Jeffery Seay, assistant professor of chemical and materials engineering at the UK Paducah campus, led seven UK Paducah chemical and mechanical engineering students in a design project to develop low-cost, environmentally friendly technologies to produce biodiesel for rural villagers in Cameroon, Africa. Seay and the students worked with the African Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (ACREST) to design the process using resources and materials readily available in Cameroon. A 10-day trip to Bangang, Cameroon to work with the local villagers in implementing and refining the design was the culmination of the year-long project.
"To say the trip was eventful is an understatement," Seay said. "After over 18 hours of flying, our bus ride to the village of Bangang was the students' introduction to transportation difficulties in the developing world. The bus could not go up the muddy hillside road, so at about 10 p.m. we had to carry everything we brought — our supplies for the project, our personal belongings and supplies we brought for local school children — about three miles up the hillside in the pouring down rain. It took us over two hours to walk to the village."
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