American Trim announced today that it was awarded $1 million for its Agile Hybrid Joining of Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates project. This funding makes possible the next stage of Fuel Cell technology development at the Lima based company.

American Trim intends to demonstrate that a 100-percent, full function, scale hydrogen fuel cell product can be made that is cost competitive when compared with an internal combustion engine. Attaining this goal will require the use of new technology that can reliably join foil plates without the complications of other methods.

American Trim is already working collaboratively with the State of Ohio, Ohio State University and General Motors on a prior project to manufacture metal bi-polar plates through the use of electromagnetic forming. The project is designed to reduce the cost of manufacturing bi-polar plates to a fraction of their current price.

The new project adds the capability of joining the plates together and thereby combining operations and reducing process cost.

“We are excited about the potential for fuel cell vehicles in the marketplace and the ability for our combined efforts with the State of Ohio, City of Lima, General Motors and Ohio State University to bring the cost of this key component to a level that enables the technology to move forward,” commented Steve Hatkevich, Director of Research and Development.

In addition to fuel cell development, American Trim expects to leverage the learnings of the project to other areas of their business and believes there could be benefit to other companies in the State of Ohio as the technology continues to develop.

Work will begin on the new project within the next 30—60 days.

Inquiries for the new technology should be directed to Steve Hatkevich, Director of Research and Development at 419-996-4740 or John Swigard, Director of Marketing at 937-494-6507.


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