On March 2, more than 100 undergraduate researchers from across the state put their research and scholarly work on display at the Posters-at-the-Capitol event in Frankfort. Among those undergraduate researchers were three UK Engineering students.
Chemical Engineering Senior Lucas Bertucci presented his research, “Solar Panel Sustainability: End-of-Life Recycling.” Bertucci’s work, supported by the Lee T. Todd, Jr. Student Innovation Scholarship and the UK Center for Applied Energy Research, examined the lifecycle of solar panels and opportunities for recycling as the concentration of lead in the objects requires them to be disposed of as hazardous waste. The goal of his research is the selective recovery of panel elements to enable their reintegration into the green energy sector for a sustainable future.
Bertucci’s research was developed under the mentorship of Jack Groppo, professor of mining engineering and Joshua Werner, assistant professor of mining engineering.
Chemical Engineering Senior Daniel Dailey and Chemical Engineering Freshman S.J. Lycans II presented their research, “Hidden in plain sight: characterization of untapped U.S. rare earth and critical mineral resources.” The purpose of this research was to characterize low-grade domestic source materials to develop a novel, modular biohydrometallurgy process for rare earth elements (REE) and critical mineral recovery.
Dailey and Lycans’ work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project “Synthetic Biology for Biomining of Rare Earth Elements (SynBREE),” which aims to deliver modular biotechnology innovations that enable economical and environmentally sustainable REE recovery from low-grade source materials in the U.S. The UK Department of Mining Engineering was tasked to collect, pulverize, and analytically characterize REE-containing allanite ores from primary deposits in Halleck Creek, Wyoming to define major mineralogical and elemental compositions.
Dailey and Lycans worked under the mentorship of Rick Honaker, professor of mining engineering.
Through the display of undergraduate research from across the state, Posters-at-the-Capitol gives those responsible for higher education funding in Kentucky an opportunity to see the important role undergraduate research plays in the education of our students. Students learn more about the political process and how to advocate for undergraduate research at the local and state levels.
“Posters-at-the-Capitol provides a distinct opportunity for undergraduate research in the Commonwealth to be celebrated and to demonstrate for key stakeholders the importance that these endeavors can have in solving issues that face Kentucky, the nation and our world," said Chad Risko, faculty director of the UK Office of Undergraduate Research. "The students representing the University of Kentucky exemplify very well the impact that our undergraduates have across a broad range of disciplines.”
Posters-at-the-Capitol, now in its 21st year, is hosted collaboratively by Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University to showcase the experience of undergraduate students engaged in research through high-quality poster displays at the state legislature.
