NHA’s 8th Annual U.S. Hydrogen Meeting Was a Success
for Industrial Participants
by David
Haberman, President, DCH Technology, Inc.
The last few years the National Hydrogen Association
(NHA) annual meeting has been growing not only as a technology and policy
conference but as a forum for the development of business. This year’s
8th Annual U.S. Hydrogen Meeting included several new and potential
members attending sessions and visiting the expanded exhibits and poster
session. The meeting attendance was 255, a new record, and several entrepreneurial
and small businesses were represented.
The meeting is a unique and valuable opportunity
for businesses to exhibit their product technologies for both customers
and potential strategic partners. Showcasing new products and conducting
functional demonstrations are powerful marketing tools and the NHA has been
nurturing its small industrial members by encouraging these activities.
Potential customers from both the government and private industry were present
and several new business teamings were announced at the meeting. Opportunities
to discuss applications with large, industrial concerns such as Ford Motor
Company, Ball Aerospace, and Bechtel were plentiful.
There was a sense of technical acceleration
this year as several demonstration projects, which integrate both evolving
and newly developed technologies, were highlighted. Transportation-oriented
programs were the dominating theme and seen by many as the best pathway
toward launching a hydrogen infrastructure. Energy systems for isolated
communities are seen as the other economically viable, near-term application
for hydrogen technology/product industries to nurture and expand the idea
of a hydrogen infrastructure.
The NHA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
jointly conducted a dynamic working group session immediately following
the meeting which has invigorated the functionally collaborative effort
between government and industry to perfect a plan on commercialization and
infrastructure. The working groups, being moderated by both research institutions
and industry, are inclusive forums for defining implementation pathways
within the capabilities and constraints of all the stakeholders. It is a
valuable opportunity for industry to participate directly with DOE in its
prioritization of government-sponsored initiatives that require new and
evolving product technologies. DOE has been very supportive and attentive
of industry in the hydrogen community and this year’s working groups
were a demonstration of the high fidelity of that cooperation.
Industry is driven by risk and return and this
year’s meeting addressed industrial concerns comprehensively both in
an excellent panel discussion moderated by Dr. Venki Raman, new NHA chairman,
and in the subsequent working groups. The participation of Mr. Robert Weir,
Director of Engineering from the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance
Company, which performs risk control engineering analysis and provides insurance
services to many firms working with hydrogen, was a powerful addition of
critical expertise to the NHA format and the community dialog.
Participation in the NHA Annual Meeting provides
an excellent return on investment for industry both in terms of marketing
and technical activities. This year new products were exhibited by small
business members Phoenix Gas Systems and DCH Technology, Inc. Proton Energy
Systems, a new small business member, gave an exciting presentation on hydrogen
generators as well. The large industrial members of the hydrogen community
again demonstrated their commitment to the growth of the NHA and the small
industrial participants provided the niche opportunities necessary for bringing
a hydrogen future closer to reality. This well-attended meeting clearly
succeeded in developing Hydrogen Partnerships for the Future.
©1997. All Rights Reserved. A Publication of
the National Hydrogen Association.
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