Workforce Development Planning for a Hydrogen Economy

Hydrogen energy technologies are moving out of the research lab and are rapidly becoming economically competitive solutions in niche markets such as backup power and utility vehicle applications.  As hydrogen technologies are adopted on a wider basis, a technician base will be needed to manufacture, install, and operate these technologies.  To support commercialization of these technologies, Aiken Technical College (ATC) has teamed with Texas State Technical College – Waco (TSTC-Waco) to draft a workforce development plan for the hydrogen economy.  

Aiken Technical College serves a community in eastern South Carolina and western Georgia with a strong industrial presence.  A group of industries in this community has purchased over 30 hydrogen powered lift trucks for use in manufacturing and distribution operations. ATC is responding to local demand for Hydrogen Energy Technicians to support these units by creating instructional modules in Industrial Maintenance, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, and Electrical Engineering Technology.  ATC has also included hydrogen training in automotive courses to support the maintenance of a Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (HICE) truck that will be used by Savannah River National Laboratory as a test bed for novel hydrogen storage systems.

Texas State Technical College - Waco has developed a Fuel Cell Technology Specialization within their Electrical Controls Systems program.  The Fuel Cell Technology curriculum was developed using a DACUM panel of industry experts in 2003 and TSTC-Waco reconvened the panel at the beginning of 2008 to revalidate the program.  Currently, the fuel cell curriculum is undergoing certification by the Texas Board of Education.

ATC and TSTC – Waco have been working to foster collaboration between educational institutions working with hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.  The goal of this collaboration is to build sustainable workforce development plan that will provide skilled hydrogen workforce to industry as the hydrogen economy develops.  The workforce development plan will address educational program needs in the areas of: continuing education retraining of the existing workforce, rollout and development of credit programs at technical institutions, and K-12 outreach to science and math teachers.

The National Science Foundation - Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) program has funded the team of ATC and TSTC – Waco to develop a strategic plan for workforce development in the area of hydrogen energy technology.   This strategic plan will be developed by convening a panel of composed of hydrogen industry representatives, economic developers, and educators.  The goal of the strategic plan will be not only to meet the short term needs of the hydrogen industry in niche markets, but also develop the technical workforce to support mass adoption of hydrogen technologies.