THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL DESIGN AND BUILD A HYBRID MICROWAVE-ASSISTED HEATING PROCESS (HMAP) FOR THE CALCINATION AND SINTERING OF SOLID-OXIDE ELECTROLYSIS CELL (SOEC) MATERIALS AND CELLS. THE PROJECT WILL SPAN FROM THE LAB DEMONSTRATION OF SMALL SAMPLES TO COMMERCIAL SIZE (=100 CM2). THE FINAL DELIVERABLE OF THE PROJECT WILL RESULT IN A HARDWARE SET (TWO HYBRID MICROWAVE-ASSISTED KILNS) CAPABLE OF DEMONSTRATING LOW-RISK SCALABILITY TO HIGH-VOLUME MANUFACTURING (HVM). THE FIRST KILN WILL ASSIST IN THE RAPID CALCINATION OF ELECTRODE AND ELECTROLYTE POWDERS USED TO FABRICATE SOECS. THE SECOND KILN WILL PERMIT THE ACCELERATED AND LOW-POWER SINTERING OF ALL LAYERS OF AN SOEC TO PRODUCE FULLY FUNCTIONAL SOECS.