Our Featured Presenters
Dr. Umit Ozkan
Distinguished University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Chair, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University
Presentation Title: Carbon-neutral Hydrogen and Syngas Production via High-temperature Electrolysis
Umit S. Ozkan is a Distinguished University Professor, College of Engineering Distinguished Professor and the Chair of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at The Ohio State University. She has been on the faculty of Chemical Engineering since 1985. Between 2000 and 2005, she also served as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering. She received her B.S. (1978) and M.S. (1980) degrees from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey and her Ph.D. (1984) from Iowa State University.
Dr. Ozkan’s current research interests are focused on heterogeneous catalysis and electro-catalysis. She has edited eight books, has written over 250 referred publications and book chapters, given over 350 conference presentations and over 150 invited lectures in 20 different countries. She has eight patents and over 14,000 citations. Professor Ozkan has held and continues to hold many leadership positions in several professional organizations, including American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Chemical Society and the North American Catalysis Society. She is on the Editorial Boards of Catalysis Today, Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Catalysis Letters, and many others.
Dr. Ozkan is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAS), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE), and American Chemical Society (ACS). She is a Professional Engineer registered in Ohio.
Professor Liang-Shih Fan
Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Distinguished University Professor and The C. John Easton Professorship in Engineering, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University
Presentation Title: Chemical Looping Technology for Hydrogen Production – Commercialization Prospect
L.-S. Fan is Distinguished University Professor and C. John Easton Professor in Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The Ohio State University. He has been on the faculty of Chemical Engineering at Ohio State since 1978 and served as Department Chair from 1994 – 2003. Professor Fan received his B.S. (1970) from National Taiwan University, and his M.S. (1973) and Ph.D. (1975) from West Virginia University, all in Chemical Engineering. In addition, he earned an M.S. (1978) in Statistics from Kansas State University.
Dr. Paul Matter
CEO and Co-Founder, Power to Hydrogen, LLC
President, pH Matter
Presentation Title: Hybrid Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production
Dr. Paul Matter is the CEO and Co-Founder of Power to Hydrogen, LLC. The company is focused on commercialization of systems for hydrogen generation and energy storage. Power to Hydrogen’s patented technology was invented by Dr. Matter and was developed with the support of the Department of Energy, NASA, and commercial partners. Dr. Matter received his Ph.D. from Ohio State in chemical engineering. He is also president of pH Matter, the parent company to Power to Hydrogen, and serves as Vice Chairman for the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition.
Scott Swartz, Ph.D.
CTO and Co-Founder, Nexceris
Presentation Title: Solid Oxide Electrolysis for Hydrogen and Fuels Production
Scott L. Swartz, Ph.D. is the Chief Technical Officer and a co-founder of Nexceris, in Lewis Center, Ohio. He holds a B.S. in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University, and a Ph.D. in Solid State Science from The Pennsylvania State University. Since 1994, Dr. Swartz has led Nexceris’ technology development activities, resulting in the company’s emergence as one of the preeminent product and technology providers in the areas of solid oxide fuel cell, electrolysis, and related electrochemical ceramic technologies. Dr. Swartz received the 2020 Medal for Leadership in the Advancement of Ceramic Technology from the American Ceramic Society. He currently serves as Chair of the Ohio Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Coalition.
BRUCE BAUCHMIRE
Director of Renewable Energy Services - DLZ Corporation
Presentation Title: DLZ’s Hydrogen Projects
Bruce is Director of Renewable Energy Services at DLZ Corporation, a civil engineering consulting firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with offices throughout the Midwestern United States, Latin America, and Asia. DLZ also owns and operates several hydropower projects in India. At DLZ, Bruce is responsible for the design and construction of a hydrogen generation and refueling stations, finances of the hydropower operations, assessing economics of new projects, procuring financing for new projects, liaison with investors, and project manager of the hydrokinetic turbine and pump development.
Jeff Ellis, Ph.D.
Senior Technology Leader at EWI
Presentation Title - Composite Pipes for Hydrogen Transmission
Dr. Ellis has been studying the interactions of polymeric materials with their surrounding environment since 2004. During this time, he has consulted for many companies in consumer products, health care, military, automotive, aerospace, and energy. Many of these projects utilized his expertise in polymer processing, joining, selection, failure analysis with solution implementation, testing, degradation, and accelerated aging. Recently, he was principal investigator on a U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration-funded studied titled, "Investigating the Integrity Impacts of Hydrogen Gas on Composite/Multi-Layered Pipe." He has 14 patents, 18 peer-reviewed publications, and has given more than 50 domestic and international conference presentations.
Andrew Smeltz, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Development for the Americas Region, De Nora USA
Presentation Title: Electrochemistry, Energy, Water: Our Future for a Cleaner World
Andrew Smeltz Joined De Nora in 2016 and currently is the Director of Research and Development for the Americas Region located at its headquarters near Cleveland, OH. Before coming to De Nora, he spent five years working at United Technologies Research Center in Hartford, CT. He has over 15 years of experience in the development of electrochemical-based technologies for hydrogen generation and storage, fuel cells, grid-scale electrical energy storage, carbon conversion, and core industrial electrolysis applications such as chlor-alkali and electrowinning. He received his PhD from the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University in 2009 (advisors: Prof’s Fabio H. Ribeiro and Nick Delgass) and bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Ohio University in 2004 and has over a dozen patents and first author publications in peer reviewed journals.