Jun. 22–TROY — Twenty-eight doctoral candidates will study fuel-cell science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute over the next five years, thanks to a new $4.8 million program funded by the federal government and the school.
Once the program begins in the fall, doctoral candidates will begin an interdisciplinary program that includes courses on entrepreneurship as well as science and engineering.
The program aims “to accelerate the process of moving ideas from discovery to the marketplace,” RPI Provost G.P. “Bud” Peterson said in a statement.
The initiative, funded with $3.2 million from the National Science Foundation and $1.6 million from RPI, will bring together disciplines within engineering, science and management, and involve faculty and facilities from six departments and six research or student centers.
There are already some commercial applications of fuel cells, which convert hydrogen to electricity. They include the GenCore system developed by Latham-based Plug Power Inc., which is used to provide backup power for telecommunications firms.
Researchers at RPI have been delving into fuel cells for several years, but this is the first time a specific course of study has been packaged for doctoral candidates, school officials said.
For the last two years, RPI has worked with Plug Power through a research contract sponsored by the Department of Energy. And Plug will donate lab equipment for the new fuel-cell program, said Bill Ernst, vice president and chief scientist at Plug.
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