Janet Lumpp has always had a knack for creating solutions to unique challenges.

“My dad was an engineer, and that was why we did a lot of home projects,” she said. “He always took a very analytical approach.”

Eager to follow in her father’s footsteps, Lumpp knew she wanted to be an engineer from the time she was in middle school.

Fast forward, Lumpp is now living out her passion for engineering and research as a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky.

Just as her father taught her how to be a problem-solver, Lumpp also serves as a mentor to countless students who are pursuing their own passions. “My philosophy is to meet the students where they are and bring them along.”

And in the process, Lumpp hopes to advocate for engineering, as well as women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

“People may not think engineering is very creative — that we’re very structured. But there’s always more than one way to solve a problem,” she said.

“You can tell she really cares about knowing who her students are,” Savannah Lewis, an electrical engineering student, added.