May 3 2009
American Trim, Ohio State University and General Motors demonstrated, in real time, the actual production of a fuel cell bipolar plate before a group of collaborators and media at American Trim's Research and Development Facility in Lima, Ohio. The production of the bipolar plate represents another success for the Lima, Ohio based company in demonstrating that it is putting the State's Third Frontier Grant monies to productive use. This work supports the second Grant which assembles the plates into a functional fuel cell.
HVMF Development Team
"This team has reached a significant milestone that could be a catalyst in bringing alternative fuel vehicles to the buying public. We have demonstrated the very real possibility that we can produce fuel cell bipolar plates for a fraction of what they currently cost. A fraction." said Rick Pfeifer, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at American Trim. Mayor David Berger was on hand for the presentation and said "Rewards go to those who innovate and break thru despite economic restraints. What this team has accomplished is a big win for Northwest Ohio and Lima in particular as we build on our strategy of transforming manufacturing in the State."
Also on hand for the event were:
- Dr. Glenn Daehn a Professor at OSU and recognized expert within the electromagnetic forming technologies.
- Mike Martin the VP of Fuel Cell Technology at EMTEC
- Pat Valente the Director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition
About High Velocity Metal Forming High Velocity Metal Forming (HVMF) is a method of metal forming where the sheet metal to be formed is accelerated to 300 meters per second into a die, and thereby forms the part. It is an exciting breakthrough in metal forming technology which could add more precision to the metal forming process, increase processing speed and reduce cost in terms or equipment and processing.