JOHNSON CITY – (Sept. 3, 2021) Philip Stuckey, founder and chief executive officer of FC Renew, has been inducted into the fifth cohort of Innovation Crossroads. The program, held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, allows leading innovators from across the country to develop their research for commercialization. To support his research and entrepreneurial efforts, Stuckey is an affiliate member of the East Tennessee State University Innovation Lab.
Audrey Depelteau, Innovation Lab director, has known Stuckey since 2012 when he first became a member of the Innovation Lab.
“Dr. Stuckey has impressive academic and scientific credentials as well as an entrepreneurial
acumen that is unmatched with most researchers that I advise,” Depelteau said. “During
his tenure at the U.S. Patent Agency, I had the opportunity to consult with Dr. Stuckey
while assisting Innovation Lab clients in navigating patent applications. However,
Dr. Stuckey’s true passion is accelerating the commercial success for the fuel cell
industry, and his acceptance into the Innovation Crossroads program will catapult
him to the next level.”
Stuckey previously worked in East Tennessee as he conducted much of his doctorate and post-doctorate research at ORNL while studying at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He also held an adjunct faculty position in the ETSU College of Business and Technology in 2013 teaching technical communications.
“I’m incredibly excited to be in the region,” Stuckey said. “The Innovation Crossroads program is a great advantage for the entrepreneurship scene in this type of technology, and connecting with the greater community is really important for us. Dr. Depelteau has just been an awesome person to help network and connect resources and become a better part of this region. That strategic alliance is just absolutely incredible – it’s all helpful.”
Stuckey founded FC Renew in 2020 to research and create zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells for the trucking industry. He will spend the two-year Innovation Crossroads program developing technologies to expand the durability and lifetime of fuel cells to more than 30,000 hours or 1.2 million miles in heavy-duty trucks. Being in the Innovation Crossroads cohort connects him to technology, lab space, mentors and networks at ORNL in addition to a $200,000 research grant and living and travel stipends.
One of Stuckey’s major goals for FC Renew is to expand green energy and technology capabilities. He said being in East Tennessee, particularly connected to the Appalachian Highlands, is a perfect fit for this goal.
“There’s a lot of press and discussion about making Tennessee the number one entrepreneurship destination in the nation,” Stuckey said. “There’s an incredible push to bring green energies and technologies to this region as well. They all play in together. With Oak Ridge National Laboratory where I am, you have companies like Eastman, big chemical providers – something that I can see myself becoming aligned and partnered with in that region – the Tennessee Valley Authority for energy generation and storage, and then automotive manufacturing facilities. These are all facilities that could ultimately have vehicles my technologies could go into and on the road. Having all of these partners and people throughout the value chain of this industry in this region is a great fit.”
Before moving to Oak Ridge for Innovation Crossroads, Stuckey was living and working in Alexandria, Virginia, as a patent examiner for almost eight years at the United States Patent and Trademark Office reviewing patent applications in Technology Center 1700: Chemical and Materials Engineering.
For more information about the Innovation Crossroads program, visit innovationcrossroads.ornl.gov/.
The ETSU Innovation Lab is a high-tech business incubator that assists aspiring entrepreneurs from concept through commercialization. For more information, visit etsu.edu/ilab or contact Dr. Audrey Depelteau, director of the Innovation Lab, at depelteau@etsu.edu.
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