SUMMER 2024 UK ECE Newsletter

Student News

Donovin Lewis Wins College Outstanding PhD Student Award

Donovin Lewis was the recipient of this year's Outstanding PhD Student award at the Pigman College of Engineering Faculty Awards Reception held on April 25th. Donovin is advised by Dan Ionel, researching machine power, wireless charging and aircraft propulsion.

Mihir Malladi Wins College Outstanding TA Award

Mihir Malladi received the award for outstanding teaching assistant. Mihir assisted in First Year Engineering courses.

2024 College Awards

ECE student Luis Silva Nunes selected as Sustainability Summer Research Fellow

“Sustainability research is important because the resources at our disposal are typically limited, and their utilization can often lead to undesirable consequences. Therefore, it is our duty to manage these resources responsibly and to employ scientific methods to achieve the most effective outcomes.”

Full Story

IEEE Student Chapter Wins Competitions at SoutheastCon

This year, 26 students from the UK IEEE student chapter participated in IEEE’s SoutheastCon in Atlanta. UK IEEE won several competition awards.

1st Place Open Circuits Competition

Will Banks

Bashar Issahaku

David Stewart

1st Place Professional Networking Competition

Brandon Holt

2nd Place Main Circuits Competition

Blaine Bailey

Melissa Hannemann

Cannon Shields

2nd Place Open Hardware Design Presentation

Dustin Bays and Andrew Ohab

2nd Place Promotional T-Shirt Design Competition

Melissa Hannemann and Brandon Holt

3rd Place Open Hardware Competition

Khadija Al Adawi

Alexander Dimayuga

Bashar Issahaku

Liam Murphy

Ali Ronak

Niles Roxas

Linda Rynerson

Nadia Turner

6th Place (of 45) Main Hardware Competition

Vashaun Alexander

Dustin Bays

Jack Charlton

Arvil Clouse Jr

Isaiah Joy

Andrew Ohab

Haley Stewart

Victor Logan Wins Robert L. Cosgriff Award

Victor received the 2024 Robert L. Cosgriff Award, which is presented to an outstanding senior electrical engineering student who will be immediately pursuing graduate studies following graduation.

Victor's research involves lifetime improvement of electric propulsion multilevel converters. Upon graduation, Victor will work as a full-time PhD student and research assistant.

H. Alex Romanowitz Memorial Award Goes to Ethan Conrad

The Romanowitz award is one of our highest student honors, presented each year to an outstanding upper division student in electrical and computer engineering who demonstrates both academic excellence and leadership ability.

Ethan Conrad is pursuing dual degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. He is a teaching assistant for the FYE program and is a member of the SEAM Honors program. Ethan intends to pursue an MBA at UK after completing his undergraduate education.

Outstanding Student Awards Go To Smith, Stewart, Murphy and Conrad

This year's winners for awards in academic excellence, service and leadership:

Grace Smith for Outstanding Senior in Electrical Engineering

Haley Stewart for Outstanding Senior in Computer Engineering

Liam Murphy for Outstanding Junior Electrical Engineering

Ethan Conrad for Outstanding Junior Computer Engineering

Faculty News

Regina Hannemann wins Outstanding Educator Award

Regina Hannemann received the Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator Award at this year's 2024 SoutheastCon.

Doug Klein Promoted to Senior Lecturer

Doug teaches in the First Year Engineering program and recently won the Provost's Outstanding Teacher award.

ECE Faculty Win College Service Awards

Aaron Cramer and JiangBiao He won 2024 College of Engineering Excellence in Service Awards. These awards recognize most outstanding service at the full and associate professor levels to the university and the profession.

IRC Program Awards Zhi Chen, Samson Cheung

and Jihye Bae

The University of Kentucky’s Igniting Research Collaborations (IRC) program has awarded nearly $600,000 in pilot grants to support cross-college interdisciplinary research.

University of Louisville

Awards Dr. Simone Silvestri, Samson Cheung and Yuan Liao

Project: Collaboration to develop a new cybersecurity curriculum - including cryptography, blockchain, and artificial intelligence.

Office of Naval Research Awards John Young and Rob Adams

Project: Predicting electromagnetic fields in seawater to facilitate design of corrosion-protection systems. Modeling electromagnetic fields near marine structures.

Alumni News

Air Force General Trey Rawls Inducted into Hall of Distinction

ECE Alum Michael "Trey" Rawls was recently inducted into the College of Engineering Hall of Distinction, which recognizes and honors alumni for their professional accomplishments and commitment to public service. A full list of this year's inductees and their bios can be found here.

General Rawls' Bio

Rui Yu Awarded Henry Granjon Prize

ECE PhD student Rui Yu won the 2024 Henry Granjon Prize from the International Institute of Welding as well as sponsorship to attend IIW in Rhodes, Greece. Rui is a researcher in the area of machine learning and robot-assisted welding, working with ECE professor YuMing Zhang in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing.