“The adoption of hydrogen energy technologies by industries in Aiken and throughout the nation presents significant opportunities for economic development,” said Dr. Winsor. “However, these opportunities will challenge technical training programs to educate the workforce in a field where technologies are rapidly emerging. This NSF grant will help ATC, TSTC Waco, and technical educators across the nation understand how to best meet the needs of the dynamic and growing hydrogen economy.”

The goal of the NSF planning grant is to develop a unified regional and national educational strategy to train skilled workers for the hydrogen economy. The project is headed by a partnership between ATC and TSTC Waco and draws upon regional and national relationships with hydrogen industry members, the Savannah River National Lab (SRNL), the Center for Hydrogen Research (CHR), readySC, the Texas State Energy Office, Lynntech, government, higher education, and K-12 school districts.

To help develop effective training materials, ATC has worked with the pioneering fuel cell education program at TSTC Waco to better understand the challenges in hydrogen technical training. Instructors at ATC have already developed hydrogen training modules and incorporated them into the industrial maintenance, electrical engineering technology, HVAC, and automotive programs.

Work on the planning grant at ATC will leverage significant investment in hydrogen energy technologies by Aiken County and the State of South Carolina. Once a detailed plan is developed ATC will apply to the NSF for funding to become an Advanced Education Center for hydrogen technology.

Aiken County has underwritten the funding of the CHR, a 60,000 sq. ft. facility dedicated to hydrogen research, where much of the hands-on training for ATC programs will take place. The CHR is a subsidiary of the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) meant to accelerate growth of the hydrogen economy by providing a location for collaborative research between industry and SRNL as well as public education and outreach. An industrial regenerative fuel cell system to be used in ATC training programs at the CHR was developed in partnership with the EDP, SRNL, and readySC.