Can I Pursue a Career in Hydrogen Fuel Cells?

[Null_]

Hi all,
I recently made my own hydrogen fuel cell and really enjoyed the process and everything I learned. I didn't know much about electronics or cells, so it was a great learning experience. In my research I found that chemical engineers made a nanometal to work as a catalyst instead of the expensive and fragile platinum wire.

I just graduated high school, and I will be entering college for chemE in the fall. Is working on H-fuel cells a viable route to go once I graduate from college? Or is the demand in the stage that they will have all the engineers working on it that they'll need? Is this even something chemical engineers world work on? And I do realize that I haven't much experience in the field. I am sure that I will be interested by other applications, but I am attracted to H-fuel for a variety of reasons, including pollution.

Thanks, and sorry for all of the questions. :)

 

[Topher925]

As of right now, there is no catalyst for oxygen reduction reactions that works as well as platinum or arguably has as good of a performance/cost ratio. Some of the N-based complexes show a lot of promise but this a very new technology.

Working in fuel cells is a good route to go after you graduate but FC jobs are hard to come by right now. There are a lot of engineers that want to work in fuel cell and similar technology but not many jobs exist for them. This of course could change by the time you graduate from college. Hydrogen infrastructure in general is a good area to specialize in, in my opinion. Many people (including myself) believe that a hydrogen economy is the best solution to the energy crisis we are currently in. Switching from a fossil fuel to a hydrogen based infrastructure will of course require a lot of skilled chemical engineers so its a very good concentration to choose.

 

[mheslep]

Anyone know how many of these hydrogen taxis are in the initial roll out in London? Or if they used liquid or compressed H2?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zero-emissions-fuel-cell-hybrid-taxi-unveiled-at-londons-city-hall-2010-06-07?reflink=MW_news_stmp