Lexington and Paducah
NACE Summer 2023
The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering offers programs of study leading to M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering. Graduate students will have the opportunity to work closely with internationally recognized faculty members on research at the leading edge of technology
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We are proud to offer the only undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering in the state of Kentucky! Mechanical engineers apply their expertise to the design, development and mass production of everything from rocket propulsion systems to appliances.
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With over 30 full-time faculty members dedicated to teaching and research, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering supports research in numerous relevant fields. We advance aerospace research and often work with NASA on research methods for its future missions. Mechanical and aerospace engineering is a diverse discipline, and our robust faculty is engaged in every aspect of it.
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Gifts to the Mechanical Engineering Enhancement Fund can supplement existing operating budgets or provide revenue that can be directed toward emerging needs and opportunities such as scholarships, faculty support, facility enhancement and unrestricted support for departments. This valuable support allows the college to be flexible and responsive and demonstrate the truth that there is power in numbers.
The Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing pioneers new manufacturing standards that respect the planet’s resources.
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Our Institute of Research for Technological Development (IR4TD) explores fire research, painting technology research, lean manufacturing systems and more.
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In November, University of Kentucky Pigman College of Engineering faculty provided a platform for experts to exchange ideas and innovations in hypersonic atmospheric reentry, materials science and space exploration technologies at the 14th Ablation Workshop at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
In May, Y. Charles Lu, Ph.D., director of the UK Engineering Paducah Campus and H.E. Katterjohn Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, was named to the 2023 class of Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Fellows. Established in 1975, the Fellow grade membership recognizes and honors long-term members who have made a significant impact on society's mobility technology through leadership, research and innovation.
Anderson, a 1950 UK mechanical engineering graduate and founder of Belcan Corporation, was one of three inducted in a formal ceremony held in Lexington on Oct. 19.
The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering recently sent a team of 12 faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students to Tulsa, Oklahoma to participate in a Small-UAS Coordination for Atmospheric Low-Level Environmental Sampling (SCALES) measurement campaign.
Tracy Drain '98 shares her journey from UK mechanical engineering undergraduate to NASA engineer for the Europa Clipper in a video for the National Academy of Sciences' LabX.
Established in 2024, the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment supports faculty, research, graduate students, facilities and research infrastructure in the Pigman College of Engineering. In its inaugural year, the endowment has made $160,000 in funds available for distribution, with a priority on faculty and research scholar support.