{"id":150667,"date":"2026-01-29T12:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=150667"},"modified":"2026-02-04T10:53:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:53:37","slug":"ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Educators at UCF<\/a> do more than teach coursework \u2014 they mentor the next generation of professionals, helping them discover what\u2019s possible for themselves and guide them toward it. One engineering<\/a> professor has been recognized for his impact beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n

January is National Mentoring Month<\/strong>, celebrating the value of mentorship and its positive impact on individuals and communities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Florida Education Fund (FEF) unanimously selected Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay as the recipient of the 2025-26 William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award, honoring faculty who demonstrate extraordinary commitment to mentoring and supporting McKnight Doctoral fellows.<\/p>\n

It Began with a Nomination<\/h3>\n

For Mukhopadhyay, the recognition carries added meaning because it came from the people he prioritizes most: his students.<\/p>\n

He was nominated by Amanda Bernard \u201922<\/strong>, a first-year doctoral student, McKnight Doctoral fellow and member of Mukhopadhyay\u2019s KM Lab<\/a>. A faculty member in materials science and engineering, Mukhopadhyay says the award came as a complete surprise, as he didn\u2019t even know he was nominated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s special knowing that this is a student-nominated award,\u201d Mukhopadhyay says. \u201cSpecial thanks to my student, Ms. Amanda Bernard, for secretly nominating me for this award. This is also my first award for mentorship, so it is very special to me. I am so thankful to the FEF committee for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Support That Opens Doors<\/h3>\n

Bernard\u2019s path to doctoral study reflects the kind of trajectory Mukhopadhyay works to develop. She first joined the KM Lab as an undergraduate biology student and has remained a member for the past year. After earning her bachelor\u2019s degree, she planned to pursue a master\u2019s degree in materials science and engineering<\/a>, until Mukhopadhyay \u2014 known simply as \u201cDr. K\u201d to his students \u2014 encouraged her to aim for a doctoral degree.<\/p>\n

“Rarely do you meet a professor whose passion is to see his students succeed without expecting anything back.” \u2014 Amanda Bernard \u201922<\/strong>, UCF doctoral student<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mukhopadhyay quickly began helping Bernard envision a future she hadn\u2019t fully considered for herself. Within weeks of her joining the KM Lab, Bernard says that he was researching fellowships and internships to support her graduate journey, which led her to the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you join Dr. K\u2019s lab, he always has your back,\u201d Bernard says. \u201cHe defends his students, advocates for them and does the behind-the-scenes work most mentors never bother with.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Bernard learned she could nominate a professor for the Outstanding Mentor Award, it wasn\u2019t a question of who; it was just a matter of winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring my time at UCF, I have met many professors, some of whom have passions in research, teaching, social service and more,\u201d Bernard says. \u201cRarely do you meet a professor whose passion is to see his students succeed without expecting anything back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mentorship That Starts with Students<\/h3>\n

That belief defines Mukhopadhyay\u2019s approach to mentorship. Over the years, he has mentored nearly 50 students, including visiting scholars, postdoctoral researchers and high school students. His advising philosophy has evolved over the years, shaped by what he\u2019s learned from conferences, books and his personal experience.<\/p>\n

“Every scholar is like a puzzle, and I love being able to serve as a resource to help connect the pieces for each one.” \u2014 Kausik Mukhopadhyay, UCF assistant professor<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mukhopadhyay says the key to his success as a mentor lies in how he approaches his mentees. He views them as colleagues, not students, and listens to their thoughts and questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe a faculty\u2019s success depends on how successful their students are,\u201d Mukhopadhyay says. \u201cEvery scholar is like a puzzle, and I love being able to serve as a resource to help connect the pieces for each one \u2014 whether by answering questions about a plan of work and training, pointing them to resources, helping them set and achieve academic and career goals, or simply offering words of encouragement and support when plans don\u2019t get going.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bernard, that support has been transformative. It reflects the power of UCF \u2014 a university where mentorship fuels momentum and where faculty invest not only in solving the world\u2019s greatest problems, but also in its people.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing intentional about creating or modifying my philosophy allows me to reflect on how I interact with [students], make space for their independence and improvement as needed, and contribute to society and the next generation of students,\u201d Mukhopadhyay says.<\/p>\n

For the students who walk into his lab, it often marks the moment they begin to see a bigger future and realize they\u2019re capable of achieving it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay has been honored with a prestigious Florida Education Fund award for his commitment to mentoring McKnight Doctoral fellows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":150669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,27],"tags":[973,16611,14751,54321],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-150667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-student-life","tag-college-of-engineering-and-computer-science","tag-department-of-materials-science-and-engineering","tag-faculty-excellence","tag-kausik-mukhopadhyay"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay has been honored with a prestigious Florida Education Fund award for his commitment to mentoring McKnight Doctoral fellows.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay has been honored with a prestigious Florida Education Fund award for his commitment to mentoring McKnight Doctoral fellows.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-29T17:34:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T15:53:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/01\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Juzanne Martin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Juzanne Martin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Juzanne Martin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/85cf3bab26b268af0b080375c968e4c7\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-29T17:34:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-04T15:53:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":760,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"College of Engineering and Computer Science\",\"Department of Materials Science and Engineering\",\"Faculty Excellence\",\"Kausik Mukhopadhyay\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Colleges & Campus\",\"Student Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2026\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/\",\"name\":\"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year | University of Central Florida News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-29T17:34:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-04T15:53:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/85cf3bab26b268af0b080375c968e4c7\"},\"description\":\"Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay has been honored with a prestigious Florida Education Fund award for his commitment to mentoring McKnight Doctoral fellows.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Doctoral student Amanda Bernard \u201922 (left) nominated Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay (right) for the 2025\u201326 William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award, crediting his guidance in her graduate school journey. (Photo courtesy of Kausik Mukhopadhyay)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\",\"description\":\"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/85cf3bab26b268af0b080375c968e4c7\",\"name\":\"Juzanne Martin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dde4c9f74164c19f7bd715ca1d859765427075cacceca377f7744b48a843a240?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dde4c9f74164c19f7bd715ca1d859765427075cacceca377f7744b48a843a240?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dde4c9f74164c19f7bd715ca1d859765427075cacceca377f7744b48a843a240?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Juzanne Martin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/ju068089\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\\\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"University of Central Florida\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year | University of Central Florida News","description":"Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay has been honored with a prestigious Florida Education Fund award for his commitment to mentoring McKnight Doctoral fellows.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year","og_description":"Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay has been honored with a prestigious Florida Education Fund award for his commitment to mentoring McKnight Doctoral fellows.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/","og_site_name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF","article_published_time":"2026-01-29T17:34:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-04T15:53:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/01\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Juzanne Martin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UCF","twitter_site":"@UCF","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Juzanne Martin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/"},"author":{"name":"Juzanne Martin","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/85cf3bab26b268af0b080375c968e4c7"},"headline":"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year","datePublished":"2026-01-29T17:34:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-04T15:53:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/"},"wordCount":760,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/01\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg","keywords":["College of Engineering and Computer Science","Department of Materials Science and Engineering","Faculty Excellence","Kausik Mukhopadhyay"],"articleSection":["Colleges & Campus","Student Life"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2026","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/","name":"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year | University of Central Florida News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/01\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-29T17:34:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-04T15:53:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/85cf3bab26b268af0b080375c968e4c7"},"description":"Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay has been honored with a prestigious Florida Education Fund award for his commitment to mentoring McKnight Doctoral fellows.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/01\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/01\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Doctoral student Amanda Bernard \u201922 (left) nominated Assistant Professor Kausik Mukhopadhyay (right) for the 2025\u201326 William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award, crediting his guidance in her graduate school journey. (Photo courtesy of Kausik Mukhopadhyay)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UCF Engineering Professor Named Outstanding Mentor of the Year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","description":"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/85cf3bab26b268af0b080375c968e4c7","name":"Juzanne Martin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dde4c9f74164c19f7bd715ca1d859765427075cacceca377f7744b48a843a240?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dde4c9f74164c19f7bd715ca1d859765427075cacceca377f7744b48a843a240?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dde4c9f74164c19f7bd715ca1d859765427075cacceca377f7744b48a843a240?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Juzanne Martin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/author\/ju068089\/"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-engineering-professor-named-outstanding-mentor-of-the-year\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"University of Central Florida"}]}},"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/01\/Kausik-Mukhopadhyay_Amanda-Bernard-1-300x200.jpg","primary_category":5,"primary_tag":973,"author_byline":"Marisa Ramiccio","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150667"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150762,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150667\/revisions\/150762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150667"},{"taxonomy":"tu_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tu_author?post=150667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}