UK Students Complete Engineering Capstones with OneUK Partner Valvoline Global Operations
The University of Kentucky and OneUK partner Valvoline Global Operations (VGO) collaborated on three mechanical engineering capstone projects during the 2025–26 academic year, giving students the opportunity to apply classroom learnings to real industry challenges while providing Valvoline access to UK's engineering talent and resources.
The projects, completed across the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters under the leadership of Dr. Tom Henninger, a senior lecturer for the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, engaged three separate student engineering teams, each tasked with addressing an active challenge within Valvoline's R&D operations. The collaboration reflects the goals of the OneUK partnership program, through which VGO is a university partner, and offered a direct exchange of value: Valvoline gained student-driven research and development support, while students gained hands-on experience working alongside industry professionals on consequential, real-world problems.
"Our work with the University of Kentucky demonstrates the value of industry and academia working together,” Ginni Whittington Byrd, VGO Senior Technology Manager, Global Coolants and Chemicals said. “By combining real-world development challenges with university research capabilities, we are advancing engineering solutions that have both immediate and long-term value."
F1 Coating Test Team
When tires shed rubber at high speeds, the debris can stick to a car's carbon fiber body panels, adding weight and drag, and complicating maintenance between races. VGO, which works with professional racing teams, needed a reliable, repeatable way to test protective coating options for those panels, an effort that required significant dedicated time to develop properly.
Through the capstone project, students designed and built a bench-top test stand that simulates rubber debris impact on carbon fiber panels under controlled lab conditions, allowing VGO to evaluate coating options consistent the team completed a working prototype in the fall semester and continued refining the stand in the spring and presented to VGO at the end of the Spring 2026 semester.
Battery Electric Simulated Service Rig
As electric vehicles become more prevalent, the industry requires new standards for testing the fluids that keep EV battery systems cool and protected. Valvoline Global Operations modified an existing industry corrosion test — ASTM D2570, a standard method used for engine coolant testing — to meet the specific demands of electric vehicle battery cooling. The company built a test rig at its Propulsion Lab in Ashland, Ky., and completed two test cycles with two different fluids. Through that process, the team identified a persistent challenge: maintaining uniform heat distribution throughout the rig during testing, which affects the reliability of results.
Through the capstone, students analyzed the problem, developed and built a new test rig and validated the rig with thorough testing, giving VGO valuable insights while giving the students direct experience with applied laboratory research and industry testing standards.
Inline Dye Addition in Coolant
Engine coolants are colorless in their base form. Dyes are added to help customers distinguish between different coolant chemistries, each designed for different vehicle applications. Within the Valvoline-Zerex coolant line alone, the company manages approximately 15 different dye combinations. Currently, coolants are blended and dyed together in large tanks ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 gallons, meaning the same base fluid may occupy multiple tanks simply because different customers require different colors. That approach requires significant tank capacity across manufacturing facilities.
Valvoline identified a potential efficiency gain: blending coolant as a single undyed batch and adding the appropriate dye further down the packaging line, rather than maintaining separate dyed tanks. Determining whether that process is feasible at various scales — down to individual bottle sizes — required dedicated testing the company was not positioned to prioritize internally. Through the capstone project, students constructed a scaled prototype to test this concept and give meaningful feedback to the VGO team.
“A good capstone project is one in which the students can interact with an industrial advisor to solve a challenging problem that requires the students to apply their engineering classes to find a creative solution which is constructed and tested to validate and improve the design,” Dr. Henninger said. “The VGO projects were the perfect opportunity for the students to solve challenging problems and interact with an engaged project advisor, which helped prepare the students for their career in engineering.”
The capstone collaboration is part of the University of Kentucky's OneUK, UK’s strategic collaboration program with businesses and organizations, designed to foster long-term, holistic partnerships that drive innovation, talent development and economic growth in the Commonwealth. VGO is a OneUK partner, and this capstone engagement represents one way that partnership translates into tangible outcomes for both the company and UK students.
"We are incredibly grateful to Valvoline Global Operations for opening the door to these kinds of experiences for our students,” Landon Borders, UK senior executive director of product and technology development, research and development partnerships and VGO OneUK lead said. “There is no substitute for working alongside industry professionals on real challenges, and Valvoline's willingness to engage our engineering students in that way reflects the best of what the OneUK partnership is designed to do.”
Across all three projects, Valvoline's internal teams served as mentors and points of contact for the student teams, providing guidance, access to equipment and real-world context for each challenge being addressed. For the students, the experience offered something that cannot be replicated in a classroom: the pressure, complexity and satisfaction of solving a problem that impacts a company operating at a global scale.
OneUK is a strategic collaboration program between the University of Kentucky and leading businesses, designed to foster long-term, holistic partnerships that drive innovation, talent development, and economic growth in the Commonwealth.
At its core, OneUK seeks to deepen business engagement across all areas of the University of Kentucky, creating opportunities for talent development, innovation, and strategic support. By aligning UK’s educational, research, and community resources with industry leaders, OneUK supports Kentucky’s economic growth while offering companies access to world-class talent, cutting-edge research, and a thriving collaborative ecosystem. Read more here.