Assistant Professor Kenneth Graham received a $110,000 grant from ACS PRF to develop a better understanding of polymer blend thermoelectrics. Thermoelectrics can convert heat energy to useful electrical energy based on the Seebeck effect, or they can utilize electrical energy to produce heating or cooling. Polymer based thermoelectric materials have the potential to be low-cost, are lightweight, and mechanically flexible, which opens up a number of applications if the thermoelectric performance of these materials can be further improved. For example, these materials could be utilized to make the band of a Fitbit, or other wearable electronic device, and provide power for the device based solely on your body heat, or they could be utilized to recover waste heat from higher temperature sources, such as the coolant systems of
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Ellen Crocker (forestry), Susan Odom (chemistry), and Bradford Condon (plant pathology) received a grant from KY NSF EPSCoR for Education and Outreach Activities, which will fund an Expanding Your Horizons conference at the University of Kentucky. This STEM conference for middle school girls will feature interactive activities led by UK undergraduate and graduate students and will include college preparation sessions for accompanying parents. The conference will be held in the Jacobs Science Building on April 29, 2017. For more information, contact Dr. Crocker.
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Prof. Yates elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. The criterion for election is exceptional contributions to the physics enterprise; e.g., outstanding physics research, important applications of physics, leadership in or service to physics, or significant contributions to physics education. Fellowship is a distinct honor signifying recognition by one's professional peers. Prof. Yates was nominated by the Division of Nuclear Physics for his important advances in the study of collective nuclear excitations, and for the development of nuclear spectroscopic methods of use with fast neutron scattering reactions.
By Jenny Wells
Today, members of the University of Kentucky community, the Board of Trustees, and public officials formally dedicated the new Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building, commemorating an unprecedented partnership in higher education between the university, UK Athletics, and community donors. The 240,000 square-foot, $112 million facility, now considered the epicenter of the university’s scientific community, was made possible with funding of $65 million from UK Athletics and $10 million from The Don Jacobs Sr. Charitable Foundation. “With each passing day, the University of Kentucky is a campus transformed. Nowhere is that transformation – and the profound sense of partnership – more evident than in the heart of our campus where newBy Jenny Wells
On Oct. 20, University of Kentucky officials formally dedicated the new Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building, but the state-of-the-art facility has already begun making an impact on students and faculty since it opened this August. The Jacobs Science Building (JSB) is the epicenter of the university’s scientific community, offering 21st century science education with 21st century laboratories and instrumentation. Every science student on campus, and the vast majority of all undergraduates at UK, will at one point experience the building’s active-learning laboratories and classrooms. Allison Soult, a lecturer of chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, says the design of the classrooms makes large lecture courses much more personal. “Having two rows of desks per tier with movable chairs makes small
By Dave Melanson
Since the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research's (CAER) earliest of days, the center's investigators have focused on natural products. It is a new class of organic materials, however, that has resulted in a recent round of research funding that will accelerate the plastic electronics revolution. CAER researchers John Anthony and Chad Risko, both faculty members in the UK College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Chemistry, have received four new federal grants totaling nearly $1.4 million to further their exploration of organic materials that show great promise for a wide array of commercial electronics applications. Anthony and Risko received nearly $540,000 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer
By Whitney Harder
University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto announced today a $10 million gift from The Don Jacobs Sr. Charitable Foundation to further invest in undergraduate science education. The majority of the gift — $8 million — will go toward the new academic science building that now takes the name Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building. Another $2 million will fund future academic and research investments yet to be determined. The legacy of Lexington businessman and philanthropist Don Jacobs and his wife Cathy already lives on across the UK campus — from business education to health care. And now, that same legacy will impact thousands of UK students, who are projected to use the new science building annually. Don and Cathy Jacobs have now donated funds in excess of $20 million to UK in areas ranging from science and health to the GattonBy Jenny Wells
All graduates of the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry are invited to a reunion weekend this fall at UK’s new Don and Cathy Jacobs Science Building. The UK Chemistry Alumni Board will host the reunion Oct. 14-15 and are asking those interested to RSVP by Sept. 23. All graduates, including bachelor's, master's and doctoral students are invited, as well as friends of the department. “The Chemistry Reunion is a first for our department and should provide a great opportunity for our alumni to reconnect with friends and former classmates,” said Steve Yates, UK chemistry professor and chairman of the reunion committee. Featured events include an open house at the new science building 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, and a reception at the King Alumni House atBy Samantha Ponder
The Department of Chemistry in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will host a "Mathematics of Physical Chemistry Boot Camp" to educate students on mathematical concepts that are common in both quantum chemistry and molecular physics. Registration for the August boot camp will close Aug. 10. This year the college is offering two sessions. One from 8 a.m. to early afternoon on Saturday, Aug. 20, and one from 8 a.m. to early afternoon on Saturday, Aug. 27. Both boot camp sessions are free. UK's chemistry boot camp provides graduate and undergraduate students an introduction or refresher class covering a few key mathematical and numerical approaches that they may encounter in their classes or research. The format for each session will include lectures, which will summarize the mathematics andDr. April French was selected as Chair of a new committee of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education's Examination Institute. The committee is responsible for producing the 2018 General, Organic, and Biochemistry Examination. This appointment is a significant recognition of stature in the chemistry education community and the ACS exams play an important role in the education of future chemists.
French's PhD research focused on informal scientific education occurring within science museums, and her experience in teaching includes general, organic, and biological chemistry courses. French currently serves as a Senior Academic Coordinator in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky where she supervises the General Chemistry Laboratories.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 15, 2016) — Alexis Eugene, a University of Kentucky doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry, has been awarded the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship. More than 700 applications were submitted for the 2016 awards, and Eugene was one of only 73 who received a fellowship in earth science. Eugene will collaborate with members of NASA's Langley Aerosol Research Group Experiment by analyzing the chemical composition of cloud water and aerosol samples collected during flights over the Atlantic Ocean. Specifically, she will study what chemicals are there and how they affect the properties of the atmosphere. "For example, looking at how those chemicals might interact with radiation," she said.
The University of Kentucky has received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct research with unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, nationwide, following FAA regulations.
"UK is among the first universities in the country to receive this new FAA 'blanket' CoA," said Suzanne Smith, director of the UK Unmanned Systems Research Consortium and the Donald and Gertrude Lester Professor of Mechanical Engineering. "Now, UK faculty will be among the first to perform and publish their research on leading-edge autonomy technologies and applications, and the new scientific discoveries that are sure to result."
The FAA's public Certificate of Authorization (CoA) allows UK researchers to fly drones that are less than 55 pounds up
Allison Soult, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, received the 2016 Teaching Excellence in Support of Professional Nursing award from the College of Nursing. This award recognizes a faculty member outside of the College who demonstrates excellence in the development and delivery of effective teaching and learning experiences for students in the one of the College’s academic programs. Soult has taught Chemistry for Health Professionals to pre-nursing students for five years. She has invested time and effort to understanding the needs of the nursing curriculum, has met with students to address questions, has provided thoughtful advice for students with academic difficulties, and is dedicated to her students.
The Society of Postdoctoral Scholars at the University of Kentucky is hosting a symposium to feature the work of postdoctoral scholars in Kentucky and surrounding areas. The event will feature a keynote presentation by UK's Dr. Hollie Swanson, a professor in the College of Medicine's Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, oral presentations by Kentucky postdocs, a poster session and a panel discussion on interviewing techniques.
The symposium will allow for the exchange of ideas across a broad range of fields and abstract submissions are welcome from any discipline. Postdocs from Kentucky and Ohio are especially encouraged to submit abstracts and graduate students are also welcome to participate. The objective of the symposium is to share research across many different fields and talks should be general and accessible to an audience outside of the speaker's area
Finding the time scale for the effective transfer of electrons is not an easy task.
With the increasing need for renewable fuels scientists have attempted to harvest abundant sunlight while simultaneously reducing CO2. However, the process is generally inefficient and many aspects needed for improvement remain unknown. Chemists at the University of Kentucky have now contributed new knowledge to explain how sunlight energy is stored in chemical bonds creating energy rich molecules from depleted ones. The stable photocatalyst generates organic fuels with a rate of production that depends on the time spent on the surface by precursor molecules.
Finding the time scale for the effective transfer of reducing electrons in a photocatalyst capable of reducing species containing double bonds or CO2 is not an easy task. What is needed is a reducing electron that is generated upon
Darius Allen Shariaty was recognized as the American Chemical Society's Division of Organic Chemistry as the most outstanding, senior organic chemistry student at the University of Kentucky. Selection is based on aptitude for organic chemistry as evidenced by formal course work as well as research accomplishments during the course of their undergraduate studies, and lastly by a desire to pursue a career in chemistry. Shariaty will receive one free year of membership as an Affiliate of ACS's Division of Organic Chemistry. Shariaty's research experience began in Prof. Arthur Cammers' group in the Department of Chemistry at UK and now continues under the guidance of Prof. Susan Odom (chemistry) and Prof. Y. T. Cheng (engineering).
The Journal of Physical Chemistry A recognized an article by University of Kentucky Chemistry Professor Marcelo Guzman as the most read article for the last 12 months. Guzman’s publication, "Heterogeneous Oxidation of Catechol" has been in the top most read category every month since its release. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A publishes studies on kinetics and dynamics; spectroscopy, photochemistry, and excited states; environmental and atmospheric chemistry, aerosol processes, geochemistry, and astrochemistry; and molecular structure, quantum chemistry, and general theory. The attention the article has attracted highlights the
An ultra-high resolution microscopy image of a thermoelectric material with the beautiful skutterudite structure will be featured on the July 2016 cover of the Journal of Materials Science. Chemistry graduate student Bethany Hudak contributed the image to the an article on skutterudite thermoelectric materials which was published online in March 2016. Bethany's analysis demonstrated the direct observation of the relationship between atomic structure and thermoelectric properties in these materials.
Bethany is a doctoral student in the research group of Assistant Professor Beth