Hydrogen on Demand -long road to technology commercialisation.

In 1967, while working as a researcher at IBM, Woodall discovered that liquid alloys of aluminum and gallium spontaneously produce hydrogen if mixed with water. The research, which focused on developing new semiconductors for computers and electronics, led to advances in optical-fiber communications and light-emitting diodes, making them practical for everything from DVD players to television remote controls and new types of lighting displays. That work also led to development of advanced transistors for cell phones and components in solar cells powering space modules like those used on the Mars rover, earning Woodall the 2001 National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush. Also while at IBM, Woodall and research engineer Jerome Cuomo were issued a U.S. patent in 1982 for a "solid state, renewable energy supply." The patent described their discovery that when aluminum is dissolved in liquid gallium just above room temperature, the liquid alloy readily reacts with water to form hydrogen, alumina and heat.
Woodall moved to Purdue university and continued to work on the aluminium alloy. His team succeeded in developing technology that produces hydrogen by adding water to an alloy of aluminum and gallium. When water is added to the alloy, the aluminum splits water by attracting oxygen, liberating hydrogen in the process. The Purdue researchers are developing a method to create particles of the alloy that could be placed in a tank to react with water and produce hydrogen on demand. The Purdue Research Foundation holds title to the primary patent, which has been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is pending. An Indiana startup company, AlGalCo LLC., has received a license in 2007 for the exclusive right to commercialize the process.
AlGalCo founder and president  Kurt Koehler is a businessman, not a chemist. He graduated with a degree in marketing and management from IU and went on to earn a Master's in European History. As luck would have it, an encounter with Purdue representatives at the Indiana State Fair piqued his interest and ultimately led him to Purdue professor Jerry Woodall, who had developed the aluminum alloy technology. After 14 years of beta testing product is rolled out for Carmel's city fleet.