The Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN) was a key recommendation from the Ohio Federal Military Jobs Commission in 2015. The Ohio General Assembly, through the Ohio Department of Higher Education, 2015, funded OFRN, a program now managed by Parallax Advanced Research in collaboration with The Ohio State University, to create a collaborative research hub designed to expand Ohio’s cutting-edge research capability and create new economic opportunities for Ohio in the areas of defense, aerospace, energy, and health.  To achieve the mission, OFRN catalyzes federal, academic, and commercial collaborations to support the future growth of Ohio’s workforce, with a focus on the priority research initiatives of Ohio-based federal and state partners, including:

The OFRN assists its network partners with seeking and pursuing follow-on funding from other agencies, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, AFRL, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Army Research Office, and the Office of Naval Research. This additional funding brings new, critical research dollars to Ohio to support undergraduate and graduate student education and training and Ohio-wide research that fulfills mission-critical national defense needs.

Going forward, OFRN will continue to:

  • Support its model for rapid technology innovation through accelerating “Research for Development,” working closely with US and Ohio-based industries, and growing the United States and Ohio's talent that can compete nationally.
  • Grow collaboration across the US and Ohio, capitalizing on relationships with organizations like JobsOhio, the Ohio Department of Higher Education, the Ohio Aerospace and Aviation Technology Committee, and other statewide and national organizations (Ohio Aerospace Institute, NDIA, etc.).
  • Integrate US and Ohio assets across market and industry sectors to solve pressing commercial and federal technical problems and future workforce needs.
  • Execute challenge grants that attract key external investors and develop university design projects that will integrate the capabilities of US and Ohio universities with industry.
  • Develop a response to the critical workforce shortfall in the US and Ohio regarding systems engineering.
  • Run educational initiatives using the capabilities of statewide organizations.
  • Continue to provide proposal training and market intelligence to improve the competitiveness of US and Ohio research institutes and firms for a broad array of federal and industry-sponsored opportunities.

The OFRN’s model for engagement with academia, industry, and Ohio-based federal partners has greatly enhanced Ohio’s future workforce competitiveness and generated greater than a 5 to 1 return on investment. We intend to expand this model nationally in collaboration with the USAF. Visit our partner page for a full list of government, industry, and academic partners.