DAYTON — The General Electric Co. decision to build a $51 million research facility on the University of Dayton campus does more than just reshape an old NCR brownfield that is a relic of the region’s manufacturing past.

It opens the door to a partnership between private business and university research that state leaders say is the future of innovation and economic development here and across the nation.

“The future of industry research is going to be determined by partnerships between industries and universities,” said Eric Fingerhut, Ohio Board of Regents chancellor, who was key to the project winning $7 million in state funding through the Third Frontier program. “This is the wave of the future. Private industry sees partnering with universities as a way to leverage research dollars.” The GE Electric Power Research and Development Center (Episcenter) also is the first big win for Dayton’s aerospace hub, and “absolutely the biggest win so far” for Ohio’s seven state hubs of innovation, said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Ohio Department of Development director.

The location and partnership will give GE unprecedented access to UD researchers on propulsion, fuel cell and advanced materials, and establish a pipeline for motivated UD students who will help GE design, test and certify next-generation power systems for aircraft, ships and automobiles, said Vic Bonneau, president of GE Aviation’s electrical power systems.

“We will have UD research fellows in our facility doing a lot of the modeling and simulation with our engineers. So it’s a great feeding ground for us to review talent, work with talent and potentially hire that talent,” Bonneau said.

Few private industry partnerships with universities include large R&D investments, said Daniel J. Curran, UD president, who wants more development on the adjacent land. “We are looking beyond this one event.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.