People

 Chad Risko, Ph.D. (PI) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky and a faculty researcher at the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER). Chad obtained his B.S. degree in Chemistry and Environmental Technology and Management, magna cum laude, from Baker University (Baldwin City, Kansas). Following his B.S., Chad worked in industry for two years as a Polymer Additives Chemist with the PATCO Additives division of American Ingredients Company (Kansas City, Missouri). Chad’s Ph.D. research with Jean-Luc Brédas at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia) focused on the use of quantum-chemical methods to investigate and develop models for fundamental physicochemical processes related to electron transfer in solid-state organic electronic materials and organic mixed-valence systems. Chad then went to Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) for postdoctoral work with Mark A. Ratner and Tobin J. Marks , where he continued studies of organic electronic materials, including detailing physical phenomena at material interfaces. After serving as the Scientific Officer and Industrial Liaison for the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern, Chad returned to the Georgia Institute of Technology as a Senior Research Scientist. During this time, Chad led research programs that brought together advanced electronic-structure methods and classical molecular dynamics techniques to develop understanding as to how chemical composition and molecular architecture direct the packing preferences of organic molecules in the solid state. Since arriving at the University of Kentucky in 2014, Chad has continued to develop and apply theoretical materials chemistry methods to study fundamental physicochemical processes in the bulk and at the interface of materials of interest for energy conversion and storage and (opto)electronics applications. These research efforts are currently funded by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. For his early career research achievements, Dr. Risko was selected as a 2016 Emerging Investigator by the Journal of Materials Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry).

 Peter Kekenes-Huskey, Ph.D. (PI) is an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina Asheville (2001), which was followed by a Fulbright Fellowship to Germany, whereafter he obtained his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology (2009). At UNC Asheville, he developed algorithms for the ab initio prediction of halogenated ethane decomposition rates as a Barry Goldwater Scholar with Bert Holmes and George Heard (UNCA).  His Ph.D. research with William A. Goddard, III (Caltech) focused on developing Monte Carlo tools and molecular dynamics simulations. Peter complemented his studies with applied mathematics and computer science coursework from algorithm design to parallel computing, in fulfillment of National Science Foundation and Department of Energy Computional Science Graduate Fellowships. Following his Ph.D. work, he worked as a Staff Scientist at Arete Associates from 2007 to 2010, where he developed near-real time image processing and signal detection algorithms for defense applications. Returning to his passion for the physical sciences, he pursued postdoctoral studies with Professors Andy McCammon (Chemistry) and Andrew McCulloch (Bioengineering) at the University of California San Diego under support of American Heart Association and National Institutes of Health fellowships, to understand cardiac calcium signaling using molecular dynamics, partial differential equations and systems biology models. At UK, he is expanding multi-physics descriptions of molecular-driven events with macro-scale phenomena, with myriad applications in biological and nanoscale systems.