The University of Kentucky has launched a new degree program that will foster research and innovation through collaboration between the university and the local aerospace industry.
UK Engineering has been approved by the Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE) to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering. The approval makes UK the only academic institution in the state to offer a degree in aerospace engineering at the undergraduate level, said Rudy Buchheit, Dr. Rebecca Burchett Liebert Dean of UK Engineering, in a news release.
Aerospace exports are the top export in Kentucky and number three in the United States — behind only California and Washington. According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, Kentucky exported more than $14.6 billion in aerospace products in 2019.
Additionally, the Commonwealth is home to 79 aerospace-related facilities, which employ more than 19,000 people, including Belcan Corp., General Dynamics, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., the release continued.
“There is clear need for new graduates trained in aerospace engineering to meet industry demand in Kentucky, and we already have a significant number of faculty with cutting-edge research and expertise in a broad range of aerospace applications including controls, propulsion and hypersonics," said Michael Renfro, Tennessee Valley Authority professor and chair of the UK Department of Mechanical Engineering. "These new programs are a natural fit for the University of Kentucky."
The new degree pathways will foster research and innovation by enhancing collaborations between UK and the local aerospace industry through leaning in on the expertise of faculty members who have degrees from, or have previously held appointments at prestigious universities and conducted collaborative research projects with NASA, Air Force Research Laboratory, The Aerospace Corp., McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. (now Boeing), Harris Corporation’s Government Aerospace Systems Division and Pratt & Whitney.
“Graduates of the new programs will join and can be inspired by UK Engineering alums who have contributed to and led groundbreaking achievements since the early days of aeronautics and space," said Suzanne Smith, professor of mechanical engineering and founding director of the NASA Kentucky programs at UK. "From systems testing at NASA for Apollo to bringing the new and growing commercial space economy to Kentucky, UK alums are already enabling future space exploration, advanced propulsion, aerial mobility and so much more."
More information about aerospace engineering at UK can be found here.
