What's New

Ohio Third Frontier Awards Funding to Scale OIEx and Strengthen Statewide Innovation Connections

The Ohio Innovation Exchange (OIEx), a pioneering initiative of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, has been awarded new funding through the Ohio Third Frontier Research Incentive program for a project titled Scaling Innovation Connections Through AI-Driven Discovery, Strategic Engagement, and Sustained Growth of the Ohio Innovation Exchange. The award supports the continued evolution of OIEx as a nationally recognized digital platform that connects Ohio’s businesses, entrepreneurs, and economic development partners with research expertise and shared resources across the state’s universities.

Since its launch in 2018, OIEx has grown from an early concept into a robust, multi-university knowledge-sharing ecosystem representing more than ten of Ohio’s research-active institutions, with additional universities currently onboarding. The platform provides open, searchable access to faculty expertise, facilities, and research services, helping bridge longstanding gaps between academic research and industry needs. “The increasing regional, national and international visibility of OIEx as a rich collection of information from nearly all of Ohio’s universities is envied by many peers,” said Tim Cain, PhD, Project Principal Investigator, who leads the initiative with Dan Kelley, PhD, Co-Investigator and Director of The Ohio State University’s Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy.   “This proposal focuses energy and activities to further the ever-increasing value of OIEx as a modern, highly sought digital asset of the broader, thriving ecosystem of innovation in the State of Ohio.”

The new round of funding will advance OIEx through three integrated focus areas: powering deeper discovery through generative artificial intelligence, scaling sustained industry engagement, and strengthening adoption and value across partner universities. These efforts build on successful AI prototypes that demonstrate how emerging technologies can bridge terminology gaps, align academic expertise with industry needs, and improve discovery outcomes for businesses seeking innovation partners.

Joining the OIEx team to help realize these goals are  Shahwar Ali, MPA, MPH, and Jessica L. Valsi, M.A., (see photo).  Ali joins OIEx as Partnership Engagement Manager, where she will lead sector-specific outreach, highlight success stories, and pilot new engagement strategies that deepen industry participation. Valsi of The Ohio State University’s Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy, will support engagement across OIEx’s growing network of university partners, focusing on collaboration, adoption, and coordination across the statewide consortium. Together, these investments position the Ohio Innovation Exchange for sustained growth and continued impact as a critical public asset advancing Ohio’s innovation economy.

Exploring Generative AI and OIEx’s Curated Data to Strengthen Discovery

Universities increasingly recognize interdisciplinary collaboration as essential for addressing complex challenges. Yet forging effective partnerships across academia, industry, and government often proves difficult, hindered by siloed organizational structures and language barriers.

Simply convening potential collaborators is rarely enough. Successful partnerships depend on clear communication and shared understanding. Industry professionals frequently describe emerging technologies using terminology unfamiliar to academics, who tend to reference more traditional disciplinary frameworks. This linguistic gap can frustrate discovery when industry seeks academic expertise.

To illustrate the point, Tim Cain of OIEx noted: “From aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright to early aerospace trailblazers Neil Armstrong and John Glenn, Ohio has a longstanding connection with aviation and aerospace innovation. Today, as investment in advanced air mobility technologies accelerates, Ohio stakeholders are exploring how OIEx’s access to academic expertise and shareable assets can help identify, connect, and convene collaborators more quickly.

“Industry professionals searching for expertise in areas such as vertiports, low-altitude traffic management, and navigation control systems often struggle to find relevant academic work, which is typically categorized under broader fields like mechanical, aerospace, or systems engineering. Bridging this ‘cross-talk’ is essential to making academic expertise both discoverable and actionable for industry.”

To tackle this challenge, OIEx partnered with Digital Science to test two complementary generative AI approaches. At the 2025 Expert Finder Systems International Forum,  Cain and Jackson Anderson (Digital Science) presented Lost in Translation? Using Generative AI to Make Academic Expertise Easier to Discover shared preliminary outcomes early insights from their pilot efforts.

Leveraging OIEx’s rich curated dataset, the team began ploring how generative AI could be used to:

1. Enhance search by interpreting and translating industry partner queries, enabling intuitive discovery of academic expertise despite differing vocabularies.
2. Support researchers through the use of an AI-powered wizard to generate industry-friendly bios and keywords.  Better aligning academic expertise with terms familiar to practitioners could improve matchmaking.

Cain and Anderson offered perspectives on how institutions can adopt AI responsibly in research information systems—positioning these tools to support, rather than disrupt, the scholarly communication ecosystem.

Building Ohio’s Innovation Future: Insights from Stakeholders

To better understand the value and future potential of the Ohio Innovation Exchange, the OIEx team engaged an experienced team at the Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs of The Ohio State University to evaluate how OIEx is meeting the information needs of its targeted audience.  Battelle Center faculty and staff guided a team students completing the Center’s Rapid Innovation for Public Impact graduate coursework, who interviewed nearly 25 key stakeholders from across Ohio’s innovation ecosystem and beyond - including industry leaders, policy experts, academic professionals, venture capital partners and technology innovators.

These conversations underscored a clear consensus: OIEx is a vital tool for breaking down silos, accelerating commercialization, and positioning Ohio as a national leader in research and innovation.

Historically, the research and development landscape has faced a persistent challenge - fragmented access to institutional knowledge and limited visibility into academic expertise. OIEx addresses these barriers by consolidating data from more than ten Ohio universities into one open-access platform, making it easier for industry, researchers, and entrepreneurs to connect and collaborate.

As documented in a 2025 Report of the Battelle team’s findings, industry stakeholders emphasized that OIEx shortens the path from research to real-world impact. Companies can now more easily identify relevant experts in critical fields such as aerospace, biotech, electric mobility, and advanced manufacturing, enabling faster product development and stronger partnerships.

Beyond individual collaborations, OIEx strengthens Ohio’s competitive edge for business development and federal investment. By showcasing the collective research capacity of its universities, Ohio is better positioned to attract high-value opportunities in sectors like aerospace, semiconductors and life sciences.

OIEx doesn’t just connect universities with industry - it helps foster collaboration among universities themselves. Academic leaders recognize OIEx as a powerful resource for building multi-institutional research teams that can compete for large federal grants and strategic initiatives.

More than a platform, the Ohio Innovation Exchange is a public good for the digital knowledge economy. Open, transparent, and freely accessible, it removes barriers that often limit innovation. Unlike proprietary platforms or closed academic databases, OIEx is designed to maximize equitable access, encourage collaborative engagement and drive statewide economic growth.

Stakeholder insights confirm one thing: OIEx is a critical infrastructure for 21st-century innovation. As Ohio strengthens its position as a national leader in research and technology, OIEx will remain essential for enabling collaboration, attracting investment, and shaping the ideas that define the future. Continued investment in its growth - through improved user experience, expanded partnerships, and strategic outreach - will ensure that OIEx delivers a sustainable impact for Ohio and beyond.

A copy of the Report is available for download:

Ali, Shahwar, Daniel Kelley, et al. (2025). "Synthesizing Perspective and Insights from its Targeted Audience to Inform the Roadmap Forward for the Ohio Innovation Exchange." The Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy at The Ohio State University.

Wright State University Joins OIEx as Newest University Partner

Image

Wright State University has joined the Ohio Innovation Exchange (OIEx), a statewide platform that connects business and industry with academic expertise, research assets, and specialized equipment. By becoming part of OIEx, Wright State strengthens opportunities for collaboration that fuel innovation, economic development, and technology transfer across Ohio and beyond.  Known for its cutting-edge research in neuroscience, human performance, medical sciences, and engineering, Wright State is recognized as a leader in advancing discovery that translates into real-world solutions. Its researchers regularly partner with federal laboratories, industry leaders, and community organizations to deliver innovations that improve lives and drive regional growth.

Profiled faculty experts from Wright State University represent disciplines ranging from biomedical engineering, aerospace, health and wellness, and molecular medicine whose cutting-edge research and applied knowledge can help industry partners solve real-world challenges. The addition of Wright State to the OIEx collective expands the growing network to 12,000 experts from Ohio’s leading universities, further positioning the state as a hub for knowledge, discovery, and industry engagement.

The value proposition of OIEx and what industry leaders are saying

Seeking to reach new audiences, deliver relevant information, seed detectable collaborations, and position OIEx as a sustainable a statewide information sharing strategy and digital platform, the OIEx team engaged an experienced team at the Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs of The Ohio State University to leverage their experience creating actionable intelligence for decision-makers working at the intersection of technology and public policy.

During the spring 2025 semester, OIEx sponsored a challenge to students enrolled in the College’s graduate-level course – Rapid Innovation for Public Impact  – “that organizes students into interdisciplinary teams who presented with a real-world problem provided by a government agency or non-profit organization. Students use the knowledge and skills they have gained in their academic career and apply them to make real impact. Throughout the semester, teams interview experts and those affected most by the problem to learn more about what is happening and what a solution might look like. At the end of the semester, the teams present a minimum viable solution to their sponsors and the rest of the class.”

Guided by Battelle faculty and staff, the RIPI students began interviewing industry leaders, public-policy experts, and higher education professionals to better understand the value proposition of OIEx.  Seeking perspective, insights and advice from thought leaders outside of academia that could further position OIEx as sustainable and valuable tool for industry professionals by decreasing traditional barriers to information and fostering cross-sector collaborations.

Battelle staffer Shahwar Ali is lending leadership and expertise to the graduate student team assisting them in synthesizing insights across sectors, cultivating stakeholder relationships, and translating findings into actionable strategies. Ali’s experience has been invaluable as OIEx seeks to strengthen public-private partnerships and deliver meaningful, equity-centered solutions aligned with Ohio’s economic and technological priorities.