Energy and Infrastructure focuses on building the reliable systems communities need to thrive. Research in power generation and resilient transportation infrastructure supports stronger energy resources and more durable transportation networks, helping prepare communities for growth, disruption and the demands of the future.
Diana M. Byrne, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, has been honored with the 2026 Best Reviewer Award for the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. The Best Reviewer Award is selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) awards committee and Byrne will be honored at the 2026 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress in Mobile, Alabama in April.
Hortin and her winning Engineering Design Challenge team decided to tackle the challenge of carbon sequestration. They prototyped a plant window box named, “C- filtration box,” that leverages photosynthesis to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – turning every apartment window in an urban city into a micro-carbon filter.
The University of Kentucky placed third at the 28th Annual Carlson Senior Mine Design Competition. The national competition invites students from accredited mining engineering universities to submit their capstone projects to compete with other universities on the best overall mine design.
Daykin Schnell, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mining Engineering, recently finished in the top three of the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America and Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME), Pittsburgh Section's Short Presentation Contest for his presentation, "Full-scale and small-scale modeling and testing of underground methane explosions."
UK alumnus Eric Wooldridge ‘01, ‘19 ENG uses a little concrete, a little technology and a lot of ingenuity as he constructs houses for Kentuckians that can take a real wallop.
Congratulations to Department of Mining Engineering seniors, Baylor Mattingly, Waylon Martin, Andrew Minckley and Tyler Stephens, who won third place in the 2025 David D. Eyer Senior Capstone Design Project Award competition.
Researchers in the University of Kentucky Karen and Stanley Pigman College of Engineering were awarded $2 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a cutting-edge weather forecasting system with the NSF’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Thanks to the generous support of Stanley and Karen Pigman and Kentucky’s Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF), engineering researchers are receiving additional annual funding to enhance the research priorities and programs of the Pigman College of Engineering. Established in 2024, the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment supports faculty, research, graduate students, facilities and research infrastructure in the Pigman College of Engineering. This year, the endowment made $235,000 in funds available for distribution.
L. Sebastian Bryson, Ph.D., Hardin-Drnevich-Huang Professor and chair of the Department of Civil Engineering in the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, was the recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Engineering Educator Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Kentucky Section. The award was presented on Sept. 12 at the ASCE Kentucky Section Annual Meeting in Lexington.
SPARK Lab researchers within the Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Kentucky Pigman College of Engineering received the best poster award for a paper at the 2025 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) International Transportation Electrification Conference & Expo (ITEC) in Anaheim, California.
