Faculty members in the Department of Mining Engineering are at the forefront of next-generation mining technology and applications. Through funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Alpha Foundation and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, researchers are making advances in rare earth element recovery, autonomous underground mining systems that improve safety and mitigate damage from underground coal mine explosions.
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Summer 2024
Glassdoor, 2024
NACE, 2023
The Department of Mining Engineering offers an ABET-accredited undergraduate program on the Lexington, Kentucky campus.
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Two Master’s degrees, a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a graduate certificate are available from the Department of Mining Engineering.
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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.
Recently, mining engineering graduate students from the University of Kentucky student chapter of the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA) participated in the ARMA annual student design competition, placing third.
The annual Pigman College of Engineering Faculty Awards ceremony was held on May 1 at Malone's Prime and Events. Awards were given in the areas of research, service and graduate studies.
In February, faculty and students from the University of Kentucky Department of Mining Engineering received several awards at the Society for Mining Engineering's annual MINEXCHANGE conference in Denver, Colorado. Jack Groppo, professor and director of undegraduate studies in the Department of Mining Engineering, was named the winner of the 2025 Frank F. Aplan Award, which recognizes contributions that further the understanding of the technology of coal and/or mineral engineering.
Recently, students in the Department of Mining Engineering formed a new student chapter of the National Sand, Stone & Gravel Association (NSSGA) at the University of Kentucky. The NSSGA represents the aggregates industry, which includes companies involved in producing stone, sand, and gravel.
