Faculty

Gregory Welch is a Pegasus Professor, the AdventHealth Endowed Chair in Healthcare Simulation, and co-director of the Synthetic Reality Lab at the UCF Institute for Simulation & Training. A computer scientist and engineer, he also has appointments in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and in the Institute for Simulation & Training and is a member of UCF’s Learning Sciences Faculty Research Cluster. Welch’s research interests include human-computer interaction, human motion tracking, virtual and augmented reality, computer graphics and vision, and training-related applications. He has co-authored more than 140 publications in these areas, and his work has resulted in more than 25 patents to-date at UCF. The simulation and modeling expert has received several awards for his contributions to the field, and has shared his expertise in numerous workshops and seminars and on numerous international program committees. Prior to joining UCF, Welch was a research professor at the University of North Carolina. He also worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and at Northrop-Grumman’s Defense Systems Division.

Education

• PhD in Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• MS in Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• BS in Electrical Engineering Technology, Purdue University

Selected Editorial Activities

• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Virtual Reality
• Associate Editor, PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality

Selected Awards & Honors

• Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2022
• Fellow, National Academy of Inventors, 2021
• Scroll & Quill Society, University of Central Florida, 2021
• Pegasus Professor, University of Central Florida, 2020
• Virtual Reality Technical Achievement Award, IEEE, 2018
• Luminary Award, University of Central Florida, 2017
• Research Incentive Award, University of Central Florida, 2017

Selected Professional Activities

• IEEE Technical Expert for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, IEEE Public Visibility Initiative
• Member of the Council on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Global Future Councils, World Economic Forum
• International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association
• Association for Computing Machinery
• Vision Sciences Society
• Society for Simulation in Healthcare
• International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation & Learning