The Pigman College of Engineering is building one of the University of Kentucky’s fastest-growing research enterprises, securing more than $127 million in total research awards with $56.9 million in awards with engineering faculty as the principal investigators. Through Research Focus Areas in human health and safety; energy and infrastructure; materials and manufacturing; national security; and computing, networks and AI, PCoE researchers are strengthening recognized areas of excellence while expanding collaboration across UK to address complex challenges in Kentucky, the nation and the world.
Hastings’ research interests span nanoscale photonic and magnetic devices, nanomanufacturing, and their applications in sensing, energy, and unconventional computing. He has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed journal articles, delivered over 100 conference presentations and invited talks, and holds seven U.S. patents. His work has been supported by more than $30 million in research awards, including federal, state, foundation and industry funding. Hastings has served as principal investigator on over half of these awards.
Hastings is a recipient of both the NSF CAREER award and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award, and has been recognized with the College of Engineering Excellence in Research award and University Research Professorship. He also co-founded IOPtic, Inc., a medical device startup focused on vision technologies.
As the United States pushes to accelerate innovation, researchers from the University of Kentucky will play a leading role in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission.
As greenhouse agriculture continues to expand to meet growing food demands, researchers at the University of Kentucky are developing new technologies to produce healthier crops more efficiently, while also reducing the time and labor required to grow them. Biyun Xie, Ph.D., associate professor in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is the principal investigator on a nearly $1.2 million U.S. National Science Foundation grant to develop an autonomous robotic system that could transform how greenhouse-grown tomatoes are monitored and evaluated.
The Vesuvius Challenge, co-founded by Brent Seales, professor of computer science, has achieved a historic breakthrough in the recovery of the Herculaneum scrolls — revealing new texts, titles and authors unknown to history and ushering in a new era for the study of the ancient world. At the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli Vittorio Emanuele III — with Mount Vesuvius rising in the distance — lead researchers, collaborators and distinguished guests gathered to mark the milestone decades in the making.
Scott Berry, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, has been honored as a 2026-27 University Research Professor.
The Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment has announced the 17 researchers in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering awarded for fiscal year 2027. Established in 2024, the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment’s purpose is to advance research in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering through three strategic priorities:
When NASA’s Artemis II mission sent four astronauts on a path around the moon — farther from Earth than any humans have traveled in decades — the world watched in awe. Yet, one of the most critical parts of the journey remained invisible. For a team of faculty, staff and students in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at University of Kentucky, that unseen work is their expertise.
Yu, professor in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering in the UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, is the recipient of the 2026 Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize, awarded for outstanding contributions to original research and scholarship.
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Guoqiang Yu, Ph.D., Jack and Linda Gill Eminent Professor in Science and Engineering in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering, to its College of Fellows. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields.
Schmidt Sciences has awarded $11 million for up to 23 teams of researchers around the world to develop and apply artificial intelligence to archaeology, history, literature and other humanities disciplines, seeking to unlock new understandings of human history and culture, the organization announced today.
Kelly G. Pennell, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and director of the UK Superfund Research Center, has been named the inaugural director of engineering research endowments in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering.
