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Alexander (Sandy) Stuart

Honourary Member

Alexander (Sandy) Stuart (1923-2014)

In 1929, at the impressionable age of 5 years, Alexander K. Stuart was introduced by his father, Alexander T. Stuart, to what was to become his life’s work – hydrogen and oxygen gases and electrolysis for the making thereof –that the immense electrical energy at Niagara Falls should be applied first to meet the demands of the electrical grid and the balance to electrolysis – a system for the co-generation of electricity and hydrogen on a utility-scale. A.K. Stuart and his father shared an underlying long-term vision of a major role for hydrogen in the global energy economy. At the same time, industrial markets for hydrogen (and oxygen) offered both business opportunities and the parallel opportunity to develop electrolysis technology to be ready for the foreseen energy role. The Electrolyser Corporation Limited, later renamed Stuart Energy Systems, was accordingly formed in 1948 to supply hydrogen systems to world markets. He lead a team and built the company to a point where it sold some 1,000 Stuart hydrogen plants in over 100 countries and territories and brought forward the global hydrogen movement for sixty years – a consistent commitment without parallel.

His accomplishments include:

Chairman – Export Development Canada (EDC), Two World Hydrogen Energy Conferences, Canadian Hydrogen Association, Canadian Exporters’ Association, Electrolyser Corporation (50 years), Nature Conservancy of Canada, founding delegate for Canada and Chairman of the Hydrogen Committee at the International Energy Agency, Paris; Vice-Chairman of the National Hydrogen Association in Washington, D.C.; Lifetime Achievement Award – Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association; Inductee – University of Toronto Engineering Alumnae Hall of Distinction; Director – Ontario Centre for Excellence, World Wildlife Fund Canada; Director – Co-founder – Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund; and Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, Order of Canada