Coffee Meets Chemical Engineering In UTC's Grounds-breaking Research – CoffeeTalk

Katelyn Hamilton, a junior chemical engineering major at the University of Tennessee (UTC), has turned her passion for coffee into a career path. She began working at a coffee shop during her junior year of high school and quickly became a passionate about the science behind coffee preparation. After spending one semester at Mississippi State University and Tennessee Tech, Hamilton arrived at UTC in August 2023 with a fascination with the science of coffee. Initially dreaming of working for NASA as a mission specialist, she experienced an epiphany during a conversation with her Tennessee Tech roommate.

Hamilton brought her enthusiasm for coffee and a growing curiosity about its environmental impacts to Chattanooga, pairing her UTC schooling with a barista position at nearby Goodman Coffee Roasters. During the fall 2024 semester, she had the opportunity to merge her two interests by noticing a bulletin board in the Engineering and Computer Science Building featuring Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Venkateswara Rao Kode’s research on bio-nanocomposites for 3D printing. Hamilton proposed using spent coffee grounds to create a 3D printing filament, which was funded by the Faculty Development Grant and the UTC Chemical Engineering Faculty Startup Grant.

Hamilton and Kode started working together in the lab researching the spent coffee grounds, as she learned how to conduct pyrolysis and use a scanning electron microscope. Pyrolysis is a process where organic material—in this case, the spent coffee grounds—is heated in the absence of oxygen. This heating breaks down the material into smaller compounds, leaving behind a carbon-rich product known as biochar. Hamilton used the scanning electron microscope to analyze the biochar’s topography, which was mind-boggling … drying the coffee, baking it six hours total, and then we undergo pyrolysis using a tube furnace.

Kode, who joined the UTC faculty at the start of the 2024-25 academic year, said Hamilton’s enthusiasm for the research project—which is funded by the Faculty Development Grant and the UTC Chemical Engineering Faculty Startup Grant—has been inspiring. He said it’s amazing to have undergraduate students like Katelyn working in the lab and learning state-of-the-art research, especially with the ongoing environmental concerns around the world to bring down the carbon emissions and help improve the overall circular economy and sustainability.

While Hamilton’s passion for coffee engineering is evident, she also shared challenges she has faced in her journey, as she was diagnosed with ADHD at an early age. The biggest downside of her ADHD was academics, and she felt like she was not going to work in STEM because of how difficult it was. She wanted to shine a light on the subject because it shouldn’t limit what one can do.

The coffee research has fueled her ambition to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Working with coffee is something she would love to do for the rest of her life, and she cited environmentally friendly examples of decaffeinating coffee—the Swiss Water Process and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. Hamilton believes that there might be a different way to decaf coffee and make it more environmentally friendly because when it comes to coffee roasting, a lot of greenhouse gases are emitted.

Her enthusiasm extends beyond the lab. Hamilton can frequently be found sharing her findings and ideas with her Goodman Coffee Roasters customers and colleagues. “Making coffee is one really big science experiment,” she said with a laugh. “I would definitely say that—with my newfound interest and passions—it has changed the way I see it.”

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