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17-2141.01 - Fuel Cell Engineers


Design, evaluate, modify, or construct fuel cell components or systems for transportation, stationary, or portable applications.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
1
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
277,500
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
292,100
Estimate
Change in Employment
+14,600
Estimate
Change in Employment %
+5.3%
Estimate
Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Write technical reports or proposals related to engineering projects.
  • Read current literature, attend meetings or conferences, or talk with colleagues to stay abreast of new technology or competitive products.
  • Validate design of fuel cells, fuel cell components, or fuel cell systems.
  • Simulate or model fuel cell, motor, or other system information, using simulation software programs.
  • Recommend or implement changes to fuel cell system designs.
  • Provide technical consultation or direction related to the development or production of fuel cell systems.
  • Plan or conduct experiments to validate new materials, optimize startup protocols, reduce conditioning time, or examine contaminant tolerance.
  • Fabricate prototypes of fuel cell components, assemblies, stacks, or systems.
  • Develop fuel cell materials or fuel cell test equipment.
  • Conduct post-service or failure analyses, using electromechanical diagnostic principles or procedures.
  • Design or implement fuel cell testing or development programs.
  • Characterize component or fuel cell performances by generating operating maps, defining operating conditions, identifying design refinements, or executing durability assessments.
  • Calculate the efficiency or power output of a fuel cell system or process.
  • Analyze fuel cell or related test data, using statistical software.
  • Design fuel cell systems, subsystems, stacks, assemblies, or components, such as electric traction motors or power electronics.
  • Prepare test stations, instrumentation, or data acquisition systems for use in specific tests of fuel cell components or systems.
  • Plan or implement fuel cell cost reduction or product improvement projects in collaboration with other engineers, suppliers, support personnel, or customers.
  • Conduct fuel cell testing projects, using fuel cell test stations, analytical instruments, or electrochemical diagnostics, such as cyclic voltammetry or impedance spectroscopy.
  • Define specifications for fuel cell materials.
  • Develop or evaluate systems or methods of hydrogen storage for fuel cell applications.
  • Evaluate the power output, system cost, or environmental impact of new hydrogen or non-hydrogen fuel cell system designs.
Supplemental
  • Integrate electric drive subsystems with other vehicle systems to optimize performance or mitigate faults.
  • Identify or define vehicle and system integration challenges for fuel cell vehicles.
  • Coordinate fuel cell engineering or test schedules with departments outside engineering, such as manufacturing.
  • Authorize release of fuel cell parts, components, or subsystems for production.
  • Manage fuel cell battery hybrid system architecture, including sizing of components, such as fuel cells, energy storage units, or electric drives.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Engineering and Technology
  • 94%
    Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
 Physics
  • 85%
    Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
 Mathematics
  • 84%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Chemistry
  • 81%
    Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
 Design
  • 77%
    Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
 Mechanical
  • 70%
    Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 70%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 English Language
  • 65%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Education and Training
  • 58%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Production and Processing
  • 56%
    Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 53%
    Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 Administration and Management
  • 52%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Computers
  • Desktop computers
  • Laptop computers
  • Personal computers
 Temperature and heat measuring instruments
  • Differential scanning calorimeters
 Laboratory blending and dispersing and homogenizing equipment and supplies
  • Digital sonifiers
  • Ultrasonic blenders
 Chemical evaluation instruments and supplies
  • Dilatometers
  • Flame ionization detectors FID
  • Fluorescence detectors
  • Thermal gravimetric analyzers
  • Thermovolumetric analyzers TVA
 Pharmaceutical industry machinery and equipment and supplies
  • Flow reactors
 Spectroscopic equipment
  • Fourier transfer infrared FTIR spectrometers
  • Infrared IR spectrophotometers
  • Mass spectrometers
  • Scanning spectrophotometers
  • X ray fluorescence XRF spectrometers
  • X ray photoelectric spectroscopes
 Light and wave generating and measuring equipment
  • Frequency response analyzers
 Manufacturing tables and stands
  • Fuel cell test stands
 Chromatographic measuring instruments and accessories
  • Gas chromatography equipment
  • High pressure liquid chromatographs HPLC
 Laboratory ovens and accessories
  • Gravity convection ovens
  • Laboratory vacuum ovens
 Laboratory furnaces and accessories
  • High temperature tube furnaces
  • Induction furnaces
 Laboratory boring and grinding and cutting and crushing and pressing equipment
  • Laboratory ball mills
 Laboratory environmental conditioning equipment
  • Laboratory glove boxes
 Electronic and communication measuring and testing instruments
  • Load boxes
  • Power analyzers
 Weight measuring instruments
  • Microbalances
 Food preparation machinery
  • Molding presses
 Gas analyzers and monitors
  • Portable emissions analyzers
  • Surface area analyzers
 Integrated circuits
  • Programmable logic controllers PLC
 Viewing and observing instruments and accessories
  • Scanning electron microscopes SEM
  • Transmission electron microscopes TEM
 Crystallography equipment
  • X ray crystallography equipment
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Industry specific software
  • Ansoft Simplorer
  • ANSYS FLUENT
  • ASPEN PLUS
  • Autodesk AutoCADHOT
  • FactSage
  • Failure mode and effects analysis FMEA software
  • Gaussian GaussView
  • Gaussian software
  • GE Energy GateCycle
  • Maplesoft Maple
  • MinitabHOT
  • Statistical software
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA softwareHOT
  • The MathWorks Simulink
  • Wolfram Research Mathematica
 Development software
  • C
  • C++HOT
  • National Instruments LabVIEWHOT
  • Wind River Systems C/C++ Compiler Suite
 Finance accounting and enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • Enterprise resource planning ERP softwareHOT
 Data management and query software
  • IBM Cloud
  • Oracle softwareHOT
 Content authoring and editing software
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft WordHOT
 Business function specific software
  • Microsoft OfficeHOT
 Information exchange software
  • Microsoft OutlookHOT
 Operating environment software
  • Microsoft WindowsHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
 Advanced
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Online Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

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