Hubert Gasteiger: Academy of Distinguished Engineers - 2022

Chair of Technical Electrochemistry, Chemistry Department, Technical University of Munich

Hubert Gasteiger attended a polytechnic school in Germany that did not offer a Ph.D. in his field. Funded by a Fulbright scholarship, he spent two years at Oregon State University, where he earned his master’s degree in chemical engineering in 1989. He says that the quality of teaching in the chemical engineering department was the highest he experienced throughout his education, and that he received encouragement from several professors to continue his education.

Gasteiger went on to conduct his doctoral research in fundamental electrocatalysis at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1993. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1994–1995) and at Ulm University (1996–1998), where he worked on gas-phase catalysis and electrocatalysis.

After his academic training, Gasteiger spent 10 years in the fuel cell vehicle program at General Motors, where he was able to contribute to the development of fuel cell electric vehicle technology. He held a variety of roles in several organizations, including a lead position in the development of catalysts and membrane electrode assemblies for proton exchange membrane fuel cells within the fuel cell program of GM/Opel in the U.S. (1999-2007).

He spent a year on a visiting professorship at MIT with the group of Yang Shao-Horn, and eventually became full professor in the chemistry department of the Technical University of Munich (2010). There, he founded the chair of technical electrochemistry, focusing on the development of materials, electrodes, and diagnostics for fuel cells, electrolyzers, and batteries.

I experienced Oregon State as a very nurturing environment on so many levels: professors who were exceptionally dedicated to teaching and mentoring students, a town community that warmly welcomed foreign students, and a place that offered marvelous outdoors experiences.”

Gasteiger has served as editor of Wiley’s Handbook of Fuel Cells, holds 23 patents, and has published over 200 refereed articles. He is a Fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry and of the Electrochemical Society, and has received numerous awards for his work in research in fuel cells, batteries and energy.