THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ENABLE AND PERFORM WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH IN LOW-CARBON ELECTROCHEMICAL POWER PRODUCTION AND HYDROGEN GENERATION. FLEXIBLE FUEL CELL POWER GENERATION, HYDROGEN PRODUCING ELECTROLYZERS, AND CRITICAL INSTRUMENTATION, SUCH AS HYDROGEN SENSORS, WILL BE CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGIES IN HARD-TO-DECARBONIZE INDUSTRIES. THE PROJECT WILL ENABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY FIRMING IN EITHER GRID-ENERGY STORAGE, FLEXIBLE, HIGH-EFFICIENCY, DISPATCHABLE GRID-SERVICES GENERATION, OR MARINE-BASED TRANSPORTATION APPLICATIONS. THE WORK APPROACH WILL BE TO COUPLE NOVEL R&D ACTIVITIES WITH UNIQUE, STATE-OF-THE-ART TEST SYSTEMS AND ANALYSIS EQUIPMENT TO ENABLE ADVANCEMENTS IN ELECTROCHEMICAL DEVICES, CHARACTERIZATION, LIFETIME IMPROVEMENT, AND MODELING & CONTROL OF INTEGRATED DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYSTEMS. THIS R&D EFFORT WILL BE CARRIED OUT THROUGH THE DESIGN AND BUILD OF TEST RIGS, FABRICATION STATION, AND MICROGRID, THE INTEGRATION OF ADVANCED DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT, AND THE EXECUTION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES THROUGH BOTH THE COMMISSIONING AND PRELIMINARY RESEARCH EFFORTS OF THE NEW EXPERIMENTAL TEST SYSTEMS. THE PROPOSED R&D EFFORT FOCUSES ON SUPPORTING FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES (I.E., TRL 3-6), AND ENABLING EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF BOTH GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN EMERGING ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES.