Fuel Cell pioneer lights out for Ohio
BYLINE: Jahmal Peters, The Business Press, San Bernardino, Calif.
Feb. 18--Pacific Fuel Cell Corp., a specialty component manufacturer for the fuel cell industry, will relocate its membrane electrode assembly research and development facility from a Riverside technology park to its 24,000-square-foot plant in Willoughby, Ohio, effective immediately and much to the surprise of its resident advisor.
"There was a meeting about the relocation, but I didn't realize it was already accomplished," said inventor Yushan Yan, a University of California, Riverside professor of chemical engineering and Pacific Fuel Cell chief scientific advisor and director.
The Riverside facility is located at the University Research Park. 1201 Research Park Drive, on the northeast corner of Columbia and Iowa Ave.
Yan will continue to serve his current duties for Pacific Fuel Cell.
The number of researchers within the facility fluctuated over the years but generally remained consistent at three to four. according to Yan.
The anticipated job impact is not immediately known.
"A lot of people at UCR were doing research at the facility," said Eileen Rauchberg, a spokeswoman for Pacific Fuel Cell. "But they were working on other things that weren't exclusive to Fuel Cell."
"There are certain times there are fewer, it's not a constant number," Yan said.
"There's an executive there full time, and some researchers part time," he said.
"We believe Pacific Fuel Cell is the only fuel cell component company to offer bipolar plate manufacturing and membrane electrode assembly technology," said George Suzuki, chief executive officer and president of Pacific Fuel Cell, in a release.
Pacific Fuel Cell Corp. is a nanotechnology company that produces fuel cell components.
Pacific Fuel Cell announced Dec. 3 it had $200,000 in orders from six companies for bipolar plates used to convert fuel into electricity.
Suzuki did not immediately return phone calls.
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