University Of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc.

University Of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc. (Ucfrf), the research arm of the University of Central Florida, operates as a non-profit prime recipient of federal research contracts and grants (42% of recent awards) and as a subcontractor to defense and aerospace primes (58% of recent awards). Ucfrf is a Hispanic-Serving Institution headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and a tax-exempt corporate entity designated as a state-controlled institution of higher learning under its parent, The University Of Central Florida Board Of Trustees.

Ucfrf's federal footprint spans research, materials science, advanced manufacturing, and educational support services. On the prime contract side, Ucfrf holds sole-source purchase orders with NASA's Shared Services Center for Lunabotics competition support—a $117,461.92 order awarded October 2025 for the Exolith Lab's lunar regolith simulant production, the only NASA-affiliated facility in the United States capable of producing simulants at required fidelity and volume, and a $113,549 follow-on for 2026 competition management and scholarships—and with Naval Sea Systems Command for advanced transduction research, including a $100,000 order for hollow-core fiber optics development for laser transduction lab acoustic applications (awarded February 2025) and a $23,500 purchase order for linear piezoelectric transducer array development (awarded December 2024). On the grant side, Ucfrf holds a five-year cooperative agreement with the Department of Commerce Office of Investments and Innovations for the Foundations and Advanced Technologies for Small Business (FAST) program, awarded September 2024 through September 2029, and an $11 million project grant from the Economic Development Administration's Economic Adjustment Assistance program, awarded September 2022, to upgrade the Center for Neovation Advanced Manufacturing facility and support Central Florida's semiconductor cluster development.

Customer concentration sits with research-intensive and defense agencies. The Department of the Navy Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center leads by award count (6 awards), followed by the Small Business Administration's Office of Investments and Innovations and NASA's Shared Services Center (3 awards each). By potential value, the Department of Veterans Affairs Technology Acquisition Center anchors at $337,000, followed by NASA Shared Services Center ($249,000 across three awards) and Naval Sea Systems Command ($124,000 across two awards). The 37% coverage across the top five customers indicates a distributed portfolio across 24 distinct agencies. Ucfrf's subcontractor footprint includes recurring task order work under Stracon Services Group, LLC against the Navy's Internal Command Support Services (ICSS) IDIQ N6134020D0024 (six task orders documented through 2024), supporting Naval Air Warfare Center Technical Services Division; sub-award work with Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC on Department of Energy management and operating contracts for Y-12 National Security Complex and Pantex Plant; and technical research support to Lockheed Martin (high enthalpy aperture technology fiber validation, June 2024), Booz Allen Hamilton (task order support as direct support organization of an educational institution, September 2024), and Mainstream Engineering Corp (Army Small Business Technology Transfer Program blackwater treatment system development, December 2022).

On the grant sub-award side, Ucfrf acts as sub-recipient across higher-education and public-media consortia. It holds sub-awards from the University of Texas at El Paso (Defense Faculty Leadership and Engagement Program and Department of Defense research program development, December 2024), Oregon State University (NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center work, July 2024), the Corporation For Public Broadcasting (Ready to Learn Learning Neighborhood programs, $75,000 per year through multiple cycles, most recently amended December 2024), the University of Miami (CHARM P30 renewal sub-award, February 2025), Florida International University (3D printing and machine learning research, June 2023), and the International Association of Forensic Nurses (forensic survey and needs assessment design and analysis, May 2022).

Activity shows modest recent volume. Awards per year tracked at 6 in 2023, accelerated to 11 in 2024, then dropped to 3 in 2025 and 1 in 2026 year-to-date. Two awards (combined potential value $214,000) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. Service Contract Inventory reporting captures 7 SCI-reportable records as named subcontractor across fiscal years 2022–2024, with estimated FTE delivery rising from 8.8 FTEs in FY2022 to 11.2 FTEs in FY2024; no SCI-reported prime service contracts appear in the dataset, consistent with Ucfrf's posture as a grant and task-order subcontractor rather than a holder of large federal service IDIQs. Combined potential value across all 43 awards (prime and sub) totals $909,000, but combined dollars obligated total $29.4 million, reflecting the performance of multi-year grants and standing orders against Navy IDIQs whose true commitment value far exceeds their original ceiling. The portfolio exhibits significant naval research and development concentration, aerospace education and research support, and a secondary role in economic development and higher-education consortium work.