Compendium of Hydrogen Energy

Frano Barbir is Professor Emeritus at Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split, Croatia. He has been actively involved in hydrogen and fuel cell technology R&D, engineering and applications since 1989, working in the U.S. as a researcher and R&D manager in both industry and universities, and in Turkey as the Associate Director of Science and Technology of the UNIDO - International Center for Hydrogen Energy Technologies. His research interests include heat and mass transfer in PEM fuel cells, effects of operational conditions on fuel cell performance and durability, design of fuel cells and fuel cell stacks and systems, fuel cell applications, and hydrogen energy concept and its role in the context of energy future. He holds a Dipl.-Ing. degree in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc. degree in chemical engineering both from University of Zagreb, Croatia, and a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. Angelo Basile is a Full Professor and a leading authority in membrane science and technology. Since 2014, he has served as Full Professor in Systems, Methods and Technologies of Chemical Engineering Processes at CNR-ITM in Rende, Italy. His work covers hydrogen purification and production using membrane reactors, CO? capture, process intensification, and the treatment of industrial effluents with advanced membrane operations. Basile has edited many scientific books and authored numerous book chapters, bridging complex research with clear knowledge for engineers and scientists. Motivated by the role of AI/ML in accelerating membrane process design and automation, he supports integrating data-driven methods for smart plants and reaction-separation optimisation.

Dr. Veziroglu, a native of Turkey, graduated from the City and Guilds College, the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, with degrees in Mechanical Engineering (A.C.G.I., B.Sc.), Advanced Studies in Engineering (D.I.C.) and Heat Transfer (Ph.D.).

In 1962 - after doing his military service in the Ordnance Section, serving in some Turkish government agencies and heading a private company - Dr. Veziroglu joined the University of Miami Engineering Faculty. In 1965, he became the Director of Graduate Studies and initiated the first Ph.D. Program in the School of Engineering and Architecture. He served as Chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering 1971 through 1975, in 1973 established the Clean Energy Research Institute, and was the Associate Dean for Research 1975 through 1979. He took a three years Leave of Absence (2004 through 2007) and founded UNIDO-ICHET (United Nations Industrial Development Organization - International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies) in Istanbul, Turkey. On 15 May 2009, he attained the status of Professor Emeritus at the University of Miami.

Dr. Veziroglu organized the first major conference on Hydrogen Energy: The Hydrogen Economy Miami Energy (THEME) Conference, Miami Beach, 18-20 March 1974. At the opening of this conference, Dr. Veziroglu proposed the Hydrogen Energy System as a permanent solution for the depletion of the fossil fuels and the environmental problems caused by their utilization. Soon after, the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE) was established, and Dr. Veziroglu was elected president. As President of IAHE, in 1976 he initiated the biennial World Hydrogen Energy Conferences (WHECs), and in 2005 the biennial World Hydrogen Technologies Conventions (WHTCs).

In 1976, Dr. Veziroglu started publication of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (IJHE) as its Founding Editor-in-Chief, in order to publish and disseminate Hydrogen Energy related research and development results from around the world. IJHE has continuously grew; now it publishes twenty-four issues a year. He has published some 350 papers and scientific reports, edited 160 volumes of books and proceedings, and has co-authored the book "Solar Hydrogen Energy: The Power to Save the Earth?.

Dr. Veziroglu has memberships in eighteen scientific organizations, has been elected to the Grade of Fellow in the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is the Founding President of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy.

Dr. Veziroglu has been the recipient of several international awards. He was presented the Turkish Presidential Science Award in 1974, made an Honorary Professor in Xian Jiaotong University of China in 1981, awarded the I. V. Kurchatov Medal by the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy of U.S.S.R. in 1982, the Energy for Mankind Award by the Global Energy Society in 1986, and elected to the Argentinean Academy of Sciences in 1988. In 2000, he was nominated for Nobel Prize in Economics, for conceiving the Hydrogen Economy and striving towards its establishment.