Richard Breault

Richard Breault enjoyed an impressive 34-year career with United Technologies Corp., East Hartford before retiring in 1997. Mr. Breault worked on the research, product development and manufacture of phosphoric acid and PEM fuel cells and is recognized at UTC for having made significant contributions toward the development of fuel cell stack designs for stationary phosphoric acid power plants. During the 1980s and 1990s, he led UTC Power’s development of the PureCell Model® 200 cell stack for stationary power applications and was instrumental in the novel design of the five-year cell stack design that distinguished the Model 200 power plant. This unit has been the most widely used fuel cell product in the world, with over 270 systems installed across 19 countries on six continents. Later, as a consultant to UTC Power, he helped the company design the next generation stationary cell stack; these efforts doubled the life of the Model 200 and underpin UTC Power’s PureCell Model® 400, currently in production. Mr. Breault is an inventor on more than 75 patents, authored a chapter in the Handbook of Fuel Cell Fundamentals, Technology and Applications, and received a Pratt & Whitney Special Award in 1991 for “Outstanding Contribution to another UTC Business Unit.”