The smart sensor project currently underway in Osceola County is big and some call it a game changer, but the president of University of Central Florida thinks it’s much more than that.

During a panel discussion July 15 at the Florida Economic Development Conference, UCF President John Hitt was asked what he thought about the planned Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center for Osceola County. His response: It’s not just changing the game, it’s a whole different sport.

If DT Minich’s vision is successful, Kissimmee will be known as the “Vacation Home Capital of the World” — complete with pro athletes and corporate executives popping in for stays at sprawling, richly appointed mansions.

“It’s real exciting for us,” said Minich, chief executive officer and president of Experience Kissimmee. “It’s a whole different market.”

Different doesn’t begin to describe the luxury-rental-home market for which Kissimmee is becoming known.

A year after it was created, The International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research is planning its “coming out party” at the nation’s leading semiconductor manufacturing conference, which runs July 14-16 in San Francisco.

Last June, the University of Central Florida, Osceola County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council committed funding and resources to develop the $61 million state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing research center.

Valencia College had a dilemma.

When it got a $2.5 million federal grant under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative in 2014 to expand training and education in high-tech manufacturing, it was missing a key component: A manufacturing training center.

Wanting to get started on training the future workforce due to more than 5,000 manufacturing job openings in Florida, with nearly 2,000 in Central Florida, Valencia College needed a facility quickly — without having to jump through the hoops of getting a building site approved and landing state construction funds

A ribbon cutting and open house for the The Carrousel Therapy Center was held on May 18, 2014.

The Center is a 14,200 square foot state of the art facility that offers unique interdisciplinary and centralized therapy and behavioral health services in Central Florida.