Frank’s role in New Power allows him to steer hydrogen power across the globe

Adapting to a new way of working has become a necessity for everyone, and for Frank Volders, who would often travel to a different country frequently, adapting is more important now than ever before. Taking it in stride, through all the work and home environmental changes, Frank continues to provide his customers with the technical solutions they require. With more than ten years of experience in hydrogen technology, Frank's role as a maintenance and service engineer in Cummins New Power allows him to help create and shape the future of hydrogen across the globe. 

Joining Cummins a year ago through the Hydrogenics acquisition, Frank brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to the New Power team. Through his role at the Cummins Oevel (Belgium) facility, he is responsible for installing hydrogen electrolyzer around the world and carrying out periodic maintenance on machinery both on and off site. 

I have been involved in the installation of ten different hydrogen re-fueling stations in Europe, including the Aberdeen Council Hydrogen Energy Station (ACHES) in Scotland, the Eon-Uniper project in Germany, and the Store & Go project in Troia, Italy. I have also had the opportunity to work on installations in many other countries across the world.
 

Frank's new normal

COVID-19 has presented challenges, and due to travel restrictions Frank is unable to odder regular on-site service visits to his customers. However, excellent service has continued. Frank says, "Before the pandemic, we were already solving some of our customers' problems remotely through email and Skype. When COVID-19 came about, we utilized the ability to log into machinery remotely, which allows us to see what the problem is and assist our customers in finding the solution." This remote work hasn't dampened Frank's enthusiasm. He adds,

I am very passionated about developing new technology in the world of hydrogen. I'm 100& convinced that hydrogen will play a major role in the energy transition over the next few years.
 

From firsts to fruition

Cummins has recently completed several first-of-its-kind projects, and Frank has played a part in many of them - including the first hydrogen re-fuelling stations in Norway and Switzerland. For Frank, his milestone achievement was the successful implementation of the Aberdeen Council Hydrogen Storage Re-fueling Station (ACHES). As lead service and maintenance engineer, Frank was laser-focused on success. "This was the real achievement for our team, as the whole station from the development of the 60 Nmᵌ hydrogen alkaline electrolyzer to the installation was done solely by our team. Now, the station is running independently with no operator on-site."

Shaping the workforce of the future

Not only is Frank passionate about creating new technologies, he also invests his time in training and offering his support to new engineers. Frank is keen to pass his skills and in-depth engineering knowledge to young, passionate engineers who are helping to shape the future of Cummins. He adds, "my skills and experiences are really important to hand over, especially in a job which is both highly technical and complex." He believes that the most effective way to learn is to teach on a practical level. "I often take our new engineers out to site visits with me and have them by my side when on the job. This builds up their experience by allowing them to see the job firsthand." 

What I really value about Cummins is the diversity of our teams. Our current team of 12 includes teammates from Belgium, Turkey, Poland, Russia, Tunisia and India.
 

Outside of work, Frank's passion is diving, although his hobby is currently on hold due to the pandemic. He has fond memories of being deep in the waters of Kenya, Turkey, Greece, Egypt and beyond.

With a bright future ahead for hydrogen, Frank will continue his journey of shaping hydrogen power across the globe and teaching others along the way.

Interested in learning more about the future of hydrogen at Cummins? Check it out here. 

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