Kareem Ahmed of UCF is developing detonation-based propulsion and new fuels to propel rockets at hypersonic speeds, five times faster than the speed of sound. Ahmed has received $1.5 from the U.S. Department of Defense to advance the technology for interplanetary travel.

“If the technology is successfully advanced, detonation-based hypersonic propulsion could be implemented into human atmospheric and space travel in the coming decades,” Ahmed says. The advancement reflects UCF’s role in producing technology for the nation’s space race.

• Kareem Ahmed