Advisory board to support ongoing development of RuggedCell™ water electrolyzer technology
OWEN SOUND, Ontario (June 27, 2023) – Hydrogen Optimized, a subsidiary of Key DH Technologies Inc. (KEY), has established a new Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to support the ongoing technology development of its patented RuggedCell™ high-power water electrolyzers for clean hydrogen production.
The SAB is composed of distinguished scientists and academics who can accelerate the efforts of Hydrogen Optimized to build on the proven Stuart alkaline water electrolysis technology that is foundational to the RuggedCell™. The inaugural Board members are Dr. Gregory Jerkiewicz (Chair), Professor, Department of Chemistry, Queen’s University; Dr. Bruno G. Pollet, Professor of Chemistry, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières; and Dr. Pavel Gris, Chief Scientist of the KEY Group of Companies, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo.
“The formation of our Scientific Advisory Board marks a significant step in our continual advancement of the RuggedCell™ platform and the informed, independent analysis of our technological progress,” said Andrew T. B. Stuart, President and CEO, Hydrogen Optimized. “I am particularly delighted to welcome Gregory, Bruno and Pavel to the Advisory Board, and look forward to their contributions.”
The RuggedCell™ system represents the fourth-generation Stuart alkaline water electrolysis cell design. Stuart technology has an enviable track record that dates to the first-generation Stuart unipolar cell invented about 110 years ago by Andrew Stuart’s grandfather, Alexander T. Stuart. Since that start, the technology has been deployed in approximately 1,000 electrolytic hydrogen plants in 100 countries, and achieved 1 billion cell hours of operation.
“Today’s system builds on core features that are key to the Stuart Cells’ proven success, with modern adaptations to enable the mass manufacturing needed to achieve the lowest levelized cost of hydrogen for large-scale installations,” Stuart said. “Our Advisory Board members will support the ongoing review of our technology objectives and key results. They will also provide knowledgeable third-party input to support the technical understanding of Stuart technology when customers and investors evaluate the RuggedCell™.”
About the Hydrogen Optimized Scientific Advisory Board Members
Dr. Gregory Jerkiewicz (SAB Chair), PhD, M.Eng.
Dr. Gregory Jerkiewicz, a Professor in Queen’s University Department of Chemistry, studied Chemical Engineering-Engineering Chemistry and Solid-State Physics at Gdansk University of Technology, Poland, in the 1980s. He immigrated to Canada in 1985 and, in 1991, earned a doctorate at the University of Ottawa. There, he received several awards including the prestigious Noranda Bradfield Fellowship supported by the Electrolyser Corporation and the late Alexander K. Stuart. In 1992, he was awarded a special Research Professorship by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Quebec and held this position at the Université de Sherbrooke until 2002 when he moved to Queen’s University. He was also a junior holder of a Hydrogen Research Chair while at Sherbrooke. Dr. Jerkiewicz has won several awards including Electrochemistry Award of the Société Française de Chimie (1997), the first time ever awarded to a researcher residing outside of France; the W. A. E. McBryde Medal of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (2004); the Rio Tinto Award of the same Society (2022); and the Eminent Visitor Award of the Catalysis Society of South Africa (2018). He is the Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Electrocatalysis., and has served on several executive committees, advisory boards, and grant selection committees including the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society for Chemistry and the Executive Committee of the Canadian Section of the Electrochemical Society.
Professor Jerkiewicz is internationally renowned for his contributions to hydrogen, platinum, and nickel electrochemistry and electrocatalysis. He has authored about 150 publications including numerous peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, and has delivered over 200 plenary, keynote lectures and seminars, and 260 conference presentations. In 2012, the President of Poland bestowed on him a Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (equivalent to the Order of Canada), in 2018, the title of Professor of Chemical Sciences, and in 2023, a Cross of Freedom and Solidarity, honouring members of the country’s democratic opposition who were killed or faced other consequences as a result of their activities for the benefit of a free and democratic Poland.
Bruno G. Pollet, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, FRSC
Dr. Bruno G. Pollet, Professor of Chemistry at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), was educated at Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and Coventry University, England, where he earned his doctorate. He is a Fellow of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry, and Adjunct Professor in Renewable Energy at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Dr. Pollet, regarded as one of the most prominent hydrogen experts in the world, is President of the Green Hydrogen Division at International Association for Hydrogen Energy, and has worked on hydrogen energy in the UK, Japan, South Africa, Norway and Canada. At UQTR, he is Co-Director of the Institute for Hydrogen Research (Institut de Recherche sur l’Hydrogène).
Dr. Pollet is a member of the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition, an Independent Advisory Council to the United Nations’ Secretary-General, and leads H2CAN 2.0, a cluster of hydrogen R&D groups in Canada. He serves on the board of directors of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association and Hydrogène Québec. He was awarded two prestigious NSERC Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs in Green Hydrogen Production, and the Innergex Renewable Energy Research Chair focussing on the next generation of hydrogen production and water electrolyzers. Dr. Pollet’s research activities cover a wide range of areas spanning electrochemistry, electrochemical energy conversion and sonoelectrochemistry (the application of ultrasound in electrochemistry). This includes the development of new materials, hydrogen storage and fuel cells, and water treatment and disinfection. Dr. Pollet was awarded the International Association for Hydrogen Energy’s Sir William Grove Award for his work in hydrogen, fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies.
Pavel Gris, PhD, MRSC, C. Chem
Dr. Pavel Gris is Chief Scientist of the KEY group of companies and an Adjunct Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo. At KEY, Dr. Gris provides member companies of the group’s deuterium and hydrogen divisions with scientific assessments, critical analysis of research activity fundamentals, and deep scientific review of each company’s research and development initiatives. Since joining the KEY group in 2018, his primary focus has been to lead scientific and analytic activities to develop and manufacture deuterated precursors for the pharmaceutical industry as well as deuterated intermediates for the electronics industry. He also evaluates and develops catalyst technology for hydrogen molecule reactions. Within KEY’s deuterium division, Dr. Gris is active in academic collaborations funded by MITACS and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), product and catalyst development, and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC). He is an active member of the company’s deuterium CMO (contract manufacturing organization) team.
Dr. Gris joined KEY after a career in academia where he obtained extensive experience in a broad range of sciences, clinical research, and university level teaching at Western University, Concordia University, McGill University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has a PhD in molecular neurosciences and bioinformatics from the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Western University, London, Canada. He has also completed two consecutive post-doctoral appointments at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and McGill University in Montreal. Dr. Gris is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a chartered chemist in the province of Ontario.
About Hydrogen Optimized
Hydrogen Optimized Inc., a subsidiary of Key DH Technologies Inc. (KEY), is a private hydrogen technology company that develops and commercializes large-scale green hydrogen production systems. The company’s patented high-power RuggedCell™ water electrolysis system incorporates a design that enables green hydrogen plants up to gigawatt scale and low-cost mass manufacturing, and is free of iridium. Through a strategic relationship with global technology leader ABB, which holds a minority interest in KEY, Hydrogen Optimized accesses complementary ABB products and capabilities, including high-power rectifiers. This enables end-to-end integration of green hydrogen projects, from power source to end-use application, strengthening the customer value proposition for the world’s largest green hydrogen projects. For more information on Hydrogen Optimized, please visit www.hydrogenoptimized.com.
For more information:
Don Hogarth
Phone: 416-565-8920