UofL project to take place on International Space Station

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    LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A NASA grant is allowing the University of Louisville and two other state schools to do research aboard the International Space Station that could result in advances in solar energy, advanced manufacturing and other fields.

    The project, a collaboration with scientists and engineers from the University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University, involves physics experiments on colloids — mixtures of microscopic particles suspended throughout a substance. Examples of colloids include milk, which has microglobules of butterfat suspended in whey, and blood, which contains blood cells suspended in plasma.

    UofL mechanical engineering assistant professor Stuart Williams, the project’s principal scientific investigator, said the exact nature of the experiments to be performed still is being determined. Research on the space station is expected to begin June 2015.

    Williams said the space station setting provides a “unique research environment” and will help scientists explore how particles interact in zero gravity.

    The research “will yield insight into the physics of colloidal interactions, which is important for the development of the next generation of sophisticated materials,” he said.

    According to researchers, understanding colloidal physics is needed to develop new materials with enhanced energy, thermal, optical, chemical and mechanical properties. Potential applications include more efficient solar energy panels, stronger and lighter aerospace materials and less expensive electronic displays.

    Williams said the collaborative nature of the coming project will raise the state’s profile in colloidal research.

    The project’s managing principal investigator is Suzanne Smith, UK’s Donald and Gertrude Lester Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the NASA Kentucky Space Grant Consortium.

    The team also includes Gerold Willing, UofL assistant professor of chemical engineering, Hemali Rathnayake, WKU assistant professor of chemistry, Janet Lumpp, UK associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and NASA partner Ronald Sicker.

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    John Karman, III
    John Karman joined the Office of Communications and Marketing in 2014 after a 20-plus year career as a Louisville journalist. He has served as director of media relations since 2015. In that role, he answers reporters’ inquiries and is the university’s main spokesperson. John was a reporter for Business First of Louisville from 1999 to 2013. There, he won numerous awards from the Louisville chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists and American City Business Journals, parent company to Business First. John can die happy after seeing the Chicago Cubs win the 2016 World Series, although he would also enjoy another title.