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In the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering, we develop innovative technologies that apply engineering principles to medicine and biology and prepare students for an exciting career in a thriving industry. Within a short walking distance, students can collaborate with experts in our seven engineering departments, the Colleges of Medicine, Design, Dentistry, and Pharmacy and the top-ranked hospital in the state. It’s no wonder that our graduates rise to leadership positions in the medical device industry, academia and medicine.

$7M Gift to the department from alumnus F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D.

$70,258 Average starting salary (NACE 2023)

Two students working together with a labtop and medical device prototype

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Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the biomedical engineering research projects, the faculty of the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering collaborates with investigators in many units across the University of Kentucky campus, including the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Arts & Science; the Centers for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy and Membrane Science and the Advanced Science and Technology Commercialization Center and Institute For Sustainable Manufacturing.

BME Department News

Yu receiving certificate at AIMBE Annual Event

Yu inducted into American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows

Apr 23, 2026

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Guoqiang Yu, Ph.D., Jack and Linda Gill Eminent Professor in Science and Engineering in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering, to its College of Fellows. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields.

21 Pigman College of Engineering researchers among top 2% of world’s most-cited

Mar 3, 2026

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.

‘I am a UK Innovator’: Pigman College of Engineering’s Guoqiang Yu

Erin Wickey

Dec 4, 2025

In the final Q&A in this year’s series, UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering's Guoqiang Yu, Ph.D., the Jack and Linda Gill professor in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering, describes his work developing low-cost optical imaging technologies for noninvasive monitoring of the health and function of tissues and organs.

2026 Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Scholars announced

Nov 3, 2025

Thanks to the generous support of Stanley and Karen Pigman and Kentucky’s Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF), engineering researchers are receiving additional annual funding to enhance the research priorities and programs of the Pigman College of Engineering. Established in 2024, the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment supports faculty, research, graduate students, facilities and research infrastructure in the Pigman College of Engineering. This year, the endowment made $235,000 in funds available for distribution.

Lane awarded Charles F. Knapp Faculty Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering

Sep 17, 2025

Brooks A. Lane, assistant professor in the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded the Charles F. Knapp Faculty Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering. Lane’s research focuses on soft tissue mechanics and mechanobiology in cardiovascular disease on-set, progression, and therapeutic or surgical interventions. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina in 2019, focusing on diverse murine aortopathies and experimental methods for biomechanical characterization.

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Department Recognitions

Spotlight

Trisha Sullivan

Q&A with Trisha Sullivan

Trisha Sullivan graduated in 2023 with a degree in Biomedical Engineering from the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering. She is currently a Ph.D student studying Chemical Engineering. She is the President of Biomedical Engineering Society, Vice President of Society for Biomaterials and member of the Materials and Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association.

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