The Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment has announced the 17 researchers in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering awarded for fiscal year 2027. Established in 2024, the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment’s purpose is to advance research in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering through three strategic priorities:
Isaac Madill, 2026 mining engineering graduate from the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, was named a 2026 recipient of the Maurice A. Clay Award by UK’s Nu Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa. The Maurice A. Clay Award recognizes one outstanding graduating senior from each academic college at the University of Kentucky. Recipients are selected by college leadership based on leadership, scholastic achievement, conspicuous attainment and service to the college.
The Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering is proud to announce 1,085 engineering and computer science students included on the University of Kentucky Spring 2026 Dean's List. Students are eligible for the Dean’s List by meeting these requirements during the fall or spring semester:
In honor of the University of Kentucky’s founding in 1865, the UK Alumni Association has named Stanley and Karen Pigman as the recipients of the 2026 UK Founders Day Award. The award recognizes individuals who personify goodwill, service and dedication to the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Pigmans were recognized April 24 during a Founders Day ceremony at the Gatton Student Center on UK’s campus.
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.
The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 125 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines. Of those 125 scientists and scholars, 21 are UK Pigman College of Engineering faculty.
For more than six decades, the University of Kentucky has celebrated teachers who leave a lasting mark on their students’ lives. That tradition continued Feb. 17 as six educators were honored as the 2026 Great Teacher Award recipients, each selected through a process that begins with heartfelt nominations from the students they teach and mentor every day.
Rana Alhaj Bedar, a Graduate Research Assistant in the Mining Engineering Department at the University of Kentucky, received the "Top Education Award" at the NSF-sponsored 2025 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE).
Zach Agioutantis, Mining Engineering Foundation Professor and chair in the Department of Mining Engineering, is a 2026 University of Kentucky Alumni Association Great Teacher Award recipient.
