Salt Lake City-based Materials & Systems Research Inc. (MSRI), which was founded by University of Utah Materials Science & Engineering professors Dinesh Shetty (left) and Anil Virkar (right), was awarded $2.8 million to further develop new low-cost fuel-cell technologies.
The funding was provided by Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) through the Reliable Electricity Based on Electrochemical Systems (REBELS) program. MSRI’s work is one of 13 projects to receive funding from the REBELS program.
In addition to fuel-cell technology, MSRI is researching a way to convert Utah’s abundant supply of natural gas into marketable gasoline at a low cost. “MSRI has been fully engaged in the development of new energy technologies and supports local business development,” Virkar said.