The National Research Council’s Innovation Centre in Vancouver is in rapid expansion and reorganization mode following last month’s decision to provide $20 million over five years and raise its status to that of a full national fuel cells institute (R$, March 18/02). In the coming months, the Centre will launch a national fuel cells program in conjunction industry and the university sector, filling a large gap in Canada’s support of fuel cell, hydrogen and balance-of-plant technologies.

The new fuel cells program will also coordinate fuel cell-related activity of other NRC institutes, particularly those within the manufacturing technologies group. This includes the Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology, the Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute, the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, and the Industrial Materials Institute. The primary goal is to lay the seeds of a fuel cells cluster in the region, but one that has national and international reach.

“Our focus will be mostly on balance-of-plant technologies,” says Dr Maja Velj-kovic, DG of the as-yet unnamed institute. “Fuel Cells Canada is our key stakeholder and we will be transferring technology to its members. In addition, they will do demonstration projects and we will help run the demos.”

In anticipation of its new expanded roles, the institute has reorganized into R&D groups: materials development and testing, process control, fuel processing and energy systems, sensors and micro systems and testing of materials and systems technology for industry.

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