xt7pk06x162k https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7pk06x162k/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Kentucky University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies 1999 volumes. Call Number: LD2762.9 .K38c. Accession Number: 2018ua049 journals LD2762.9 .K38c English Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection University of Kentucky Odyssey Magazine Research -- Kentucky -- Periodicals Education -- Research -- Periodicals Research -- Kentucky Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research and Graduate Studies, Fall 1999 text images Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research and Graduate Studies, Fall 1999 1999 1999 2026 true xt7pk06x162k section xt7pk06x162k THE MAGAZINE OF UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES 0 FALL 1999

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y ODYSSEY

THE HEART OF

MATTER:
Designing Material; at the Atomic Level

IGNITING YOUTHFUL
CURIOSITY
High School Students in Research

 

CREATING
CANCER KILLERS

BRINGING NEW
INTELLIGENCE
TO THE UNIVERSITY

Design by Shear & Shear
Photography by Lee 1’, 'l'homus Photography

@1999 University of Kentucky

GRADUATE EDUCATION: TOWARD A MORE
DIVERSE PROFESSORIATE, P. 28

DEPARTMENTS

GRADUATE EDUCATION

Alumni Achievements
Rising to the NSF Challenge

Toward a More Diverse Proflssoriate

KIOSK

River, Kentucky: TheAhridgea’ Version
Toxic Chic/em

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and mom...

TRIBUTE TO
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WITH THE AID OF A TRANSMISSION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPE, BETH DICKEY
ANALYZES EXTREMELY THIN SLICES OF
MATERIAL. THIS MICROSCOPE ALLOWS

HER TO SEE ALMOST DOWN TO THE

ATOMIC LEVEL INSIDE THE MATERIAL.

  

W’ R

T T E N

B Y

A Ll C] A P. GIR E G O R Y

DESIGNING MATERIALS

AT THE ATOMIC LEVEL

M i I became a big part of Beth
5“ i .m Emmi Dickey’s life when she was a

- a teenager in the Lexington area.
“I was in sewing for a while, but I was really bad,” she
says. “I also took public speaking, and I did a lot of
leadership activities.” In high school Dickey was the
president of the Kentucky 4—H and helped create the
fall leadership conference, which the organization
still holds. “My favorite 4—H activity was showing
horses,” Dickey says. Since her father was a horse
trainer and her mother a nurse, everyone assumed
Beth was predestined to be a veterinarian.

“But I wanted to do something different,” Dickey
says. Not quite sure what that was, Dickey got
involved as a Woodford County High School stu—
dent in UK’s Engineering Ahead program and got
her first glimpse into the world ofmaterials engineer—
ing. “I liked school, and I was good at math and
physics, but I didn’t have a clear picture of what I
wanted to do until I started working in this UK
College ofEngineering program,” Dickey says. “Ma—
terials engineering intrigued me because it bridged
physics, chemistry and engineering. So I thought I’d
give it a try, and ifI didn’t like itI could always switch
to something else.”

Hooked on materials

Dickey became sold on materials engineering during
her summer internship at Oak Ridge National Labo-
ratories after her freshman year at UK. Oak Ridge is
the largest of the US. Department of Energy’s five
multi—program laboratories. Near Knoxville, Ten—
nessee, Oak Ridge employs 5,000 staff and hosts
more than 4,000 visiting researchers.

That summer Dickey began work in the ceramic
processing group and made professional contacts
with scientists she still collaborates with today. “I was
hooked after that internship,” Dickey says.

After her junior year, she went to the nation’s
capital for the Washington Internship for Students
of Engineering. She worked with the Society of
Automotive Engineers on a project to analyze the
consequences of moving away from metal to plastic
car components. “There was already a great system
set up for handling scrap metal, but the question now
was, when you put plastic and other materials in cars,
what happens when they're scrapped? Do you just
throw them in a landfill?” Dickey says the public—
policy angle of this internship brought to life the

ODYSSEY

applications and problems associated with designing
materials.

Dickey graduated with her bachelor’s degree in
materials engineering from UK in 1992 and enrolled
in Northwestern University in Illinois, which has
one of the best materials science programs in the
nation. At Northwestern she was a National Science
Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a re—
search assistant. Her training culminated in a Ph.D.
in 1997. Dickey returned to UK in the spring of
1997 as an assistant professor of materials engineer—
Ing.

“In 10 words or less, what I do is design materials
at the atomic level to get certain properties," she says.
The properties she’s most interested in are mechani—
cal, electrical and thermal. “I try to design the chem-
istry, the structure and the micro—structure of a
material to optimize its properties.”

Every property of a material is related to how its
atoms are locked together. “A lot ofwhat I do is look
at the interfaces between two materials—what hap—
pens when you bring two dissimilar materials to-
gether,” she says.

The microscopic behavior and the macroscopic
behavior of a material are intimately related, Dickey
says. “When we look at things at the atomic level, we
ask, ‘If we change how things are bonded, how atoms
are arranged, how does that affect the macroscopic
properties?” All materials applications deal with the
macroscopic. “For example," she says, “you want to
know what’s going to happen when you heat up the
material or what happens when you pull on it.

“A lot of what I do is very basic science. I’m
trying to understand the fundamental structure—
property relationships, so I can start to predict
what would happen ifI alter the chemistry of a
material,” Dickey says.

Material rewards

There are three basic classes of materials: metals,
polymers and ceramics. Ceramics are Dickey’s bread
and butter.

Her work on high—temperature ceramics won her
national recognition last February. Dickey received
the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists
and Engineers (PECASE), the US. government’s
highest honor for young engineers. The presidential

continued on page 4

 

 

RESEARCH AND ({RA DI 'A T]? ST! DIES 3

 

  

 

award will fund Dickey’s work with a five—
year, $500,000 research grant. She was one
ofonly 60 recipients and is the first faculty
member at UK to receive this prestigious
award. The PECASE was established by
President Clinton in 1996 to recognize the
nation’s best scientists and engineers who
show potential for scientific leadership in
the next century.

PECASE nominations come from eight
federal agencies, including NSF, NASA,
and the Department ofDefense. “Winning
this award was surprising and extremely
exciting,” Dickey says. Alex Pechenik, act—
ing direcror ofthe Air Force Aerospace and
Materials Sciences Directorate, nominated
her for the award. “1 met Alex at a few
scientific meetings and knew he was inter—
ested in the work 1 was doing with some
people at NASA. He took it upon himself
to nominate me, which was wonderful.“

Pechenik’s comments on her abilities are
a resounding vote ofconfidence. uProfessor
Dickey has developed a number of tech—
niques for characterizing interfaces in ma—
terials, particularly high—temperature
ceramic materials. Her command of elec—
tron microscopy, X—ray diffraction, and
neutron diffraction has brought some im—
portant insights into the structure of inter—
faces," he says.

uShe has the potential of becoming one
of the leading researchers in the field of
high-temperature materials in the near fu—
ture. Her collaboration with many research—
ers at the Air Force Research Laboratory,
working on designing new, improved high-
temperature materials for turbine and rocket
engines, makes her work very valuable for
the Air horce,” Pechenik says.

Coffee cups
and jet engines

These are not your grandma’s ceramics.
Ceramics have moved far beyond pottery,
dinnerware, glass, and tile to a whole new
world. Light buibs, scissors. and watches:
engine components. elecnonic sensors, cara—
lytic converters and spark plugs; joint im—
plants, bone and eye substitutes. and dental
work are jusr a few new ceramic applications.

Ceramics are hard but lightweight, with
good heat, wear and corrosion resistance.
But there are a few probiems. “If you drop
your coffee cup on the floor you get an

 

4 O!) YSSE 1'

BETH DICKEV USED ELECTRON Ml-
CROSCDPES AT UK AND OAK RIDGE

NATIONAL LABORATORIES TO CAP-
TURE THESE IMAGES. A) Is AN SEM
IMAGE OF NICKEL: B) Is A TEM IMAGE
OF COLLEAGUE ROBERT HADDON‘s
CARBON NANOTUBES: AND C) IS A
TEM IMAGE OF A ZIRCONIUM OXIDE
(ZROZ) GRAIN BOUNDARY. A SAMPLE
OF THE WORK ON WHICH DICKEY IS
COLLAEORATING WITH SUSAN
SrNNOTT TO DISCOVER How ATOMS
MOVE ALONG GRAIN BOUNDARIES.

 

object lesson on the main drawback of ce—
ramics: they’re brittle,” Dickey says.

Alumina, a widely used ceramic, stays strong
at temperatures that can melt steel. On its
own, alumina will fracture under stress, but
reinforced with microscopic fibers ofsilicon
carbide, alumina is strong enough to cut
steel.

“The work I’m doing for the Air Force,
funded by the presidential award, is focusing
on how to make ceramics less brittle for
applications in jet engines,“ she says. “If
something flies into your engine, you don‘t
want a catastrophic failure." Dickey is de—
signing the micro—structure of the interface
of the two materials to absorb energy. “ll‘a
crack forms it won‘t propagate throughout
the material, and you‘ll have some prior
notice that the component is going to fail.

“Today's jet engines are made from super
alloys, metallic materials that have wonderful
properties but at 1200 degrees Celsius they
start to change chemically and even melt.
What I‘m looking at for the Air Force is using
oxide ceramic composites to try to increase
the temperature to 1400 degrees Celsius,"
says Dickey, uEven though this may seem like
a small change in operating temperature, it
has a huge impact on overall engine effi—
ciency.“

Dickey says developing high-temperature
materials could have a wide range ofapplica—
tions. “In ground—based planes, there are
applications in turbine engines. In space there
is a whole range ofapplications because of
the extreme heat during reentry," she says.
The tiles that cover the current space shuttle
are ceramic—based. While these ceramics dif—
fer from the ones she‘s working on, Dichey
says the results other work wiil he apphcable
to a variety of extreme—temperature and ex»
treme-corrosion uses.

A lot of the materials developed in the
aerospace industry end up in our homes and
on out sidewalks. “\‘(hat is at first an exotic
material for specific applications eventually
friters down into common househoid mate—
rials." Dickey points out. Many of today's
household materiais were horn in NASA
labs. “In the past 10 or 15 years, one material
a lot of people are aware of is carbon fiber—
reinforced composites. which srarted in aero—
space and have been worked into the sports
market.n Dickey says. “When they were first
developed, they were very expensive. but as

 

 

  

 

 

they’ve become cheaper to produce they’ve
been worked into bikes and tennis rackets.”

Tool time

Dickey uses a variety of tools to design the
atomic makeup of materials, and the most
vital and versatile is the electron micro—
scope. She manages the Electron Micros—
copy Facility, housed in the Advanced
Science and Technology Commercializa—
tion Center (ASTeCC) on campus, which
makes available a variety of modern analyti—
cal equipment to researchers engaged in
materials science and engineering at UK
and in industry. UK currently has 13 elec—
tron microscopes across campus.

Dickey uses two kinds of electron micro—
scopes. The first, a scanning electron mi—
croscope (SEM), utilizes a focused probe of
electrons that scans across the material.
Electrons are collected and measured by a
detector that sits next to the microscope.
An SEM gives information about the sur—
face of a material. “UK’s scanning electron
microscope provides micron (millionth of a
meter) information,” Dickey says. “A hair
looks pretty big under an SEM. One hair is

about 100 microns in diameter.”

atomic resolution transmission electron mi—
croscope thanks to a grant from NSF through
the Experimental Program to Stimulate
Competitive Research (EPSCOR) and
matching state funds. “This microscope will
be a resource for the whole state,” Dickey
says.

“A really nice feature of this microscope is
the field emission gun, which gives you a
much higher intensity beam and allows you
to get chemical information at the atomic
level,” she says. “You can get structural
information from the images and then fo—
cus the probe to sit on a column of atoms
and get chemical information. You can cot—
relate structure and chemistry.

“With the addition of this microscope, UK
will have one of the best electron microscopy
facilities in the country,” Dickey says.

Point break

This electron microscope will contribute to an
innovative new project funded by NSF. Dickey
co—wrote the grant for this project with Susan
Sinnott, also an assistant professor in materials
science engineering. Their work will focus on
parallel atomic-scale experimental and theo—
retical studies.

 

ODYSSEY

where these crystallites come together is
called the grain boundary. Grain bound—
aries are defects in the material and foreign
atoms tend to go there.

“In a lot of ceramic materials, if you
break the material the fracture won’t go
straight through. It will split around the
different grain boundaries,” she says. “So if
you change the strength of the grain bound—
aries, you can change the mechanical be—
havior of the material.”

Fracture toughness deals with the amount
of energy a material can absorb as it fails,
and is the primary mechanical property of
interest to Dickey and Sinnott.

Another property is called creep. “Creep
doesn’t involve cracks. It involves pulling
on the material at high temperatures, which
makes it deform—it flows like plastic,”
Dickey explains. “What is happening is the
grain boundaries are sliding, moving past
each other under the weight of the load.
This is related to diffusion (the intermin—
gling of molecules) at the grain bound-
aries.” By preventing diffusion at the grain
boundaries, Dickey says researchers could
prevent things from moving around and
keep the material from deforming.

These are not your grandma‘s ceramics. Ceramics have moved far beyond pottery,

dinnerware, glass, and tile to a whole new world. Light bulbs, scissors, and watches; engine

components, electronic sensors, catalytic converters and spark plugs; joint implants,

bone and eye substitutes, and dental work are just a few new ceramic applications.

The second microscope, a transmission
electron microscope, analyzes a very thin
slice of material. “The electrons penetrate
all the way through, and it measures the
electrons scattered by the sample,” Dickey
says. “Electrons scatter inside the material,
and based on how they scatter you see
contrast. You can see almost down to the
atomic level inside the material.

“I’ve been doing all of my atomic—scale
work at Oak Ridge because we haven’t had
the instruments to see atomic—level infor—
mation,” she says. “After I began work at
the university, I realized there is quite a
large demand on campus for this type of
data, and I decided it was in our best
interest to get our own instrument.” Next
February UK will install a $1.8 million

“I can get only so much information experi-
mentally about where atoms are in an inter—
face,” Dickey says. “But Susan can take my
data, create a model and further refine the
structure to identify things like the energy and
strength of the interface, things that are difii—
cult to measure experimentally.”

The subject of their joint project is inter—
face segregation, which specifically focuses
on two mechanical properties of materials:
fracture toughness and creep.

“Interface segregation means you’ve got
foreign atoms (atoms which aren’t inherent
to the basic crystal structure of the material)
that are moving to defects in the material,”
Dickey says. “Many materials are crystal—
line, but few are perfect single crystals. Most
materials have clusters of crystallites, and

“Nobody really understands this process,
which is why Susan and I are doing these
fundamental studies to get experimental
data and theoretical calculations to find out
what these atoms are doing, and how they
are affecting diffusion at the atomic level.

“Having complementary experiment and
theory is a very powerful approach to un—
derstanding materials,” Dickey says.

Materials 101

Dickey teaches three materials classes at the
University of Kentucky: a one—hour fresh-
man introductory class, a four—hour ce—
ramic engineering class and a four-hour
materials characterization class. Ceramic
engineering, a required course for under-
graduates in the materials program, has

continued on page 6

 

RES/5A R CH A ND GRA [)l 'A TE 5 TL'DIES 5

 

  

 

weekly labs where stu—
dents measure ceramic
properties and partici—
pate in industrial tours
to places like the Corn—
ing plant in
Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
where glass flat—panel dis—
plays are manufactured.
“The quality of the un—
dergraduate program is very high and stu—
dents get good experience." says Dickey.
who also serves as faculty advisor for Alpha
Sigma Mu. the materials honor society. “In
my ceramics engineering class this spring,
every single person was doing an internship
in industry. at a national lab or at UK."
The materials characterization class.

 

BETH DICKEY’s WORK ON HIGH-TEM-

PERATURE CERAMICS WAS RECOG-
NIZED EARLIER THIS YEAR BY A
PRESIDENTIAL EARLY CAREER
AWARD FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGI-
NEERS—A FIVE-YEAR. $500.000
GRANT.

Japan together last fall. We
were both invited to give
short courses at Aoyama
(iakuin University in To»
kyo.“ Dickey says.

”We do end up talking
about work at home.
\Xne‘re both very into it
and we care about whats
going on." she says. "l‘m
not sure that I could do what I do without
him being a professor too. If we need to
come back to campus at night or on the
weekends. it‘s not so lonely We drive to
work together and eat lunch together every
day. Maybe it‘s because we're newlyweds
and we‘re not tired ofbeing together yet."

she laughs. but l don‘t think things will

Next February L'K will install a $1.8 million atomic resolution transmission electron

microscope thanks to a grant from NSF through the Experimental Program to Stimulate

Competitive Research (EPSCoR) anti matching state funds.

which focuses on X—ray diffraction and
electron microscopy techniques, is taking
on a new dimension this fall. “We‘ve cross—
listed this class with the University of Lou—
isville,“ she says. “We'll teach it over
videoconferencing. Students will do some
of the lab components in Louisville and
others at UK.“ Graduate students, upper-
level undergrads, Lexmark employees and
other industrial workers take this class.
The College of Engineering recognized
Dickey’s teaching skills with the outstand—
ing teacher award in materials engineering
for 1999. “I enjoy teaching, but it's ex—
tremely time—consuming to do a good job,“
says Dickey. “I think my teaching ends up
benefiting my research, and the students
benefit by seeing current examples. You can

6 ()3) l'SS‘El'

give it relevance by being able to tell them
what you‘re doing in the lab."

Shop talk

How do engineers spend their free time?
"Painting, mowing and picking cherries
right now." Dickey says. She and husband
Craig Grimes. a professor ofelectrical engi—
neering at UK. were married in May 1998
and live on a l3—acre farm outside Lexing—
ton. "Craig‘s a triathlete, so we bike and run
together as tnuch as we can." she says. "He‘s
a very well—rounded person. and I‘d like to
think I’ll be one too someday." Dickey and
Grimes often travel together to confer—
ences. One will participate in a conference
and the other will travel as the spouse and
speak at a nearby university. “We went to

change. It makes it easier to be so involved
at work because your best friend is coming
with you."

Juggling a personal life, teaching and
research is challenging. Dickey says. but
she looks forward to getting more involved
in the community. “Since I‘ve been back in
Kentucky, I‘ve been so busy with this iob
that I haven't had time for much else." she
says. “I‘d like to see what things I can get
involved in outside the university." One
thing she‘d like to do is become more
involved in the 4-H program. “They‘re
giving me the Outstanding Young Ken—
tuckian Award this year and I‘m very flat—
tered. Being involved with 4—H was a
wonderful thing for me, and I‘m glad 4—H
is still helping kids realize their potential."

,

L¢I

 

 

  

 

ODYSSEY

TOA VEERASETHAKUL

TESTS THE DURABILITY
OF A CYLINDER COMPOSED
OF SAND, CONCRETE

,‘AND FLY ASH.

It should come as no sur-
prise that at the Univer-
sity of Kentucky research is
being conducted in areas as
diverse as organic chemis-
try, autism, bacterial patho—
gens and epilepsy. But it
ma y come as a snrp rise that
some of this work is being
done by Kentucky high
school students.

Several programs at the
aniversitg/fiwus on provid—
inghighschoolstl(dentswith
an inter est in r {search the
chance to gain experience in
discovering new knowledge
and working with estab-
lished scientists as mentors.
Three ofthese programs a r a
profiled in the following
pages.

Youthf Curiosity

High School Students In Research

ton/innezi on page N

lx’liYIi-M‘CH .1.\'l) GRAIN LIT/5 NT! [)l/SN 7

 

  

8

 

Ignitin

Youth

()1) )NS/z‘ )'

Curiosity

CAER Summer

Internship
Program

MARYBETH
MCALISTER,
WHO ADMINISTERS

THE CAER PROGRAM,
SAYS MANY
OF THE STUDENTS
LATER SPEAK
OF THE INTERNSHIP
AS A PIVOTAL
EXPERIENCE.

    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
 

all researcher Allie Hobbs ajunk dealer.
She doesn’t mind.

“The major focus of my work is to find
useful things to do with waste.” says Hobbs,
an engineering associate in the waste man-
agement group at UK’s Center for Applied
Energy Research (CAER). “The fancy name
for what I do is ‘beneflciation‘: taking fly
ash, for example, and making a useful prod-
uct out ofit."

She explains that fly ash is the by—product
ofthe burning ofcoal and that typically this
ash is dumped into artificially constructed
ponds. “These ponds are costly—they have
to be properly lined and so forth. And they
obviously take up space that could be used
in more environmentally friendly ways.“
says Hobbs.

So she is interested in trying to make
useful products that contain fly ash. and
one of these is concrete. She is currently
using a mixture ofsand, concrete and fly ash
molded into cylinders and is testing its
strength. And this past summer. Hobbs had
"some very good help" with this research.

Since 1993 CAER has operated a high
school summer internship program, with
UK researchers serving as mentors. This
past summer Toa Veerasethakul, now a
senior at Franklin County High School,
became an intern because of her strong
interest in science. Toa (pronounced Tao“)
eventually plans to go into the medical
field.

“One ofthe things I did was work in the
lab in Anderson Hall with Allie." Toa says.
“So I got to discover firsthand the different
properties and consistencies of the cylin—
ders we tested.“ in testing the cylinders
strength, she found that certain types of ash
have cementation properties and others
don't. “The company that produces this fly
ash wants cement Strong enough so you can
walk on it, yet they dont want it too strong
that they can‘t go back and dig it up if they
need to.“

Hobbs and T03 did their experiments
using a triaatal compressor. a piece of equip
ment consisting of two upright steel bars
and a platform at the base. A compressed
cv nder composed of a specific percentage
of ly ash, sand and water is placed on the
platform and secured at the top. by a metal
cap. The platform moves upward at a rate of
halfan inch per minute. A computer mea—
sures durability of the cylinder as the pres—

  

 

ODYSSEY

‘J‘lllie guided me hut then let me try this myself let me see how things

 

 

 

l . .
, war/e rather them just telling me. ”
1 — Toa Veerasethakul
e
V
it
5 sure on it increases. counties to interview students who “look teaching and community outreach as part
:1 “We’re interested in measuring the point right for the program on paper,” Derbyshire of what we do. I believe this summer
e at which the cylinder fails—{rumbles and says. program accomplishes both.”
y then cracks apart,” says Hobbs, who was “1 make appointments with either their One other very important thing the
d impressed with Toa’s “many intelligent counselors or high school teachers in each program has accomplished is garnering
” questions.” “We’re basically trying differ— of the schools. It’s important for me to talk the financial support of EPSCOR, the Ex—
ent mixes to get it to this point.” face-to—face with these students,” she says, perimental Program to Stimulate Com—
;e Toa says that this two—week program was “to try to make sure of their level of interest petitive Research. This Department of
d atremendouslyvaluable experience for her. and to see if we have a useful match for Energy program, with matching state
y “Allie was great. She guided me but then let them among the volunteer mentors at funds, has supported the summer intern—
h me try things myself, let me see how things CAER.” Students selected are given a sti— ship program since 1997 with a grant of
[5 work rather than just telling me. It was also pend from CAER of $400 for the two $56,000 a year.
d fun.” weeks, they are reimbursed for any travel “If we want to create and continue an
,_ At the final meeting of the two-week expenses, and they are housed in one of the effective interface between the high schools
;h internship, Toa and the other five students UKdorms, where they eat free in the cafete— and the university, we need to dedicate
h from central Kentucky high schools gave ria. CAER also hires resident advisors who some resources to this, so we’re obviously
is presentations on what they’d learned at drive the students in a van back and forth hoping that we can continue to attract
a UK. “This seems to be a natural and appro- from the dorm to CAER, located nine miles funding for this program,” Derbyshire says.
.1, priate kind of closure for the program, as from the Lexington campus. In part for the requirements of their
1g well as a way for the students to formally Part of the summer curriculum also in— federal funding and in part for their own
”) share their new knowledge,“ says Marybeth cludes two field trips. This past summer information, McAlister sends material
al McAlister, who administers the program. students were taken to a mine an hour west yearly to former program participants. “We
McAlister, publications and public rela— of Lexington, near Elizabethtown, and ma want to know where they are and what
16 tions manager at CAER, explains that the coal—burning power plant. they’re doing, what kind of influence the
v5. idea for this program grew out of an earlier “1 loved this part of the program," says work they did here has had on their lives,”
nt attempt to reach out to young people inter— Josh Northcutt,aseniorat Harrison County McAlister says. From a look at the re—
n— ested in science. High School. “We got to see a drag bin sponses from the most recent mailing, she
['5‘ “In 1993 we had a day program for local operate and stand inside it." Josh spent two says many of the students talk about their
5h high school students. Typically, a chemis— weeks working with several mentors, pti— internship as a “pivotal experience.”
trs try class would come and they’d have a nice marily chemical engineer Dennis Sparks. “1 “It’s rewarding to see how many have
1y tour of the labs for an hour. But I thought, spent a lot of time with him troubleshoot— gone into engineering or into the sci-
;h how much can they get out of an hour? So ing'fixing small problems with reactors in ences,” she says. “That makes all the work
3g I began tinkering with the idea of some— the building,” Josh says. “And one day 1 worth it. It makes us feel like we’re doing
5V thing on a much larger scale.” McAlister helped him build a new reactor from something really positive and far-reach-
. subsequently talkedwith Frank Derbyshire, scratch.” ing.”
its CAER director, and the two decided to The other students worked in the areas of Thirty—eight students have participated
P' Significantly expand the program, funding coal liquefaction, coal preparation and car— in the CAER program since 1993.
“‘5 it initially, Derbyshire is quick to point out, bon materials synthesis.
ed “with our own money.” “Although CAER has been part of the A sad note: As this article was gaing to
g He is also quick to point out that any university since the inception of the center, Pym, Frank Derbygbirg’ CAER director,
he successes the program has celebrated are we’ve traditionally been seen as strictly a paged away 1019113 on a trip ta England.
(211 due to McAlister’s tireless work. She not research unit,” Derbyshire says. “Andwhile Sgg article 07111415636
of only develops and organizes the program. the bulk of our activity necessarily has to be
3a~ and does all the paperwork from her office in that area, we’ve been working very hard
es— for the last 10 or 11 years to also include

at CAER, she also drives to neighboring

R Iz'SEA RCH AND G RA D! ’A TE STUDIES 9

 

    
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
   
  
  
  
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
     

I itin
gflYouth Curiosity

Kentucky Young
Researchers
Program

ine Lexington students from Paul
Laurence Dunbar High School and a
Hazard High School student recently com»
pleted their work in the Kentucky Young
Researchers Program. which was established
three years ago by Fitzgerald Bramwell. vice
president ofResearch and Graduate Studies
at UK. Thirty students have participated in
this program since its inception
“The concept for developing a formal
pipeline of students into our research pro-
grams was the result of several conversa-
tions l had in early 1996 with Dunbar math
and science teachers Walter Koctke and
Elizabeth Kikuchi.“ Bramwell says. "\Ve
wanted to promote a