To fund faculty and graduate student research endeavors, the college receives over $70 million annually in grant awards.
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Our research areas include artificial intelligence, energy, carbon capture, security, sustainable manufacturing, resilient infrastructure, transportation, advanced materials, rare earth materials, computational systems and health applications.
Immerse yourself in active research labs, present at conferences, publish scientific papers in respected journals and work with colleagues who are committed to advancing the commonwelth of Kentucky and beyond .
The field of engineering is a team story. Many research opportunities are interdisciplinary in their approach to solution discovery. Work with the Director of Graduate Studies in your area of interest to find a graduate assistantship or fellowship.
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If you want to work with renowned faculty, immerse yourself in an active research lab, present at conferences and publish scientific papers in respected journals, you should consider a graduate degree program at the University of Kentucky.
Over 30 of our faculty members have received CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation, and the college receives over $70 million annually in grant awards.
The College hosts ten research units and is affiliated with numerous other University of Kentucky research centers and institutes.
The University of Kentucky Pigman College of Engineering is the largest and highest-ranked engineering college in the state. With our small class sizes and wide-ranging opportunities for student involvement and leadership, we want to help you build your future in engineering.
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Alexandra F. Paterson’s research paves the way for more reliable and innovative technologies that could benefit health care, manufacturing and everyday life. For her work, she has earned two prestigious national awards for early-career faculty: the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award.
Alexandre Martin, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky, has been awarded the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal — one of the highest honors given to individuals outside the agency.
The University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering is pleased to announce the appointment of J. Todd Hastings, Ph.D. as associate dean for research and graduate studies, effective July 1, 2025.
Brent Seales, heritage science chair in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky, has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant as part of an international team seeking to unlock the secrets of the Herculaneum scrolls.
SPARK Lab researchers within the Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering received a best student demo award at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Electric Machines and Drives (IEMDC), which was held in Houston, TX.