Lara Rasha

Lara completed her MEng degree at University College London (UCL) in Chemical Engineering. In her final year, she was introduced to fuel cells through a research module in the Electrochemical Innovation Lab (EIL) with current supervisor Professor Dan Brett. The project involved fitting a range-extending fuel cell system into a mobility scooter and designing the power electronics with Arduino micro-controllers. 

Her PhD work now focuses on the thermal and water management of PEFCs from single to cells to automotive stacks. 

Research interests

Title: Thermal and Water Management of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs)

Lara’s research focuses on developing techniques to map the electrical, thermal and water responses in an operational polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The three parameters are intrinsically related and the effective thermal and water management is crucial for the optimal performance of the fuel cell. To be able to create modifications to fuel cell systems, their relationship need to be thoroughly studied. 

Current work is looking to produce at thermoelectric array controller  to produce an ‘isothermal’ single cell to decouple the heat and water produced in the PEFC. Further to this, lock-in thermography will be used with the same array to image water distribution in the cell in a laboratory setting coupled with neutron thermography experiments. 

Education

• MEng in Chemical Engineering, UCL, 2016

Publications

Meyer, Q., Rasha, L., Koegeler, H-M., Foster, S., Adcock, P., Shearing, P. R., Brett, D. J. L. (2017). Design of Experiments to Generate a Fuel Cell Electro-Thermal Performance Map an Optimise Transitional Pathways. International Journal of Powertrains.