Education on vehicle electrification: Battery Systems, Fuel Cells, and Hydrogen

A new education program is under development at the University of Michigan to educate engineers in the fundamentals of electrochemical propulsion systems for vehicle electrification. This paper describes two courses that are part of this larger program: “Battery Systems & Control” and “Fuel Cell Vehicles & Hydrogen Infrastructure.” These courses seek to educate undergraduate, graduate, and professional (i.e. distance learning) students in the fundamentals of modeling, control, and design of batteries, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage systems. These courses apply a systems-level approach to electrochemical propulsion systems with particular emphasis placed on modeling, design, and control issues encountered in practice. In the battery course students are introduced to electrochemical-based models, model reduction techniques, simulation procedures, and real-life control problems such as state-of-charge estimation. Topics covered in the fuel cell course include: PEM fuel cell operating fundamentals, hydrogen production pathways, hydrogen storage, and well-to-wheels CO₂ and efficiency analyses. This paper broadly outlines the curriculum for both courses using specific assignments as illustrative examples of the program´s content. Together these two courses provide fundamental skills directed at developing engineering leadership and knowledge in sustainable transportation systems.