• Rodger McKain, President, SOFCo
• Dr. Michael Martin, Vice President, Alternative Energy Technology, EMTEC

Fuel Cells and the hydrogen economy may still be five years away, but Ohio has a variety of near term supply chain opportunities. Ohio's investment in the fuel cell industry via the Third Frontier Program stimulated much of this opportunity. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) are best known for their fuel flexible auxiliary power applications. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) are considered to be the prime candidate for portable and vehicular power. Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells (PAFC) are known for their high efficiency combined heat and power generation capability. For the fuel cell powered "Freedom Car" to become a reality Ohio will need to invest in and develop a hydrogen highway infrastructure. Speakers in this session will delineate specific known supply chain opportunities.

• "Fuel Processing Subsystem for a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell" - Rodger McKain, Rolls-Royce

  Any successful new product introduction depends heavily on producer-supplier partnerships. Fuel cells are no different. The manufacturing base in Ohio presents a significant opportunity for competitive advantage if partnerships can be formed that stimulate innovation and produce cost effective solutions. RRFCS and EMTEC were recently awarded a Third Frontier grant: "Establishing Ohio-Based Manufacturing and Supply-Chain for a 250kW Fuel Processing Subsystem for a 1-megawatt solid oxide fuel cell system." This grant will be instrumental in moving the RRFCS fuel processor subsystem into commercial manufacture through design optimization, identification of manufacturing partners and the development of the supply chain. This presentation will provide an overview of RRFCS and describe the effort that has been launched through the recent Third Frontier grant.

• "Wright Fuel Cell Group: Facilities/Testing/Expertise/Partnering to Assist in Growing of a Fuel Cell Cluster in Ohio" - George Harker, Wright Fuel Cell Group

  The Wright Fuel Cell Group (WFCG) was founded and set up in 2003 as part of the State of Ohio's $103 million Fuel Cell Initiative. This Initiative was designed to position Ohio as a national leader in the growing fuel cell industry, building off it strong manufacturing base and equipment suppliers, along with leading edge research from its universities. Since then the WFCG has been awarded over $20 million in capital and operating funding to set and operate facilities, testing equipment, to develop partnering/collaborations between universities and companies, and to support other state and fuel cell industry development efforts in the state. This presentation will review WFCG accomplishments to date and provide insight into the future thrusts to further assist the development of a viable fuel cell cluster in Ohio.

• Benson Lee, Technology Management, Inc.
  
• "The Evolution of America’s First Micro-Fuel Cell Production Operation" - Frank Beafore, UltraCell, Inc.

  The design and build of America’s first micro-fuel cell production operation requires a thorough understanding of the product functionality and the related value stream of all components. The UltraCell XX25™ is a very complex, reformed methanol cell that in reality is a micro factory. This factory takes water and methanol as feed stock, converts it into hydrogen, generates electricity and processes its by-products - all in box no bigger than an ordinary text book. This paper intends to explain the operation of the product, the production process and the need for value-stream collaboration.