Wright State University receives grant from Ohio Department of Higher Education for advanced air mobility research

Wright State University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science has received a $896,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education for the study of advanced air mobility. Advanced air mobility includes air taxis and electric vehicles that can carry people and objects from one place to another that might currently have limited capacity for travel by being able to take off vertically.

According to an article on Wright State University’s website, Darryl Ahner, Ph.D., who serves as the dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, explained what advanced air mobility means and what the grant-funded research will examine. Ahner is quoted as saying, “Advanced air mobility has a potential to have huge impacts on the way we move people whether in a routine travel capacity or an emergency situation,” also noting their investigations will look into questions like, “How can we have them efficiently operate? How we can enhance the safety, manage the power, route them for a safe, effective route as they’re flying?”

The project, funded by the grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education, will be investigated by a team of 13 faculty members from Wright State University, and graduate assistants from both Wright State University and from Sinclair Community College’s unmanned aerial systems and digital engineering programs.

The usages of advanced air mobility include rescuing people from emergency situations and providing transport to and around extremely crowded areas. Wright State University’s project will look into the powering of the vehicles as well as improving the operational abilities of the vehicles, including creating, designing, and manufacturing a new type of battery, using artificial intelligence to enhance routing capabilities, and improving sensors to make flying safer.

As an emerging industry, advanced air mobility will soon become a viable and prominent job market, and with this grant, Wright State University is hoping to improve the opportunities available to students who are interested in joining the field.

For more information about Wright State University, visit the school’s website.