In 2018, five UConn Engineering faculty were awarded Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grants from the National Science Foundation. The CAREER program awards these grants to exceptional junior faculty who exhibit outstanding skills in research and education, and show the potential to be academic leaders and role models. The amount of CAREER awards nearly doubled from 2017, when the school had three faculty members receive the coveted funds.

On May 22, at the UConn Alumni Center, the UConn School of Engineering will officially launch the John Lof Leadership Academy and announce its first cohort of John Lof Fellows. Backed by the generous endowment from John Lof, a former UConn electrical and computer engineering professor of 35 years, this exclusive Academy will aim to continue the legacy of Dr. Lof, who wished to reward and cultivate a select group of future leaders and engineering trailblazers.  The proceeds of the endowment will be used towards the direct support of the student members (in the form of grants and fellowships), as well as the corresponding Academy programs.

UConn materials scientists have shown conclusively for the first time that the properties of atomically thin materials can be mechanically manipulated to enhance their performance. The finding could lead to faster computer processors and more efficient sensors.

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, the University of Connecticut’s 8th University Professor in school history, and a tenured professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, the Materials Science and Engineering Department, and the Biomedical Engineering Department, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on May 11, recognizing his impact and contributions to the medical field and his pioneering work in Regenerative Engineering.

Commencement speaker Kimberly Bryant, founder and executive director of Black Girls Code, addressed graduates of the School of Engineering as 'architects of the future.'