Industry Engagement

So much of what we do in the College of Engineering is not possible without generous philanthropic support. Contribute to the next generation of engineers in one or more of the following ways:

If your company is looking for ways to establish a presence within the UK College of Engineering, we offer numerous opportunities to make connections.

• Interact with our student organizations. You can present to a group, host a meeting, support a major project, judge student competitions, mentor student organizations or individuals and more.
• Sponsor Senior Capstone Design Projects. Providing a capstone design project for student teams is an excellent way to evaluate talent, get a proposed solution to a problem or challenge facing your company and increase your brand presence in the college.
• Lend your expertise at Career Connections. Volunteer by reviewing student resumes and participating in mock interviews through our Career Connections events.
• Participate in our Wildcat Cage Competition Connect with engineering student leaders through a new competition that allows your company to invest in a student organization’s initiative. All funds can be considered charitable and tax-deductible.
• Serve on advisory boards. Access to industry perspective is essential for our departments to be able to offer a leading-edge engineering education.
• Host Plant Tours. Offering plant tours is another way you can educate students about your products and processes.
• Be Part of our Engineers Day Open House (E-Day). Our annual E-Day celebration of engineering at UK takes place the last Saturday in February. Get your company’s name in front of thousands of engineering enthusiasts of all ages.
• Deliver a guest lecture. Speak at a student organization meeting or during a class about industry subject matter that will help relate their course content to the real world. It's a great way to increase awareness of your company.
• Collaborate on outreach initiatives. Throughout the year, we host outreach events that expose K-12 students to the world of engineering. You can join us by hosting a plant tour, serving as a guest speaker, underwriting an event or volunteering. 
• Be a mentor to a student. Share your work experience, professional knowledge and expertise, personal career path, and interests with your student mentee. 

Get Access to Experts

Our faculty members are not only experts in their fields, but also agile collaborators accustomed to working on multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional scales. Most of our faculty members operate highly sophisticated laboratories with specialized equipment and excellent graduate students. Take a moment to review our Researcher Database here or contact Kim Sayre to find the expert you are looking for.

Facilities and Research Units

The College of Engineering has 13 buildings that comprise nearly 300,000 square feet of usable space. The College also hosts ten research units and is affiliated with numerous other University of Kentucky research centers and institutes. 

• Center for Aluminum Technology
• Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering 
• Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments
• Electron Microscopy Center
• Kentucky Transportation Center
• Institute of Research for Technology Development
• Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing
• Vibro-Acoustics Consortium
• Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky
• Unmanned Systems Research Consortium

Technology Commercialization

The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) is the technology transfer office for UK. The core mission of the OTC is to facilitate the commercialization of UK innovations and discoveries for the benefit of the University community, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and global society. UK OTC is actively looking for industry and investor partners. OTC works efficiently to facilitate:

• License agreements
• Material and data transfer agreements
• Confidentiality agreements
• On-campus meetings with researchers
• Investment opportunities
• Mentoring opportunities
• Pitch meetings and events
• Newsletters, which include select available technologies