On August 19, University of Kentucky College of Engineering leadership welcomed new faculty members to campus (including those who assumed their position during COVID), as well as returning faculty who have moved into new roles.

Twelve faculty members participated in the orientation, which was led by Rudy Buchheit, Dr. Rebecca Burchett Liebert Dean, and Sue Nokes, associate dean for faculty affairs and facilities.

Those present were:

• Nelson Akafuah, associate professor and chair of the Department of Engineering Technology
• Madhav Baral, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UK Paducah Campus
• Tyler Barzee, assistant professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
• Gosia Chwatko, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
• Mark Doerre, lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Kevin Eby, lecturer in the Department of Computer Science
• David Parsley, Industry Extension Specialist for True Lean
• Alexandra Paterson, assistant professor in Materials Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering (joint appointment)
• Abu Siddique, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science
• Matthew Sleep, lecturer in the First-Year Engineering Program from the Department of Civil Engineering
• Valerie Vogel, lecturer in the First-Year Engineering Program
• Sarah Wilson, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering

Akafuah has been at UK since 2009 and was named chair of the Department of Engineering Technology earlier this summer.

Parsley has been at UK since 2008, working as an industry extension specialist for UK’s True Lean team; however, he is being recruited to teach in the Engineering Technology program.

Wilson joined UK in 2015 as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering.

Sleep, Vogel, Paterson and Chwatko joined the faculty during the 2020-2021 academic year; however, no new faculty onboarding was held that year due to COVID-19.