image: PhD student Amir Abdollahpour, left, and Mehdi Mortazavi
Credit: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has been awarded a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop hands-on training, internships, and mentoring aimed at expanding the hydrogen energy workforce.
WPI will collaborate with Western New England University, regional community colleges, and industry partners to create a one-year course to prepare nontraditional workers for careers in fields that are needed by hydrogen-sector leaders. Mehdi Mortazavi, principal investigator (PI) and associate teaching professor in the WPI Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, said organizers expect to train 40 people over three years.
“This program will be unique because it will focus on experiential learning,” said Mortazavi. “Students will gain theoretical knowledge about hydrogen while also getting hands-on experience during industry internships. After three years, we aim to have a blueprint that can be adapted to prepare workers in other regions for jobs in any emerging technology industry, not just hydrogen energy.”
Others working with Mortazavi on the project include co-PIs Andrew Teixeira, associate professor in the WPI Department of Chemical Engineering, and Seyed Niknam, associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at Western New England University.
Hydrogen has gained attention in recent years for its potential role in solving a clean-energy conundrum. Renewable resources such as the sun and wind can be tapped to generate energy without producing the emissions associated with carbon-based fuels. But when the sun sets and winds drop, energy generation stops.
A solution is to use electricity generated by solar and wind power to power an electrolyzer, a device that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen then can be stored, transported, and ultimately converted into electricity and water through fuel cells.
Developing a skilled workforce with knowledge of hydrogen technologies will be essential to expanding the hydrogen economy, Teixeira said.
“Massachusetts is investing in industry-academic collaborations aimed at improving the state’s energy resiliency, and hydrogen will play a big role in expanding economic activity,” Teixeira said. “The people we train will become workers for emerging and established hydrogen companies in Massachusetts.”
The WPI-led team will work with community colleges in Massachusetts to recruit the first cohort of 13 students for the training program before the end of 2025. Mortazavi hopes to attract a wide range of applicants, including first-generation college students, veterans, and people from low-income families.
Students selected for the program will receive stipends and spend about four weeks in training focused on hydrogen safety, production, use, and infrastructure manufacturing. The cohort will train in laboratories at WPI and at the Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems at Western New England University.
Students then will be placed in internships with corporate partners for about three months. After their internships, students will have access to mentoring, career counseling, and other job placement services at WPI.
The program aims to equip students with the technical and practical skills needed to secure jobs across the hydrogen energy sector. Potential roles could include fuel cell and electrolyzer technicians or engineers and hydrogen infrastructure specialists.
“A critical element of this training program is the collaboration across academic disciplines at WPI and among WPI, other educational institutions, industry partners, regional workforce and clean energy organizations, and federal agencies,” Mortazavi said. “The program brings together the mechanical and chemical engineering programs, with support from several WPI offices and external partners, to offer a holistic experience for participants who might otherwise face barriers to finding jobs in emerging technology fields.”