In the Department of Civil Engineering, we are developing tomorrow’s infrastructure. We support robust research programs in the areas of geotechnical, water resources, environmental, transportation, construction and structural engineering. The Kentucky Transportation Center – the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s research and training arm – and the Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute are both housed within the Pigman College of Engineering. Add it up, and we are training civil engineering students to meet the infrastructure challenges of today and tomorrow.
8Faculty members
involved in Humanitarian Engineering
AllPeople are affected by infrastructure
11%Annual job growth
Over the next 10 years
4Faculty winners of UK Alumni Great Teacher Awards
of UK Alumni Great Teacher Awards
#2Best engineering jobs (USNEWS)
$461KDepartment awarded scholarships
NOW OFFERING ONLINE COURSES
Are you a working professional wanting to continue your civil engineering education? The department of Civil Engineering is now offering online graduate courses !
The Summer Engineering Exploration Kamp (SEEK) will feature hands-on learning opportunities, guest speakers from engineering companies, and field trips to active project sites for rising high school seniors.
Kelly G. Pennell, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and director of the UK Superfund Research Center, has been named the inaugural director of engineering research endowments in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering.
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.
This month, the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering welcomed seven new members to its faculty.
Brooks Lane, assistant professor in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering
Lane earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2019 and most recently served as a postdoctoral fellow at Drexel University. His research interests are:
Six Pigman College of Engineering faculty members received National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) awards, the NSF’s prestigious award in support of early-career faculty, in the 2025 funding cycle.
This was the Pigman College of Engineering's highest annual number of NSF CAREER awardees in the 30-year history of the program. In addition, the college boasted a 75% success rate for CAREER awards in the 2025 funding cycle.
The Eternal OptimistHonoring the 20th anniversary of the 2nd Lieutenant Jeffrey C. Graham Memorial Scholarship
Meghan Arrell
Aug 12, 2025
Jeffrey C. Graham, a 2003 civil engineering and UK Army ROTC graduate, was serving as 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army when he died of injuries sustained from both an improvised explosive (IED) and small-arms fire during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 2nd Lt. Graham is credited with saving numerous lives due to the actions he took at the time of the incident and is recalled as a hero by military officials.
Leonie Bettel, a doctoral candidate and graduate assistant in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky, is one of nine winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2025 Outstanding Teaching Awards.
