Third European Summer School on Hydrogen Safety
Karen Hall, National Hydrogen Association
All photos courtesy of Maxim Bragin, University of Ulster
 The Third European Summer School on Hydrogen Safety was held at the University of Ulster (Belfast, UK) from July 21 - 30, 2008. This Summer School is funded by the European Commission under the HyCourse project (March 2006 - February 2010, http://www.engj.ulst.ac.uk/
esshs/hycourse).
The state-of-the art in Hydrogen Safety is covered from fundamentals to applications, and topics include: hydrogen releases, mixing, and distribution; thermal, pressure and missile effects from fires and explosions; development and validation of mitigation techniques; safety assessment and risk analysis; and standards, guidelines and legal requirements. The teaching materials of this Summer School are used in the World's First Higher Educational Programme in Hydrogen Safety Engineering (http://www.hysafe.org/MScHSE).
The topical content of the 10-day Summer School covers the whole spectrum of activities of the European Network of Excellence HySafe “Safety of Hydrogen as an Energy Carrier” and complies with the International Curriculum on Hydrogen Safety Engineering (http://www.hysafe.org/Curriculum).
The Third Summer School was a great success and I am pleased that I was able to fully participate in this important educational and networking project.
 Sixteen keynote speakers from Europe, North America and Japan as well as the 60 EC-funded and 8 self-funded delegates contributed to proceedings through lectures, round-table discussions, work-in-progress sessions, posters, and mock-up exercises based on actual hydrogen projects. The comprehensive program provided plenty of opportunity to gain invaluable knowledge on the hydrogen economy and safety plus provided a unique opportunity to discuss the latest issues and trends with fellow delegates as well as leading world experts from academia, industry and regulatory bodies.
The US Department of Energy sponsored four excellent keynote speakers from Sandia National Laboratories, NASA and SRI International.
I was among 60 EC-funded researchers, which were chosen from over a hundred applicants. There were also self-funded delegates in attendance. Overall, there were nearly 90 participants from 24 countries - which include: Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the UK, and the USA.
The course can be applied toward the world’s first higher education on-line program in hydrogen safety, a PGC/PGD/MSc in Hydrogen Safety Engineering at the University of Ulster. The program has been developed to provide qualifications for those pursuing careers as hydrogen safety engineers. A series of short-courses are also planned, which can be taken on their own or a component in the PGC/PGD/MSc program. An announcement on the first workshop is included here (http://www.engj.ulst.ac.uk/esshs/docs/
ProgressInHydrogenSafetySeptember2008.pdf)
Teaching materials from the Third European Summer School on Hydrogen Safety, as well as those from the two prior years, are available for sale at http://www.engj.ulst.ac.uk/esshs/php/ESSHSTeachingMaterials.php.
 Participants enjoyed not only the technical and social program of the school but also had the opportunity to understand more about Northern Ireland, having a true taste of Ulster, the greenness and beauty of the local environment and the exceptional hospitality of the people. Most participants stayed in the student accommodations on campus to facilitate networking and have free access to the Internet, although there are also several hotels within easy commute. The food provided by the corporate catering staff, as well as that in the many historic restaurants in Belfast, was absolutely fantastic – better than any conference I’ve attended.
I would like to encourage anyone working with hydrogen to consider attending the Fourth Summer School next year. Each year the program includes all new lectures, teaching materials and some new Keynote Speakers, so many past participants are expected to return. I hope to be among them. More information will be available on the project website in the near future. EC funding support will be available next year – so please apply if you have an interest in hydrogen safety. Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply.
 Organizations hiring new employees or assigning new duties with a responsibility for research or safety are strongly encouraged to consider sponsoring these employees for Summer School. I know of no place where one can gain the breadth and depth of knowledge provided by this Summer School in just 10 days. And participants receive a certificate of participation and the opportunity to apply the Summer School towards a degree program or post-graduate certificate.
Information about activities of the University of Ulster Hydrogen Safety Engineering and Research (HySAFER) Centre can be found at http://www.engj.ulst.ac.uk/tacg/. Contact details for the European Summer School on Hydrogen Safety can be found at http://www.engj.ulst.ac.uk/esshs/3rdesshs/php/
3rdESSHSContactUs.php, and details about registration for the PGC/PGD/MSc course in Hydrogen Safety Engineering at http://www.hysafe.org/MScHSE.
Editors Note: Special thanks to Mr. Robert Morley and Prof. Vladimir Molkov at the University of Ulster for putting together such a fabulous technical and social program, and for providing much of the information used in this article.
|
