Download Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition - Third Frontier Success Stories: Contained

Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition - Third Frontier Success Stories: Contained Energy
At this stage of his career, Ben Emley finds himself back home – almost. Ben currently
works for Contained Energy and is doing research on the campus of Stark State College in
North Canton. Ben is originally from Bolivar, Tuscarawas County. A graduate of The Ohio
State University, Ben has worked as a research chemist for Nextech Materials in the
Columbus area and subsequently worked for Nanodynamics in Buffalo where he was
involved in fuel cell component research and pilot manufacturing of complete fuel cell
systems. Now with Contained Energy he is working with direct carbon fuel cell technology
and exploring how the strengths of solid oxide fuel cells can be utilized to strengthen direct
carbon fuel cell performance.
Ben has worked with a number of interns over the years. He has worked with interns from
four year universities and two year colleges. Without a doubt Ben believes the interns he
has worked with at Stark State have outperformed the other interns from day one. Why is
this? Ben believes there are several reasons. One, Stark State has strong engineering
technology programs that attract students that want to develop their skills. Second, many
of the students in these programs have prior job experience which elevates what they can
absorb in the classroom. Third, Ben feels the instructors understand the skills that the
students need to be productive for a company immediately. Ben has an intern now, Troy,
who Ben says “gets it”. From day one Troy has been able to take a task and run with it. Troy
has been so valuable to Contained Energy that they have put him on full-time status with
benefits. For a start up company like Contained Energy, good interns are a valuable human
asset. Also the curriculum at Stark State has been valuable for even a professional like Ben.
He has audited a PLC course to sharpen his skills.
Contained Energy and the other fuel cell companies that are on campus continue to enjoy
the advantages of collaborating with a college that has strong technical programs like Stark
State.