Rodney Andrews, PhD, PE

Director

BIOGRAPHY

Rodney Andrews is Director of the Center for Applied Energy Research and Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Kentucky. He is a Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, with a joint appointment as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Andrews has been Director of UK CAER since 2007.

Research interests include production of pitches and heavy aromatics from coal and other fossil resources, biomass utilization for fuels and chemicals, thermochemical conversion processes for coal and biomass, carbon fiber and composites, activated carbon materials, pitch chemistry and characterization, synthesis and application of carbon nanomaterials. Dr. Andrews is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the US Department of Energy. Dr. Andrews has directed major multi-university and industry-academic collaborative projects. He has published more than 70 peer reviewed journal articles and three book chapters with his work cited more than 10,000 times. He has been granted six patents.

Dr. Andrews was recently appointed to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board. He also is a member of the Executive Council of the American Carbon Society and served as the society’s 2011 Graffin Lecturer. He was appointed to the National Coal Council in 2014. Dr. Andrews is Program Director of Kentucky NSF EPSCoR, a statewide initiative to increase research infrastructure within the Commonwealth. He also directs the Kentucky Consortium for Energy and the Environment focused on issues relating to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. He is on the Editorial Board for the journal Carbon.

Dr. Andrews received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Michigan State University and his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Kentucky. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Kentucky.