History

In January 2000, the Fuel Cell Center (FCC) was established by Dr. S. H. Chan, Far Eastern Energy Distinguished Professor and former president of Yuan Ze University, with a 5 – year financial support from the Energy Research Fund of the Energy Commission. The center was selected by the Energy Commission (now the Energy Bureau of Taiwan) to establish as the university fuel cell center of the nation. The FCC has subsequently selected by the Ministry of Economy as the university to develop high efficiency low cost fuel cell technology, and by the Energy Bureau for the 4-year phase two program to develop high temperature PEMFC components, and by industrial and other sponsorships for joint research and technology transfer.

Development

The mission of FCC is to identify and bring together the necessary elements of science, engineering, and society to make fuel cells technically and economically feasible energy conversion devices for a sustainable civilization. It also serves as a focal point for fuel cell education, development and deployment.

With a 6,600 square foot laboratory, dedicated chaired faculty positions, staff and state-of-the-art facilities, the center is quickly becoming a leader in research, development, and commercial deployment of fuel cell engineering and technology in Taiwan. In the past few years, substantial research and development grants and contracts from federal, and industrial sponsors have been conducted by more than 200 graduate (and 15 undergraduate) students, 6 research associates / post docs and 16 faculty from departments of chemical, mechanical, electrical and management.

With expertise including polymer membranes, anti-CO poison catalyst design, membrane electrode assembly (MEA), single cell and stack design, starting at December 2002, research subjects were extended to include, nano-micro structure design of MEA, alternative bipolar plate, water and thermal management, and high efficient power inverter, etc.

In 2005, Yuan Ze University was selected as one of the top tire universities by the Taiwan Ministry of Education, with a special governmental appropriation of “5 year 50 Billion NT Dollars Award” funding. The funding support began in 2006 for 5 consecutive years till 2010. One of the major focuses of the program is to develop an outstanding FCC on campus and in the nation. This funding will certainly speed up the progress of the center in acquiring more advanced equipment and recruiting more prominent permanent and visiting research specialists and professionals from Taiwan and abroad. In the near future, we have the confidence that the FCC at Yuan Ze University will become a national FCC center in Taiwan and even one of the top research centers in the Fuel Cell field in Asia.