Working on the hydrogen workforce
In the three-year, three million euros project United Brains 4 Hydrogen, 黑料福利网 collaborates with partners from scientific research, education and industry to create a learning community around the topic of green hydrogen in an evidence-informed way.
To accelerate the transition to green hydrogen, between now and 2030, nearly 38,000 well-trained professionals are needed. As technological innovations across various nodes in the hydrogen supply chain, such as production, conversion, storage, and distribution evolve rapidly, so too must the skills and expertise of professionals that are working in this field. The rapid nature of these advancements necessitates research-based, pro-active and future-oriented approach to workforce development, ensuring that initial education and post-initial training programs align with the needs of both current and emerging hydrogen related roles.
Building brains
Within the National Growth Fund GroenvermogenNL initiative, recently the United Brains 4 Hydrogen project was awarded, led by senior researcher Gonny Schellings from the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education. The project investigates the fundamentals and operating mechanisms of existing, well-connected ecosystems within the Province of North Brabant for hydrogen-related research, industry, and policy, and assesses their potential to act as dynamic, mutually reinforcing hubs for skill acquisition and innovation. The overall research question is how to develop a responsive ecosystem that strongly integrates working, learning, and innovation, while bolstering knowledge and skills development for (future) hydrogen professionals, and reducing time-to-job transition in the Brainport region.
The project involves three knowledge institutes, one vocational institute, one co-applying business and five co-funding partners, representative of the entire Brainport knowledge chain on learning communities and innovation ecosystems.
World Class Maintenance
鈥楢t the World Class Maintenance foundation (WCM), we are proud to participate in the United Brains 4 Hydrogen project because it aligns perfectly with our mission: to bring together representatives from research, industry, education, and government to innovate, work, and learn as a cohesive community,鈥� states Henk Akkermans, director at World Class Maintenance. 鈥極ur experience in establishing multi-year open innovation projects and learning communities 鈥揳cross sectors like infrastructure, renewable energy, high-tech manufacturing, and the process industry 鈥� has shown us both the challenges and the transformative power of collaborative learning, especially when the need is as urgent as it is for the hydrogen workforce. In UB4H, we will leverage this expertise to facilitate the development of a dynamic learning community, supported by our knowledge platform and digital learning environment, WCM Vector. We hope this project will not only accelerate the integration of learning, working, and innovation in the hydrogen sector, but also set a benchmark for how industries can collectively build a future-proof, adaptable, and digitally skilled workforce 鈥� as we know the need for this extends well beyond the boundaries of the hydrogen sector.鈥�
Four work packages
The United Brains 4 Hydrogen project aims to optimize and interconnect existing informal networks in the Brabant region into a coherent learning community to enhance knowledge transfer, reduce onboarding times, and create a knowledge base for realizing a more adaptive and future-proof workforce pipeline for the hydrogen sector. To this end, four work packages have been defined, Schellings explains. 鈥楾he overarching execution work package aims to actually build the coherent learning community. In the other three work packages, we will examine how to design, implement and consolidate learning communities to reach the integration of learning, working and innovation; how to bring together the existing informal networks in a nested learning community; and how to include digital learning technologies like remote labs and simulations to enhance accessibility and security in hydrogen workforce training.鈥�
Importance of safety and security
Safety and security are important themes when it comes to the hydrogen economy, stresses project manager Rebecca Gilsing. 鈥榃here on some topics, it can be hard to build trust among industrial partners to share information, when it comes to safety, we see that they are very willing to share their knowledge and knowhow.鈥� In the context of the project, safety and security not only relate to hazards involving the storage and transport of the highly explosive gas, but also to cyber security, Schellings adds. 鈥楢s hydrogen infrastructure becomes more interconnected and automated, the risk of cyber threats escalates.鈥� Schools, training institutions and industries thus must embed cybersecurity education into hydrogen workforce development to ensure safe, secure, and resilient operations.
Schellings is looking forward to March, when the research will formally begin. 鈥業t will be very interesting to discover how we can teach new knowledge and skills to professionals in a fast and efficient way, and how we can achieve an effective and efficient cross-pollination between knowledge institutes and companies. Ultimately, with this project, we are building a scientific knowledge base that helps to create a workforce that is adaptable, digitally skilled, and prepared for the evolving demands of the hydrogen economy.鈥�
Consortium
Avans University of Applied Sciences, Demcon Management & Support, Eindhoven University of Technology, Fluidwell, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Power to Power, RIFT, Summa College, VDL Hydrogen Systems, World Class Maintenance.
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