University of Bologna Director of Scientific Research Says Rossi Partnership is Dead [UPDATE: Rossi Denies]

Steven B. Krivit of New Energy Times is reporting today that the research partnership with between the University of Bologna and Andrea Rossi had been terminated. Dario Braga, director of scientific research at Bologna told Krivit that since Rossi failed to make the first progress payment, ““The contract ended on January 15 and has been canceled by the university . . . therefore, there is no further relationship between the university and Rossi or his company.”

In a recent interview with Ecat.com, Rossi said that he was “organizing a work with two universities” and that he was working with scientists to ensure that E-Cats would be safe and work properly. He said he would not name the universities because he wanted to work “in peace.” Previously, Rossi had named the universities of Uppsala (Sweden) and Bologna as places who would test the E-Cats, but apparently there is a new university involved since Bologna is off the table.

Rossi seems to be concerned about privacy and secrecy, which makes it difficult to get a clear picture of what is happening regarding the research and development of the E-Cat. It may be that the research project he had planned with the University of Bologna is not as crucial as it once was since he has been working with National Instruments and Domenico Fioravanti, the agent for the mystery customer who purchased the first 1 MW E-Cat plant. Rossi has reported making great progress with the help of these new partners. Financial constraints may also have been behind Rossi’s non-payment.

It’s not surprising to see Rossi’s strategies and priorities changing in the light of the recent commitment to start mass producing e-cats in the near future He is going to need a lot of help to be able to reach his goal — but it now looks like it won’t be coming from the University of Bologna.

UPDATE: The following statement from Rossi was forwarded to me by PESN: “DEAR HANK: PLEASE PUBLISH EVERYWHERE YOU CAN: THE STATEMENT OF KRIVIT IS TOTALLY FALSE!!!”