Statewide initiative supports university Centers of Excellence to lead high tech research for defense and aerospace industries.
Today, December 6, 2016, the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN), with the Federal and Military Jobs Commission, announced another $8.5 million in competitive funding awards to five OFRN Centers of Excellence.
Established as part of Ohio’s new Federal and Military Jobs Commission approved by Ohio’s legislature in 2015, the OFRN is leveraging the strength of the state's public and private research universities, private industry, and federal labs to help revitalize Ohio’s economy for the 21st century. The OFRN investments are intended to grow federal research spending in Ohio, create high tech jobs in Ohio, advance research initiatives aimed at emerging Department of Defense and NASA requirements, enhance university collaborations with Ohio-based companies, and have a broad and dynamic economic impact on the state.
“The OFRN demonstrates the valuable role of the academic researcher as partners to Ohio industry in solving the technology challenges faced by the Department of Defense and NASA,” says Chancellor John Carey of the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
Each project submitted for consideration had both university and industry partnerships and alignment with one of the four participating federal laboratories in Ohio (Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the NASA Glenn Research Center, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and the Naval Medical Research Unit). Each candidate project competed through a rigorous, three step peer review process. The initial white paper proposals were evaluated by the OFRN Technical Review Council panel of experts. Projects selected were asked to submit full proposals, which were then reviewed by both the Technical Review Council and the OFRN Executive Review Board. Final recommendations for funding were presented to the Federal Military Jobs Commission and the Ohio Department of Higher Education for approval.
“This funding represents just the latest commitment on the part of the State of Ohio to strengthen the link between the research capabilities of our world-class universities and the major federal laboratories in our state,” says Mr. Gary O'Connell, Ohio Federal and Military Jobs Commission Chairman. “The intention is to keep more federal research dollars in the state by focusing on the highest priorities of the DOD and NASA. By establishing the state’s leadership in high-tech innovative research, our goal is to create the jobs needed to solve the challenges of the 21st century.”
The university Centers of Excellence receiving OFRN awards are:
- Center for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR)
- $1.2 million to improve the effectiveness of big-data analytic systems by making the algorithms they use more transparent and trustworthy to human analysis. Project led by Wright State University in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University and Ohio University.
- COE is led by The Ohio State University and Wright State University in collaboration with Case Western Reserve Universityand Ohio University.
- Center for Communications, Cyber, Positioning, Navigation and Timing (C2PNT)
- $1.3 million to improve testing of unmanned, "autonomous" systems and boost the amount of space intelligence delivered to Earth. Project led by Wright State University in collaboration with the Air Force Institute of Technology and Ohio University.
- $800,000 to develop a dynamic response for communications channels to respond to a variety of security issues. Project led by Wright State University in collaboration with the Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio University, and University of Toledo.
- COE is led by Ohio University in collaboration with the Air Force Institute of Technology, University of Toledo, and Wright State University.
- Center for Human Performance and Health Sciences
- $900,000 to develop wearable sweat sensors for real-time analysis of body chemistry for medical and athletic application. Project led by University of Cincinnati in collaboration with Ohio State University, and University of Toledo.
- $1.2 million to understand motion sickness causal mechanisms and its influence on susceptibility to low back disorders. Project led by Ohio State University in collaboration with University of Cincinnati and Wright State University.
- COE is led by Wright State University in collaboration with the Air Force Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio State University, University of Akron, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, and University of Toledo.
- Center for Materials and Manufacturing
- $1.1 million to reduce the fabrication time and cost of limited production aircraft composite structures. Project led by the University of Dayton Research Institute in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, Ohio University, University of Cincinnati, Wright State University, and Youngstown State University.
- COE is led by University of Dayton Research Institute in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, Ohio University, University of Akron, University of Cincinnati, University of Toledo, Wright State University, and Youngstown State University.
- The Center for Propulsion and Power
- $1 million to improve fuel burn in high temperature turbines. Project led by The Ohio State University in collaboration with the Air Force Institute of Technology and University of Cincinnati.
- $1 million to improve anti-icing technology for medium altitude unmanned aircraft systems. Project led by The Ohio State University in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University and the University of Dayton Research Institute.
- COE is led by The Ohio State University in collaboration with the Air Force Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, University of Akron, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, and University of Toledo.
“OFRN will have a have a broad and dynamic economic impact on the state,” said Dennis Andersh, executive agent for the OFRN and chief executive of the Wright State Applied Research Corporation. “The projects that will come from this unprecedented collaboration are expected to create new Ohio jobs and increase the level of federal funding awarded to Ohio institutions.”
The potential for successful OFRN partnerships has already been realized through multiple joint proposal efforts for related business development activities. This year alone, members of OFRN teams have submitted over $180 million in proposed research funding to the Air Force Research Laboratory Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Office of Naval Research. In addition, a partnership between Wright State University and Galois, a Portland, Oregon based company that applies cutting edge computer science and mathematics to solve difficult technological problems, has resulted in the creation of a new Ohio location.
OFRN is currently comprised of 11 Ohio Universities, 52 Industry Partners, and the Air Force Research Laboratory, Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Glenn Research Center. OFRN also supports a Commercialization and Workforce Development Team composed of Cleveland State University, Lorain County Community College, and multiple industry partners to facilitate the transition of technology to Ohio-based firms.
To date, OFRN has competitively awarded a total of $15.7 million spread across 18 projects at all six university Centers of Excellence. The first round of funding was announced in February, 2016. The OFRN welcomes new industry partners and universities within Ohio to become a part of the network. More information about OFRN and the university Centers of Excellence is available at www.ohiofrn.org.
