[Original Article]
Profound, Innovative, Analytical and Resilient: Meet UCF’s 2025 Reach for the Stars Honorees
The 2025 Reach for the Stars award recipients are recognized for conducting highly successful research and fostering creative activity that has a national or international impact.
By Eddy Duryea ’13 | March 27, 2025
Four UCF assistant professors are being recognized as 2025 Reach for the Stars honorees for their exceptional dedication to advancing knowledge through meaningful research.
Each early-career faculty researcher is making a substantial impact through their respective areas of expertise.
(Photo by Antoine Hart)
Yogesh Rawat
- Assistant professor at the Center for Research in Computer Vision at UCF.
- Ph.D. in computer science at the National University of Singapore.
Yogesh Rawat aspires toward a future where artificial intelligence (AI) is accurate, efficient and ultimately trustworthy.
Rawat, who completed his postdoctoral training at UCF’s Center for Research in Computer Vision (CRCV) from 2017 to 2019, continues to hone his expertise in AI and computer vision as an assistant professor.
His work with computer vision focuses on video understanding, which enables AI to interpret media and respond to real-world events automatically.
“The world generates massive amounts of video data every second — whether through CCTV cameras, medical imaging or autonomous systems,” Rawat says. “However, manually analyzing such data is nearly impossible. My research focuses on developing AI models that can efficiently process and understand video streams in real time, allowing for faster decision-making in high-stakes environments.”
Allowing AI and machine learning to sift through and decipher video datasets may prove to be valuable as data interpretation can be automated to free up human expertise for high-level decision making, he says.
“The ability to analyze video in real time has immense potential to make our world safer and more efficient,” Rawat says. “From healthcare to security, disaster response and law enforcement, AI can provide instant insights where human analysis may be slow or impractical.
His research is funded by a variety of sources including the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity as part of the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and it has resulted in multiple patents and even a startup company. Among his proudest accomplishments are his contributions to secure and AI-powered identification systems.
“The intersection of technology and real-world impact is what drives my passion for this field,” Rawat says.
He credits UCF’s enduring legacy as one of the top computer vision programs in the world to several key factors which ultimately led him here.
“UCF is one of the fastest-growing universities in the country, with a strong commitment to innovation and interdisciplinary research,” Rawat says. “It is home to one of the top computer vision research groups, led by [CRCV Director] Mubarak Shah, and offers a collaborative, resource-rich environment that enables groundbreaking AI research. The university’s strong connections with government agencies also provide an excellent platform for translating research into real world impact.”
Earning a Reach for the Stars award is something, he says, that is both humbling and profoundly inspiring.
“It is incredibly motivating to see my research acknowledged in this way and it reaffirms my commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI for societal benefit,” Rawat says. “This award is not just a personal achievement — it is a testament to the hard work of my students, collaborators and the incredible research environment at UCF.”
Similar to how his work with AI and computer vision is guided by human guidance, Rawat says his success is guided by those who support him at UCF.
“This recognition would not have been possible without the unwavering support of UCF,” he says. “I am deeply grateful to the technical assistance team, Mubarak Shah, [Department of Computer Science Chair] Damla Turgut, [Professor] Gary Leavens and [CECS Dean] Michael Georgiopoulos. I must give special recognition to [CRCV Administrative Coordinator] Cherry Place, whose incredible support has made a profound impact on my success.”
There are so many people at UCF to thank that at times it may be challenging to quantify just how crucial of a role they play, but Rawat says he’s particularly grateful for Place’s assistance and coordination.
“To be honest, at least 30% of what I have achieved would not have been possible without her,” he says. “I truly appreciate everything she has done for me and for our research group.”