Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Kentucky, 1999
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University, 1994
Dr. Rodney Andrews
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.
EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, Univ. of KY
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. of KY
Executive Committee, American Carbon Society
American Carbon Society
American Chemical Society
Materials Research Society
AWARDS AND SERVICE
Graffin Lecturer for the American Carbon Society, 2011
EXPERTISE
Carbon Materials
Nanotube-polymer and Nanotube-Carbon Composite Materials
Nanotube Synthesis
Carbon Fiber Formation
Activated Carbon Materials
Pitch Chemistry and Characterization