FAYETTEVILLE — Michelle Shepherd from Rogers and Jill Ivey from Fayetteville are part of a team of chemical engineering students at the University of Arkansas College of Engineering whose research project will be featured on the Planet Forward Earth Day special.
The program will air on April 8 on participating PBS stations. The students’ research project involves designing and building a device that can convert algae into fuel, to help clean up pollution and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
The project was selected in a national online contest. On this show, the University of Arkansas team will join other energy innovators to discuss their ideas with experts. At the end of the show, the audience and online voters will decide which idea is the most innovative.
The student team is 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. Shepherd is the daughter of Marvin and Andrea Shepherd of Rogers, and Ivey is the daughter of Mack Ivey and Debby Winters of Fayetteville.
Our Town, Pages 7 on 02/27/2011