by Marci E. Hersh

The Case Advanced Power Institute (CAPI) at Case Western Reserve University has been awarded a three-year, $1 million grant from the United States Army under the Department of Defense (DoD) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI).

The University is one of 17 academic institutions to receive such a grant to conduct multidisciplinary research in one of 12 areas of basic science and engineering identified by MURI.

CAPI will use the grant, in collaboration with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT), Northeastern University, Rice University, the University of Illinois and the University of Virginia to jointly examine the fundamental, theoretical/experimental molecular underpinnings of fuel cell systems. The researchers aim to develop and understand the structure stability and performance of fuel cell materials through computational mathematics, which will help to evaluate a range of potential fuels and find the best materials and processing strategies for fuel cells.

" This is a remarkably positive statement in support of fuel cell research," said Tom Zawodzinski, the F. Alex Nason Professor of Engineering and Ohio's first Eminent Scholar for Fuel Cell Research at CWRU. "The grant speaks in favor of the fuel cell research partnership between CWRU and our MURI collaborators. It strengthens our support for President Bush's 'Freedom Fuel' plan, which looks eagerly toward a hydrogen economy over the next five years.

"It also reinforces the University's ability to meet the charge of Governor Bob Taft's Third Frontier project, which can position Ohio among the top three states in the nation in the growing fuel cell industry," Zawodzinski continued." I am particularly thrilled to witness this national funding for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio."

The MURI program is designed to address large multidisciplinary research areas that represent exceptional opportunities for future DoD applications and technology. The award provides long-term support for research, graduate students, researchers and laboratory instrumentation that endorse specific science and engineering research themes vital to national defense.

"This grant was highly competitive," Zawodzinski said. "The DoD's MURI solicitation resulted in 83 full proposals from across the nation, requesting $497 million for multidisciplinary research. The DoD technical expert teams found only 17 of these proposals were suitable for funding, and CWRU's proposal was among them."

CAPI supports high-energy density fuel cell research, which uses either pure hydrogen, hydrogen from reformed fuels or methanol as its fuel. The institute promotes scientific and technical research directed at increasing energy conversion efficiency, reducing negative environmental impact and lessening dependency on imported oil. Its mission includes educational outreach and commercialization activities focused on fuel cell and advanced energy conversion technologies.

The institute also aims to stimulate industry, create new markets through innovation and to become a force in shaping the global research agenda related to fuel cells and alternative energy sources.

CAPI is formally engaging industry through an affiliates membership program, allowing industry access to expertise and state-of-the-art facilities and a guiding leader in research. The institute also holds partnerships with academic and government organizations to develop a national fuel cell infrastructure and strategies for future fuel cell research efforts.

Academic leaders, professional research staff and top graduate students at CAPI undertake activities ranging from fundamental studies of phenomena that take place within the fuel cell to completing performance and system level studies and mathematical modeling.

"CAPI meets with research teams and commercial enterprises that are already involved or need to be involved with fuel cell research," Zawodzinski said. "We also collaborate with companies that have had no direct involvement in fuel cells but for whom fuel cell research can have great implications for their own operations. We encourage industry to contact CAPI with regard to scientific or technological research in fuel cells because we hope that a unified effort in this industry will help introduce viable new technology solutions."

In June, CAPI will join a group of national fuel cell researchers and commercial developers at the Ohio Fuel Cell Symposium where technical fuel cell research papers will be presented. CAPI also will lead the discussion about the future of funding fuel cell research in Ohio.

"There is a widely successful, long history of fuel cell research at Case Western Reserve University," Zawodzinski said. "The global marketplace confirms a gap between the need for sustained alternative power and technology, and CAPI aims to help find viable solutions."

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