Hot-bed of fuel cell R&D

Late in 2001, the University of Connecticut unveiled a center of excellence devoted to fuel cell science and technology, the Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center (CGFCC). The product of a unique collaboration between the State of Connecticut, local industry, and the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering, the Center supports cutting-edge research, design and commercial development, education, and transfer of fuel cell technology. Though nestled near the University’s main campus in pastoral Storrs, the CGFCC is no rustic, sleepy laboratory. The Center is rapidly emerging as a recognized hub, gaining research momentum in the red-hot fuel cell arena. Analysts project the US fuel cell market will climb dramatically in coming years, $10-50 billion by 2010, with the greatest growth potential in the portable/mobile markets. The industry received a strong boost early in 2002 when President Bush voiced his budget support for integration of hydrogen fuel cells in the US auto industry.Anticipating the approaching trend, the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering began negotiating in 2000 with Connecticut companies and government/private sector venture capitalists to establish a state-of-the-art center devoted to fuel cell science and technology. The Center was born in December 2001 as a partnership between the School of Engineering, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (the state’s renewable energy investment fund), and local industry.