News

Image of Forrest Dills with text: "To have that level of trust in an undergraduate, it's kind of rare nowadays. The work we do here is genuinely beneficial to the industry and society as a whole."

Forrest Dills, CAER Undergrad, Forging His Path in Materials Science

Dave Melanson Feb 10, 2025

Interests are like a spark. When carefully stoked, a spark can ignite a flame, and just as molten iron becomes steel, an interest can be shaped into a passion. Forrest Dills, a Lexington native and a senior at the University of Kentucky majoring in Material Science in Engineering, forged his way to UK CAER because of a passion for metalworking. “One of the things that got me into material science was that I’ve been doing blacksmithing since I was 15,” said Dills.

CAER’s Weisenberger Named Graffin Lecturer

Dave Melanson Dec 20, 2024

Matthew Weisenberger, Associate Director of the Carbon Materials Research Group at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, has been named the American Carbon Society’s 2024 Graffin Lecturer.

stock image of a shadow of an airplane over a field

KY Energy and Environment Cabinet and University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research Launch Sustainable Aviation Fuel Study

Dave Melanson Dec 2, 2024

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) and the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) are seeking participation in a risk assessment questionnaire as part of a collaborative Biomass Feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Project funded through Kentucky’s State Energy Program. The goal of the study is to assess the risk associated with representative feedstocks that can be used to produce SAF in Kentucky.

University of Kentucky Beam Institute to experiment with hydrogen-powered spirit production

Grace Sowards Nov 21, 2024

Efforts to make a hydrogen-powered spirit have begun on the University of Kentucky campus in a research project led by James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Director Seth DeBolt.

UK’s CAER empowers student researcher through experiential learning

Collin Lewis Oct 31, 2024

There is no substitute for hands-on experience. The best way to learn is by doing, and experiential learning opportunities allow just that.   This is something that North Carolina State University chemical engineering major, and Lexington native Kara Bracken, found at the University of Kentucky Center of Applied Energy Research over the summer of 2024.  Bracken has many ties to UK, researching previously in the UK Department of Horticulture as part of the Math Science Technology Center program from Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School.  