, each honoree will receive a $10,000 annual research grant for three years in addition to the distinction of being an award recipient.
The UCF community is cordially invited to come and congratulate the recipients from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, in the Pegasus Ballroom at the Student Union as part of the 2026 Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration.
Meet the Reach for the Stars honorees from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, Kevin Moran and Hao Zheng.
Kevin Moran
Assistant professor of computer science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, director of the Software Automation, Generation and Engineering Research Lab and affiliate of the Cyber Security and Privacy faculty cluster initiative
What’s something few people know about you?
I was a Division 1 rower as an undergraduate at the College of the Holy Cross. Our team competed in the national championship regatta my senior year and was ranked among the top 20 teams in the country.
What does your research focus on?
If you’ve ever been frustrated by glitches in apps or websites, my students, collaborators and I aim to give engineers the tools they need to build more reliable software. My group has pioneered work in user interface engineering, focusing on user-facing systems and making software easier to use.
What drives you to take on this challenge?
Since I was young, I’ve enjoyed building things, taking them apart and understanding how they work. I view software as the ultimate engineering medium, where abstract ideas can quickly become reality. What excites me most is tackling the complexity of modern software systems by developing tools that engineers can easily adopt. Seeing those tools save engineers hours or days of time is truly fun.
What makes UCF the right place for you to do this kind of work?
UCF has been an excellent place to grow as an early-career researcher. I’ve received invaluable mentorship from department and college leadership, as well as senior faculty. The university’s connection to the local tech industry is also exciting, and I look forward to forming connections with local companies to put our tools into practice.
What’s next for you or your research?
Software engineering is rapidly shifting toward agentic workflows, where AI-powered agents perform engineering tasks autonomously. While this increases speed, it also introduces complex errors that are harder to spot. My lab aims to understand these software engineering agents, improve their reliability and create tools that help developers use them effectively.
Hao Zheng
Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science
What’s something few people know about you?
I enjoy traveling, especially visiting national parks and exploring new cities. Each trip helps me recharge, and I often come back with fresh perspectives and new ideas.
What does your research focus on?
My research focuses on making today’s AI systems faster, more energy-efficient and more reliable by bridging the gap between algorithms and hardware. AI has reshaped daily life, but behind the scenes, modern AI models require enormous amounts of computation and energy. My work explores new ways to co-design hardware and software so AI can run efficiently, especially for irregular or sparse data structures, such as graphs.
What drives you to take on this challenge?
I’m driven by both the importance and the difficulty of the problem. We’re at the turning point of rethinking future computing systems. Defining a new computing paradigm, despite its challenges, can have a far-reaching impact across society. Our research can fundamentally reshape how future computers are designed and how AI is deployed at scale.
What makes UCF the right place for you to do this kind of work?
UCF is an ideal place to pursue bold research ideas, supported by strong momentum in engineering, computing and interdisciplinary collaboration. The university also offers an exceptional and supportive community of mentors and collaborators, including students, who set a high bar for excellence. I’ve been fortunate to work with many outstanding colleagues, and those experiences have shaped how I think about building a high-impact research program and growing as a scholar.
What’s next for you or your research?
Next, we’re expanding our work toward real-world deployments, including applications in healthcare and robotics. We’re also continuing to strengthen our research in building processors for AI and scientific computing so that our ideas can translate into improvements in performance and energy efficiency.