In 1807, Robert Fulton built the Clermont, the world's first commercial steamboat, and made the trip from New York City to Albany, proving that steam was a viable source for water transportation. Fulton’s voyage launched the age of steam, and put steam power at the forefront of transportation technology. Just as Fulton sought to prove the feasibility of steam power, the New Clermont Project aimed to prove the viability of green, pollution-free hydrogen fuel cells as a power source. Rensselaer students spent the spring and summer fitting the New Clermont boat with a unique engine modified to accept power from hydrogen fuel cells. Then, this fall, the New Clermont retraced Fulton’s famous voyage, powered not by steam, but by hydrogen. Three Lally Students were members of the crew: Will Gathright MS ’10 Management and PhD Candidate in Materials Science & Engineering, Leah Rollhaus MBA ’10, and Michael Mullaney MBA ’11. The project raised public awareness of hydrogen energy and showcased the tenacity and entrepreneurial ethic of RPI students.
The New Clermont team includes doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students with diverse areas of expertise, such as fuel cells, materials science, mechanical and electrical engineering, management, and marketing. Despite encountering mechanical troubles, the crew successfully completed an 11-day voyage up the Hudson, which was profiled in a series of Scientific American articles entitled “Uncharted Waters.”
Scientific American praised the resourceful students behind the project, who “demonstrated boatloads of ingenuity when confronted with a series of equipment failures that could easily have persuaded them to give up. Instead, they isolated the boat's main problem to the fuel cells' tendency to overpower the engine and improvised a solution.”
In addition to Scientific American, the New Clermont project was covered by local, national, and international publications including the Albany Times Union, and Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter.
For more information and photos of the crew and boat see www.newclermont.org.
Read Scientific American’s Coverage of The New Clermont in a 5-part Series Entitled “Uncharted Waters”:
