Campus News

UK Bootcamp Team Headed to Accelerator Program in Boston

Fletcher Young, left and Zach Yonts of Stillage Solutions
Fletcher Young (left) and Zach Yonts, Stillage Solutions.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 12, 2017) The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship (VACE), part of the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics, announced that one of its Bootcamp teams, Stillage Solutions, has been accepted into the Midwest Region CleanTech 2017 Accelerator Program in Boston. 

Stillage Solutions will attend the CleanTech Open later this year as a top 25 semifinalist. The team was selected from a pool of over 120 candidates from 10 of the 13 CleanTech Open-Midwest states, including Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

The UK graduate team is comprised of Gatton MBA students Fletcher Young and Zach Yonts, along with postdoctoral student Sneha Chede from the College of Engineering. The team recently captured the 2017 Alltech Innovation Competition graduate first place prize of $10,000.

Stillage Solutions originated from research conducted by UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER). The research uses a method in which leftover stillage is re-purposed from the brewing and distilling process to produce activated carbon. The proposed process will develop a low-cost, high-quality and more environmentally friendly activated carbon product than what is currently developed using coal, coconut shells and wood. Activated carbon is used in everything from water and gas filtration systems, to fuel cells and supercapacitator-driven devices, such as cell phones.

“We are incredibly proud of the Stillage Solutions team and their persistence to move this research from the lab and explore the opportunities of developing a real company,” said Warren Nash, executive director of VACE. “The VACE Venture Studio Entrepreneurs Bootcamp program has proven to benefit and motivate teams to take ideas and understand their true business potential. Through the efforts of VACE’s staff, community collaborators, mentors and faculty members, we are leading the charge in producing Kentucky’s next generation of business leaders.”