Blogs

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hypersonic flight has long promised faster global reach, reusable space access, and new defense capabilities. Yet one challenge continues to limit real-world deployment: materials that can survive extreme heat repeatedly without [...]

OFRN & OSGC Workforce Development Success Story For Dr. Lynn Pickering, aerospace engineering was never just about making systems smarter—it was about making them safer, more trustworthy, and accountable to the humans who rely on them. Today, as a Ph [...]

As autonomous systems take on more responsibility in contested, complex environments, a subtle but critical challenge is emerging—one that can’t be solved by better sensors or faster processors alone. Trust. Today’s AI-enabled systems are no longer [...]

When FlightProfiler , Ohio University, and Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence teamed up under the Ohio Federal Research Network Round 5 project , they shared a simple premise: pilots and drone operators urgently [...]

Nate Steffen: Advancing Space Robotics Through Explainable AI — Strengthened by OFRN’s Research Ecosystem OFRN Workforce Development Success Story When Ohio Space Grant Consortium (OSGC) Fellow Nate Steffen (2024–25) joined the University of [...]

In November 2025, the Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering announced six new Critical Technology Areas (CTAs) that will guide federal investment and modernization priorities across the defense innovation ecosystem. These CTAs sharpen [...]

On November 13, 2025, the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN) hosted its latest Virtual Opportunity Day, bringing together more than 70 attendees from Ohio’s academic, industry, and government innovation ecosystem. The event—focused on Quantum [...]

On Friday, September 12, ARCTOS Technology Solutions delivered the final briefing and demonstration for the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN) -funded Project “Gradient Alloy Processing in Laser Powder Bed Fusion for Hypersonic Applications,” a [...]

The Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN), in collaboration with Parallax Advanced Research, The Ohio State University, the Ohio Department of Higher Education, and the Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub: Ohio, hosted its most recent Virtual Opportunity [...]

The Future of Space Construction The Structural Materials Joining in Space project, led by a team at The Ohio State University with support from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) , NASA , and funding from the Ohio Federal Research Network [...]