UCF-Led $20M NSF Initiative, Co-Led by Florida Semiconductor Engine to Scale Deep-Tech Commercialization Nationwide
Posted on: September 23, 2026
Orlando, Fla., September 21, 2026 – The University of Central Florida (UCF) is leading the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) new National Commercialization and Translation Institute (NCTI). This $20 million, two-year pilot program will help late-stage, federally funded technology companies make the move from validated technology to commercial success. Dr. Ronald F. Piccolo, CEO of the NSF Florida Semiconductor Engine, will serve as a co-principal investigator.
UCF Professor Ivan Garibay is the program’s lead. He is joined by Dr. Michael Georgiopoulos, Dean of UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, and Professor Thomas O’Neal. NCTI will serve NSF-funded SBIR and STTR Phase II and Phase IIB small businesses in areas such as AI, biotechnology and quantum computing. Each company will get individualized support: a diagnostic triage, a commercialization plan, a dedicated mentor team, and curated introductions to customers, investors, industry and national laboratories. More than 30 organizations have backed the effort, including Samsung, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory.
Dr. Piccolo will help shape and carry out the institute’s research plan, which studies why some promising technologies become viable companies while others stall. He will also help connect NCTI with the national network of NSF Engines, which covers energy, quantum, critical materials, semiconductors and more.
“The Florida Semiconductor Engine is charged with translating and commercializing promising technologies in the semiconductor domain,” said Dr. Piccolo. “I am hopeful that we can support similar efforts in adjacent technologies. …NCTI extends the university’s portfolio of programs that support entrepreneurship, technology development and market readiness.”
The Florida Semiconductor Engine congratulates UCF and the NCTI team on this national milestone. The award builds on the university’s long record of moving research from the lab to the marketplace, through the UCF Business Incubation Program, NSF I-Corps, NSF Accelerating Research Translation (ART) and the Engine itself.
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Florida Semiconductor Engine aims to transform the U.S. semiconductor industry through advanced and specialty packaging by fostering collaborative research and translational innovations, developing a world-class technical workforce, and driving regional economic prosperity.
