Materials and Manufacturing connects discovery with production, helping turn ideas into technologies that can scale. This area includes critical minerals and metallurgy, additive and robotic manufacturing and unconventional electronics, all aimed at strengthening advanced manufacturing capacity and supporting innovation across industries.
As Artemis II prepares to lift off — marking the first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years — researchers at the University of Kentucky are celebrating a milestone years in the making and their role in helping bring astronauts home safely. An Orion capsule seated atop a 322-foot rocket will blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as 6:24 p.m. ET Wednesday, April 1. Its mission: carry four astronauts around the moon and back — sending humans the farthest they’ve ever been from Earth.
Last month, 40 University of Kentucky Department of Mining Engineering students attended MINEXCHANGE 2026, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) Annual Conference & Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah. UK mining engineering faculty and students also presented 27 papers.
For more than three decades, the University of Kentucky's Lean Systems Program has helped businesses and organizations across the state meet workflow demands — positioning Kentucky as a national leader in operational excellence by increasing productivity, reducing waste and strengthening workforce engagement, while maintaining quality and competitiveness.
Martha Grady, Ph.D., a Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Scholar and an associate department chair in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is leading a multidisciplinary team to investigate how 3D-printed titanium can be engineered to resist harmful bacteria.
Two engineering undergraduate researchers, Jacob Childress, Katelyn Straw, will present their work at the 24th annual Posters-at-the-Capitol on March 5.
The KREPE-3 mission capsule sendoff offers a unique opportunity to view all 12 flight capsules before their delivery to the International Space Station.
The Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky is expanding opportunities for students across the Commonwealth by launching four new transfer pathways from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) into its Lean Systems Engineering Technology (LST) bachelor’s degree program
The annual Beilby Medal & Prize recognizes scientists and engineers for outstanding work of exceptional practical significance in materials, chemical or related engineering fields. The Early Investigator Award from the American Chemical Society, Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering recognizes early career scientists who have had a significant impact on the field of polymer science and engineering.
A team of students and faculty from the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering will make history in Norway, launching a UK-developed payload as part of NASA’s GHOST spaceflight mission.
Ibrahim Jawahir, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing, received the UK Sustainability Yanarella Levine Legacy Award at the 2025 Sustainability Showcase. The award recognizes members of the UK community who have contributed a tremendous body of work supporting a legacy of sustainability at the University of Kentucky and beyond.
