6–9 Months | 30 Weeks | 400–500+ Hours — Hydrogen • Electrochemistry • Fuel Cells • PEMFC • Stack Design • Materials • Controls • Testing • Applications. Theory + simulation + materials lab + electrochemistry lab + stack lab + testing + industry project.
Program objective: Develop industry-ready fuel-cell engineers who understand hydrogen-energy systems, electrochemistry, fuel-cell materials, stack architecture, PEMFC design, balance-of-plant, control systems, testing, diagnostics and commercialization — not just “how a fuel cell works.”
Student journey: Energy Fundamentals → Hydrogen Economy → Electrochemistry → Fuel Cell Technologies → PEMFC Fundamentals → Materials & Components → MEA → Single Cell → Stack Design → Balance of Plant → Control & Instrumentation → Testing & Characterization → Diagnostics → System Integration → Industry Application.
Core promise: Don't just learn fuel cells. Learn to engineer the complete hydrogen-to-power system.
Target engineering roles
- Fuel Cell / PEMFC Engineer, Stack Design Engineer, Electrochemical Engineer
- Hydrogen Energy Engineer, Fuel Cell Systems & Application Engineer
- Materials, Membrane, Catalyst, MEA, Bipolar Plate, Manufacturing Engineer
- Controls, Power Electronics, Test, Diagnostics & Reliability Engineer
Three RASA certification levels
- Level 1 — Fuel Cell Technology Professional: Hydrogen + electrochemistry + fuel cell fundamentals
- Level 2 — PEMFC Engineering Professional: Materials + MEA + stack + testing + controls
- Level 3 — Advanced PEMFC Systems Engineer: BOP + simulation + diagnostics + AI + industry application
Phase 1 — Energy & Hydrogen Fundamentals (Weeks 1–2)
Module 01 — Energy Systems
- Energy, power, work, efficiency; energy/power density; specific energy/power
- Conventional vs renewable energy; batteries, supercapacitors, hydrogen, thermal storage
- Comparison: Battery vs hydrogen fuel cell — density, refueling, efficiency, weight, range, infrastructure
Module 02 — Hydrogen Economy
- Hydrogen properties, production, storage, transport, utilization
- SMR, alkaline/PEM/SOEC electrolysis, biomass pathways; grey/blue/green hydrogen
- Value chain: production → compression/storage → transport → dispensing → fuel cell → electricity + heat + water
Phase 2 — Electrochemistry (Weeks 3–4)
Module 03 — Electrochemistry Fundamentals
- Atoms, ions, electrons; oxidation/reduction; electrolytes, electrodes, cells
- Anode → electrolyte → cathode; electrode/cell potential, OCV, equilibrium, kinetics
Module 04 — Electrochemical Thermodynamics
- Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, entropy, chemical potential, reversible voltage
- Nernst equation; Faraday's Law — hydrogen consumption → electron flow → current
- Practical: Theoretical cell voltage, H₂/O₂ consumption, theoretical efficiency
Phase 3 — Fuel Cell Technologies (Weeks 5–6)
Module 05 — Introduction to Fuel Cells
- Chemical energy → electrochemical reaction → electrical energy
- Anode, cathode, electrolyte, catalyst, GDL, current collectors
Module 06 — Types of Fuel Cells
- PEMFC, AFC, PAFC, MCFC, SOFC, DMFC — electrolyte, temperature, applications
- Comparison matrix for mobility, stationary, portable and specialized uses
Phase 4 — PEMFC Fundamentals (Weeks 7–8)
Module 07 — PEMFC Operating Principle
- Anode HOR; membrane proton transport; cathode ORR; H₂ + O₂ → electricity + heat + water
Module 08 — PEMFC Performance
- Polarization: activation → ohmic → mass transport losses
- OCV, operating voltage, current/power density, efficiency, fuel/air utilization
- Curves: V–i, power density vs current, efficiency vs load
Phase 5 — PEMFC Materials & Components (Weeks 9–11)
Module 09 — PEMFC Membrane
- Proton conductivity, water uptake, gas crossover, chemical/mechanical stability, thickness
- Challenges: dehydration, swelling, degradation, hydrogen crossover
Module 10 — PEMFC Catalyst
- Electrocatalysis, Pt nanoparticles, support, loading; HOR and ORR
- Poisoning, dissolution, particle growth, carbon corrosion
Module 11 — Gas Diffusion Layer
- Gas/water transport, conductivity, porosity, wettability, hydrophobicity
- Carbon paper/cloth, MPL; trade-offs: gas transport ↔ water ↔ compression
Module 12 — Bipolar Plates
- Gas distribution, current collection, water/heat management, structure
- Graphite, metal, coated metals, composites; serpentine, parallel, interdigitated flow fields
Phase 6 — MEA & Single-Cell Engineering (Weeks 12–13)
Module 13 — Membrane Electrode Assembly
- Catalyst layer → membrane → catalyst layer → GDLs
- Catalyst ink, electrode fabrication, hot pressing, MEA assembly, loading
- Practical: Laboratory-scale MEA under supervised lab conditions
Module 14 — Single Cell Assembly
- End plates, bipolar plates, gaskets, MEA, GDLs, current collectors
- Alignment, compression, sealing, torque control, leak testing
Phase 7 — PEMFC Stack Engineering (Weeks 14–16)
Module 15 — Stack Architecture
- Cell → stack series connection; voltage, current, power
- Repeat units, end plates, tie rods, compression
Module 16 — Stack Design
- Cell count, active area, current density, gas flow, cooling, pressure
- Exercise: Design a 5 kW PEMFC stack — cells, voltage, current, H₂/air flow, heat
Module 17 — Thermal & Water Management
- Hydration, electro-osmotic drag, back diffusion, flooding, drying
- Heat generation, cooling, temperature distribution; dry vs wet failure modes
Phase 8 — Balance of Plant (Weeks 17–18)
Module 18 — PEMFC Balance of Plant
- H₂ side: storage, pressure regulation, valves, sensors, flow control
- Air side: compressor/blower, filters, humidification; cooling loop; DC/DC, inverter, battery interface
Module 19 — PEMFC System Architecture
- H₂ → regulation → stack → DC/DC → DC bus → inverter/load
- Parallel: air supply, cooling, water management, control system
Phase 9 — Controls & Power Electronics (Weeks 19–20)
Module 20 — Fuel Cell Control Systems
- Sensors: pressure, temperature, humidity, flow, voltage, current
- Control of H₂/air flow, stack temperature, pressure, humidity; PID, feed-forward, supervisory
Module 21 — Fuel Cell Power Electronics
- DC/DC, DC bus, inverter, load management, battery integration
- Hybrid FC + battery for vehicles, drones, robotics, backup; energy management strategies
Phase 10 — Testing & Characterization (Weeks 21–22)
Module 22 — PEMFC Testing
- Electronic load, flow/pressure/temp/humidity sensors, DAQ
- OCV, polarization, constant current/power, dynamic load procedures
Module 23 — Electrochemical Characterization
- EIS: Nyquist, equivalent circuits, ohmic/charge-transfer/mass-transport
- Cyclic voltammetry: catalyst activity, ECSA; hydrogen crossover and membrane integrity
Phase 11 — Diagnostics & Failure Analysis (Week 23)
Module 24 — Failure Analysis
- Drying, flooding, catalyst degradation, carbon corrosion, crossover, seals, plate corrosion
- Diagnostic loop: symptom → measurement → hypothesis → test → root cause → corrective action
- Case study: 20% stack power drop — RCA report on flow, humidity, temperature, cell voltage, resistance
Phase 12 — Manufacturing & Quality (Week 24)
Module 25 — PEMFC Manufacturing
- Materials → membrane → catalyst layer → MEA → GDL → cell → stack → test → QC
- Quality: loading, thickness, leakage, cell voltage consistency, compression, contact resistance
Module 26 — Quality Engineering
- QC, SPC, process capability, FMEA, RCA, reliability, accelerated testing
Phase 13 — Simulation & Digital Engineering (Week 25)
Module 27 — PEMFC Modelling
- Electrochemical → single cell → stack → system modelling
- MATLAB/Simulink, COMSOL/ANSYS, Python; model voltage, polarization, H₂/air, power
Module 28 — Digital Twin Concepts
- Digital twin, real-time monitoring, predictive diagnostics, model-based control, RUL
- Physical PEMFC ↔ digital model ↔ sensor data
Phase 14 — Hydrogen Safety & Regulations (Week 26)
Module 29 — Hydrogen Safety Engineering (mandatory)
- Hydrogen properties: diffusivity, flammability, ignition, leakage
- Leak detection, ventilation, pressure relief, isolation, ESD, grounding, hazard ID
- Lab safety: gas/cylinder handling, pressure systems, electrical, PPE, emergency response
- Practical: HAZOP / risk assessment / FMEA for a laboratory PEMFC system
Phase 15 — Application Specialization Tracks (Week 27)
Tracks A–C
- A — Hydrogen Mobility: FCEV architecture, stack, battery, DC/DC, motor, H₂ storage, thermal
- B — Fuel Cell Drones: H₂ → PEMFC → DC/DC → battery → ESC → motors; weight, endurance, hybrid UAV design
- C — Stationary Power: backup, telecom, data centres, microgrids, hybrid renewables
Tracks D–F
- D — Materials & MEA R&D: membrane, catalyst, GDL, durability
- E — Testing & Diagnostics: polarization, EIS, degradation, CVM
- F — Electrolyzer + PEMFC: renewables → PEM electrolyzer → H₂ → PEMFC → electricity (green hydrogen loop)
Phase 16 — AI for Fuel Cell Engineering (Module 30)
Module 30 — AI & Data Analytics for PEMFC
- Performance prediction, fault detection, RUL, degradation, optimal operating points, H₂ consumption
- Regression, classification, time-series, anomaly detection on T/P/RH/I/V data
- Project: PEMFC fault detection prototype — flooding, drying, abnormal T/P, voltage degradation
Phase 17 — RASA PEMFC Engineering Challenge Capstone (Weeks 28–30)
Capstone options
- Option 1 — 1 kW PEMFC Power System: stack + H₂/air/cooling + sensors + controller + DC/DC
- Option 2 — PEMFC Drone: hydrogen hybrid UAV — power, weight, endurance, thermal
- Option 3 — PEMFC EV: FCEV passenger vehicle sizing and thermal management
- Option 4 — Green Hydrogen Microgrid: solar → electrolyzer → storage → PEMFC → AC load
- Option 5 — PEMFC R&D: vary membrane/catalyst/humidity/T/P/stoichiometry vs performance
Capstone deliverables (20 items)
- Problem statement, requirements, literature, technology selection, architecture, BOM
- Calculations, CAD/system model, simulation, test plan/procedure, DAQ, performance analysis
- Safety analysis, FMEA, cost, sustainability, technical report, demo, industry presentation
Labs, toolkit, portfolio & assessment
Seven dedicated labs
- Electrochemistry, PEMFC Single Cell, MEA, Stack, Testing, Instrumentation, Simulation
Software toolkit
- MATLAB/Simulink, COMSOL/ANSYS, Python ML, SolidWorks/Fusion, LabVIEW/DAQ, Git
8–10 mini projects
- H₂ system analysis, FC comparison, polarization, H₂ consumption, thermal, MEA, stack sizing, control sim, EIS, AI degradation
Assessment framework
- Energy & H₂ (5%), electrochemistry (10%), FC technologies (5%), PEMFC fundamentals (10%), materials (10%), MEA/cell (10%), stack (10%), BOP (5%), controls/PE (5%), testing/diagnostics (10%), simulation (5%), safety (5%), AI (5%), capstone (10%)
Four engineering layers: SCIENCE (hydrogen + electrochemistry) → CELL (membrane + catalyst + GDL + MEA) → SYSTEM (stack + BOP + thermal + controls + power electronics) → INTELLIGENCE (simulation + data analytics + AI + diagnostics).
Enquire about this program
