Cleveland's Ohio Aerospace Institute and Parallax Advanced Research, based in Beavercreek, have entered into an affiliation that's a major effort in connecting research and development initiatives across the state.
Ohio Aerospace Institute in Cleveland has affiliated with Parallax Advanced Research in the Dayton, Ohio, area to create a statewide research and development organization.
Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) and Parallax Advanced Research, based in Beavercreek, Ohio, entered into an affiliation agreement effective Jan. 1.
The integration of the two nonprofits is part of an effort to create and expand applied research linkages across Ohio for aerospace, space, energy, advanced manufacturing, materials sciences, physical sciences, microelectronics, and medical research and development, the organizations said in a joint statement.
“We saw this as an opportunity of bringing applied research and development together across the state, to better support the government clients that we all work with, the industry clients that we partner with and universities that we also work with and do research with, and giving a more unified presentation across the state,” said Dennis Andersh, president and CEO of Parallax.
The affiliation will help leverage capabilities on both the north and south ends of the state to better support commercial, government, defense and NASA contracts in the future. NASA operates its Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
It also results in cost savings overall and new opportunities for both organizations and will create new and larger federal and commercial research and development opportunities for academia, industry and government.
Parallax and OAI manage collaborative programs, including the Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN), the Academic Partnership Engagement Experiment ( ) for the Department of the Air Force, small business support programs, and economic development support programs in Southwest and Northeast Ohio.
“Our organizations have much in common, starting with our largest customers, the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,” said John Sankovic, president and CEO of OAI. “Both organizations are also very complementary across all research and development and entrepreneur network programs.”
With the affiliation, OAI brings aerospace manufacturing supply chain partnerships and core areas of research in physical sciences, computational modeling, and advanced materials sciences with applications to propulsion, power, and communications. Parallax possesses technical capabilities in emerging areas including data science, artificial intelligence, human performance and machine learning, autonomous systems, advanced technology integration and demonstration and rapid technology transition for multiple customers.
These combined skills will further enable the affiliation to bolster the impact of both organizations across the entire aerospace ecosystem, from commercial aviation to the national security community.
Founded in 1989, the Ohio Aerospace Institute is a joint initiative of the NASA Glenn Research Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the state of Ohio, 10 public and private universities, and numerous companies. Its local facility is located at 5100 Springfield St. in Riverside.
Parallax Advanced Research is a nonprofit whose mission is to tackle global challenges by accelerating innovation and developing technology and solutions through strategic partnerships with government, industry and academia across Ohio and the nation. Parallax looks to accelerate innovation through its academic partnerships, tackle global challenges with government partners and develop groundbreaking ideas with businesses.
The company, formerly known as Wright State Research Institute, is around two years old, and has more than 80 employees.
Blythe Alspaugh
Staff Reporter - Dayton Business Journal