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Pictured left to right: Dr. Stefan Reinartz, Prof. Neal Sullivan, Dr. Bryan Blackburn, Johnathan Evans, Ashley Hack, and Sarah Case.
In April, our team took part in a symposium hosted by Colorado School of Mines—a milestone in our growing partnership with one of the nation’s top research institutions. That event marked the continuation of deeper collaboration, built not just on shared scientific goals but on a mutual commitment to applied innovation.
Now, that collaboration is gaining even more traction.
In 2024, Prof. Neal Sullivan, our primary research partner at the Colorado Fuel Cell Center, was awarded a two-year grant from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). This funding supports the performance characterization of Utility’s solid oxide cells under applied pressure conditions, a key step in enhancing their performance within our proprietary H2Gen® process. Utility’s commitment of $50,000 in cost-share funding to the project demonstrates the direct value that this research brings to the company. This project will run well into 2026 and is already yielding promising early results.
A Partnership Built to Last
This grant has enabled the construction of a state-of-the-art, high-pressure, high-temperature electrochemical test stand at the Colorado Fuel Cell Center —specifically designed for Utility’s cells. The data it generates helps accelerate the transition from lab-scale concepts to commercially viable systems, and expands the operational space across which Utility’s eXERO™ devices are utilized.
“We are pleased to work with Utility on their innovative concept of a solid oxide cell that produces clean hydrogen without the need for external electrical power,” said Professor Sullivan. “We are very grateful to the State of Colorado for enabling our work at the Colorado Fuel Cell Center through an OEDIT grant. First, we built a unique, state-of-the-art test stand for characterizing Utility’s cells across a wide operational space, including the high-pressure, high-temperature conditions found in steel processing. That test stand now produces high-quality data that will propel the H2Gen® process development and commercialization forward.”
The collaboration goes beyond data collection; it’s a true partnership between academic researchers and private-sector engineers, focused on accelerating progress in a high-impact area of clean energy innovation.
“We are very proud of the close collaboration between Utility and Professor Sullivan’s group at the Colorado School of Mines and the Colorado Fuel Cell Center,” said Dr. Stefan Reinartz. “Prof. Sullivan and his collaborators are testing Utility cells under applied pressure conditions to enhance their performance in the H2Gen® process. The first sets of results are very exciting, and we are looking forward to what our collaboration brings in 2025.”
What’s Next
This grant is more than a funding mechanism; it’s a signal. It tells us the work matters. It shows that what began as a promising connection between academia and industry is now viewed as an investment-worthy engine of innovation.
We’ll continue to share updates as the research progresses, and the partnership evolves. If you missed the first post in this series, which introduced the collaboration and highlighted the April symposium, you can read it here.
Stay tuned for the next installment, where we’ll highlight a newly published research paper co-authored by our team along with Dr. Robert Kee and his group.
