Wright State University expands partnership with Air Force

Wright State University and the Air Force have re-established and expanded their partnership, which was first created in December 2022. The two institutions first partnered to allow researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base access to Wright State University’s Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building. Now, their partnership has expanded to allow for researchers to access a number of campus resources and buildings.

According to an article on Wright State University’s website, Sue Edwards, Ph.D., the university’s president, was quoted as saying of the partnership, “Wright State, the Air Force Research Laboratory and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base all benefit from our close partnership. This partnership offers Wright State students and faculty hands-on experience through internships, cooperative programs and research projects while supporting workforce development for AFRL and WPAFB. By linking academic expertise with cutting-edge research and real-world applications, the collaboration creates a robust ecosystem for innovation, talent cultivation and contributions to national security.”

Currently, there are upwards of 60 researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) working on Wright State University’s campus at the Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building. The building houses, among other technologies, an MRI machine that is dedicated solely to neuroscience research. The types of research being conducted by the AFRL researchers includes cognitive performance monitoring and sleep research. The presence of the AFRL researchers on campus gives Wright State University students greater opportunities to be involved in research projects, demonstrating the mutually beneficial aspects of the partnership.

Timothy Bunning, Ph.D., who is the chief technology officer at the AFRL, was quoted as saying of the arrangement, “Putting people on Wright State’s Campus, working together, getting them outside the fence from an Air Force perspective, is going to allow excellence to happen. I think there are wins on both sides. It allows our researchers to interface with the best of the best at Wright State. It allows them to partner completely differently than we would have to on base. We will bring purpose-driven, mission-driven problems that we want to solve on behalf of the defense of this nation. Bringing faculty into those discussions and helping educate the next generation of students that are interested in certain scientific disciplines, I think it can help Wright State raise the bar.”

The new, expanded partnership agreement was signed on December 12. Per the new agreement, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base personnel now have access to other buildings aside from the Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building, including laboratories, classrooms, and office space, and on-campus housing is also available to them should the need arise.

Col. Travis Pond, who is the deputy commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, said, “We have a great history of leveraging our universities, our industry, to prepare our military-industrial complex to be prepared to face the challenges that we face as a country. That is being revitalized as we enter this next phase of great power competition, and we posture ourselves for what could occur down the road. And nothing’s more important than the foundational research that’s happening here at Wright State with AFRL.”

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