Six Pigman College of Engineering faculty members received National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) awards, the Foundation's prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty, in the 2025 funding cycle.
This year, the Pigman College of Engineering recorded its highest 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.
Receiving six National Science Foundation CAREER awards in one year is a remarkable accomplishment,” said Todd Hastings, associate dean for research and graduate studies in the Pigman College of Engineering. “This success is a testament to the creativity and dedication of our early career faculty and the members of their research groups. We can’t wait to see how they impact organic electronics, energy-efficient computing, rapid data analysis, safe robotics, secure communications, and water infrastructure all while training the next generation of engineers.”
The NSF CAREER program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Project: Sustainable Pipelines for America's Water Infrastructure through Life Cycle Assessment and Workforce DevelopmentThis project addresses the sustainability challenges facing water distribution systems in the U.S., with a focus on the complex infrastructure and workforce issues in Kentucky’s Appalachian region. It aims to improve long-term infrastructure and workforce sustainability by integrating life cycle assessments into system planning and by developing a sustainability-focused workforce through training and strategic partnerships. By identifying key sustainability drivers and leveraging current investments, the work seeks to guide informed decision-making and enhance national competitiveness in water infrastructure.
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
Project: Data Polymorphism: Enabling Fast and Adaptable Scientific Data Retrieval with Progressive Representations
This project addresses the growing challenges of managing and analyzing massive scientific datasets by developing scalable software that enables data polymorphism—flexible, on-demand representations of data to minimize costly data movement. It introduces a framework for generating progressive data representations with built-in error control and optimized performance, improving the speed and reliability of scientific analysis. The project also includes an educational component to build a skilled workforce and aims to accelerate discoveries across fields like climatology, cosmology and energy science.
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project: The Interface is the Device: Elucidating the Role of the Contact/Organic Interface in Organic Electrochemical Transistors
This project aims to improve the performance and commercialization potential of organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) by addressing the poorly understood interface between the electrode and organic material, which critically affects device speed, energy efficiency and sensitivity. Through three targeted research objectives, the project seeks to define contact resistance, understand its relationship with device operation and resolve inconsistencies in how architecture impacts performance. Complementing the technical work, the project includes extensive STEM outreach in rural Kentucky through K-12 education, community events and workshops to inspire the next generation of scientists and promote awareness of emerging bioelectronic technologies.
Project: Foundations of Operational Resilience and Secure Communication for Networked Real-Time Systems
This project aims to develop RESONET (REsilient and Secure Operation of NETworked real-time systems), a novel architecture designed to ensure secure, fault-tolerant and timely coordination among real-time systems used in safety-critical applications like autonomous vehicles and industrial automation. Through three research thrusts, fault-tolerant coordination, secure communication and intrusion detection, it establishes foundational principles and mechanisms to safeguard system operations against failures and cyber threats. The project also includes hands-on educational initiatives to strengthen the cybersecurity workforce and will publicly share all research outputs and materials.
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project: Safe and Reliable Human-Robot Shared Control for Robotic Telemanipulation in Complex and Extreme Environments
This project aims to develop a safe and effective shared control system that allows humans and robots to work together in harsh environments through advanced teleoperation and autonomous motion planning. The research focuses on creating real-time human-motion mimicking for robotic arms, designing fault-tolerant planning algorithms and building a hybrid control framework that balances autonomy and human input. Educational efforts will enhance STEM engagement through K–12 outreach, undergraduate research programs, integrated coursework and graduate-level workshops in collaboration with professional organizations.
Reese S. Terry Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project: Towards Sustainable Computing with Carbon-Efficient Integrated Electro-Photonic Fabrics
This research aims to enhance the sustainability of computing systems by using carbon-efficient electro-photonic hardware, which offers significantly greater energy and carbon savings than traditional electronic components. The project develops innovative transceiver and accelerator architectures designed for multi-functionality, reusability and long-term reliability, while also creating educational tools to support student learning in sustainable computing. Ultimately, it seeks to reduce embodied carbon emissions by establishing a comprehensive design and evaluation framework that incorporates real-world factors like manufacturing variability, component aging and energy use across device lifespans.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Award No. 2440917, 2442627, 2441261, 2443677, 2441654 and 2442382. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
