University of Arkansas Students to Be Featured on National Television

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Back row: Kylan Rakestraw, Jamie Hestekin, Ethan Carter, Elizabeth Bevan, Jianjun Du, Tom Potts, and Roy Penney. Front row: Bob Beitle, Jill Ivey, Megan Huslig, Jeremy Stout, Hiroko Nakao, and Michelle Shepherd

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Chemical engineering students at the University of Arkansas have won an online voting contest, and their project will be featured on a Planet Forward Earth Day special on April 8. Their research project, which involves designing and building a device that can convert algae into fuel, will help clean up pollution and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

Planet Forward, a project of the Center for Innovative Media at George Washington University, features ideas about energy, climate and sustainability on its website and through television specials, which air on public television stations across the country. Planet Forward describes its Earth Day special as “the culmination of our current cycle on energy efficiency.” In an online contest, participants submitted ideas to increase energy efficiency. Out of the 1024 ideas submitted, only 22 were nominated for voting. The University of Arkansas won the contest with 1558 votes, and Columbia University’s chapter of Engineering Without Borders placed second with 1056 votes.

On this show, energy innovators, including the students from the University of Arkansas, will discuss their ideas with experts. At the end of the show, the audience and online voters decide which idea is the most innovative. Planet Forward will then follow that idea for a year through online documentaries and future television shows.

The University of Arkansas project focuses on using algae to produce biofuels such as butanol. Algae, which grow quickly in streams and ponds, can be used to remove pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus from the water and then be harvested to make clean-burning biofuel. In addition, the leftover plant material can be used as fertilizer.

Led by faculty adviser Jamie Hestekin, and co-advisers Bob Beitle and Roy Penney, the students are designing a biofuel miniprocessing unit, a machine that can turn algae and other biomass directly into fuel. Their device, which will be small enough to fit in the back of a pick-up truck and will produce a few milliliters of fuel-grade butanol at a time, could serve as a model for larger applications of this technology. For example, a larger machine based on this model could be used by farmers to turn plants directly into fuel for farm equipment.

“The projects that the students are working on could allow Arkansas to make a big impact in energy independence in this country,” said Hestekin.

Twelve students are taking part in this project, including undergraduates Elizabeth Bevan, Ethan Carter, Megan Huslig, Jill Ivey, Ali McAtee, Hiroko Nakao, Kylan Rakestraw, Lizbeth Rostro, Michelle Shepherd, and Jeremy Stout. Two doctoral students, Jianjun Du and Tom Potts, are also involved. Five of the undergraduate students will be incorporating the project into their honors theses, and Ali McAtee has received a grant from the Honors College to support her work with this project.