The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 136 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines. Of those 136 scientists and scholars, 20 are UK Pigman College of Engineering faculty.
Zach Agioutantis, Ph.D., the Mining Engineering Foundation Professor and chair of the Department of Mining Engineering in the UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, has been honored as a 2025-26 University Research Professor.
The University of Kentucky Materials Science Research Priority Area (mRPA) has selected 11 researchers as recipients of multiple funding awards. Among the are four engineering faculty members.
As Paducah has emerged as the leader of Kentucky’s nuclear energy revival, the University of Kentucky Pigman College of Engineering – Paducah Campus is preparing to support the region’s workforce needs with the launch of a new course. Debuting this fall, EGR 599: Foundations of Nuclear Engineering: Principles and Applications, is designed to introduce students to the core principles of nuclear science and engineering, including nuclear reactions, reactor physics, radiation safety and nuclear fuel cycles.
Diana M. Byrne, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering in the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, is one of nine winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2025 Outstanding Teaching Awards.
A University of Kentucky Pigman College of Engineering alumnus is at the helm of one of the country’s most ambitious housing innovation projects. Eric Wooldridge, director of the Kentucky Community Technical College System (KCTCS) Additive Manufacturing Center, located at Somerset Community College (SCC), is spearheading the Floodbuster 1 project, reimagining how homes can be built to withstand disaster, reduce costs and speed up construction using 3D-printed concrete.
Safavi, a Ph.D. candidate in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering, was one of 74 students worldwide selected to receive the SPIE Optics and Photonics Scholarship. This prestigious award, granted by the SPIE Scholarship Committee, recognizes students with strong potential to advance the fields of optics, photonics and related disciplines.
The University of Kentucky Pigman College of Engineering was recognized for its quality of education in the top-half of U.S. News and World Report’s 2025 Best Engineering Schools. U.S. News and World Report, which annually ranks colleges and universities nationwide, ranked the Pigman College of Engineering No. 63 among public institutions, and No. 1 in the state of Kentucky.
Recent University of Kentucky graduates Lucas Gastineau and Asa O’Neal have been awarded U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $37,000. The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality and strength of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States.
