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.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Transportation Center are collaborating to better understand the crash risks for teen drivers in the Commonwealth, with the goal of developing new strategies to improve driving safety. Working alongside state highway safety partners, the team is examining teen driver crash patterns to support Kentucky’s long-term safety goals. Fatal teen driver crashes are a complex, multi-layered problem, which requires expertise from an interdisciplinary team.
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.
Fatemeh Hamedi, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded a $4,200 Optics and Photonics Scholarship by the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), the international society for optics and photonics.
Markey Research Day also features annual awards, including the Markey Women Strong Distinguished Research Award. Presented by the Markey Cancer Foundation, the $100,000 prize is split between two researchers whose groundbreaking work addresses the cancer burden among women. This year’s award was given to Denise Fabian, M.D., UK College of Medicine, and Ni Su, Ph.D., UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering.
The cohort includes eight graduate students and four undergraduate students who will each receive a $6,000 fellowship to support their research, either during the summer or the 2026-27 academic year.
