Lauren Armstrong, Marketing
larmstrong@nuvera.com

Women account for less than twenty percent of the workforce in science, math and engineering fields. Laura Kozel, Director of Field Service at Nuvera Fuel Cells is part of a growing league of women who strive to make a difference in the lives of girls in hopes to increase that number one day.

That’s where Project W.I.S.E. comes in. W.I.S.E. stands for “Women in Science and Engineering”. It is a program that was started to address the imbalance of women in technology careers. The program aims to inspire and educate middle school girls with a personal and hands-on experience that could lead to a career in a math and/or science field.  At the same time, the program encourages these girls to continue enrolling in math and science courses in high school. Project W.I.S.E. is organized through the Collaborative for Math and Science Education at Salem State College.  The collaborative is dedicated to linking students, teachers and industry representatives for the improvement of math and science education for today’s changing work environment.

Tuesday, March 12^th was the W.I.S.E. Career Day at Salem State College. Each girl experienced presentations given by professional women who work in math and/or science areas.  The careers represented run the full gamut from engineering on the ‘Big Dig’ in Boston to working with hydrogen fuel cell technology at Nuvera Fuel Cells.

Laura Kozel’s workshop covered hydrogen and fuel cells. In addition to learning about engineering, they saw the Nuvera’s Toyota FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicle) which was on display for everyone at the event to see.

“They are all hydrogen supporters now!” exclaimed Laura.

Since the inception of W.I.S.E. in 1990, thousands of young girls from the North Shore from sixth to eighth grade have participated in the W.I.S.E. program. The girls have been provided with both role models and insight into a wide variety of science and math related careers.  Laura Kozel was one of the founders of the W.I.S.E. program and continues to participate today.

There are perks to working at a company that specializes in hydrogen and fuel cell technology. Last week Tim Briggs, Platform Leader of the PowerTap™ Hydrogen Systems at Nuvera Fuel Cells, experienced his latest one - driving Toyota’s Highlander Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle – Advanced (FCHV-adv).

Was this your first experience driving a fuel cell car? Where did you go?

On February 19th I had the opportunity to drive a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle for the first time. It was an exciting experience as I drove Toyota’s FCHV-adv to my alma mater, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, for a joint meeting on fuel cell powered cars organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Worcester Chapters. With a few stops along the way I end up totaling 104 miles round trip. When I left Nuvera’s headquarters I had roughly half a tank of hydrogen. Since the FCHV-adv has a 325 mile range I knew I wouldn’t have an issue making it there and back.

Overall, how was your experience?

The driving experience was great! The car was quiet and the interface on this vehicle was virtually identical to that used on other modern vehicles (with the exception of kg of hydrogen vs. gallons of gas on the display), which made it very easy to use. I also enjoyed following the display showing when the fuel cell was charging the battery and how I could increase energy efficiency by the way I drove.

Did you have any expectations before driving the car?

I was curious how the fuel cell car would perform on the highway (at least compared to my own vehicle). It turned out that the fuel cell vehicle performed equally well on the highway and I was pleasantly surprised by the acceleration on the on ramps.

Were you nervous about driving the car?

I was not at all nervous about driving the vehicle (other than not wanting to get any dings or scratches on the car). During my five years at Nuvera, I have become very educated about hydrogen and know the truth as well as the misconceptions that exist around hydrogen’s safety. I believe this vehicle is, at a minimum, as safe as a gasoline powered vehicle and understand the various safety mechanisms that are in place to make this a safe product.

Additional comments about the experience?

I had a sense of pride knowing the vehicle was powered with hydrogen that was generated and dispensed at Nuvera Fuel Cells’ Billerica facility using the PowerTap generator. It’s very exciting to be driving around in our future mode of transportation. Having the vehicle on the road hopefully makes others realize that the future is probably closer than we think!

Happy Election Day 2012 from your friends at Nuvera! To those who are waiting in line at voting locations in New England, keep warm!

By Robert Schafer, VP of Sales and Marketing

Nuvera is expanding as it prepares to launch its latest line of fuel cells and on-site hydrogen generation systems for the material handling market. We are looking to hire a Director of Customer Care Read more…