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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > December > 22 > Entry
UDRI gets new space, recognition it deserves
A half-century ago, a college math professor who saw an opportunity for research won a $10,200 contract to take raw military data and convert it to readable graphs.
The money supported the work of Charles Collins, who was a Marianist priest, paid a few student stipends and bought some magnifying glasses. It was the start of a research partnership between the University of Dayton and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base that led to the creation in 1956 of the University of Dayton Research Institute.
Today the institute has 1,400 contracts, 414 employees and $96 million in sponsored research. Soon, it will move to the former NCR world headquarters. UD announced Monday that it has bought the complex for $18 million to house the institute and accommodate its continuing growth.
That news comes on the heels of UDRI landing a six-year Air Force grant worth $49.5 million. The money will support more study toward the goal of some day producing more efficient, heat-resistant and less polluting jet fuel.
The new grant, which builds on a similar 2003 grant for $31.5 million, is a big win for UDRI and for Dayton. Of course, it’s good news that the new money will be spent here, not somewhere else. But the community’s gain goes beyond today’s economic impact. The growth of UDRI is a model for long-term incubation of idea centers that could be the basis of Dayton’s future economy. If a breakthrough comes in an important area like greener jet fuel, the benefits of making that discovery here can ripple.
Meanwhile, being in the NCR building will give the research institute more visibility and cachet. Locating in this first-class environment is a statement about its role at UD and in the community.
The inventors who established Dayton’s reputation for innovation in the last century — the Wright brothers, Charles Kettering, John Patterson — started small the way the Rev. Collins did with UDRI. In time, industry giants like the Wright Airplane Company, Delco and National Cash Register emerged.
Now they are gone and Dayton is looking for its next generation of employers. Starting small still works, as UDRI’s growth demonstrates. The process can be repeated. The key is capitalizing on local assets like a workforce with high-tech expertise and a proximity to Wright-Patterson.
Consider the fuel contract. UDRI Director John Leland said the institute’s first government fuel contract primarily resulted from one person’s proposal 25 years ago. Now more than 35 people work on the project at least half-time. More will be added when the new money arrives.
Down the line, if the institute continues to beat a path forward in fuel technology, Mr. Leland said he could envision new companies sprouting, or established firms opening offices here, to be involved in the research.
In jet fuel, that day is still probably a decade or more away. But Mr. Leland said he meets smart innovators in high-tech fields every day who remind him of the Wrights, Pattersons and Ketterings. They’re dreamers with big ideas who need to try, to fail and to try again. UDRI gives them a chance to partner so they can chase those dreams by leveraging government money and the institute’s independent resources.
Success might not come in the form of the next high-tech giant like Google or Microsoft. Instead, it might look more like a collection of small and medium-sized companies that grow and expand.
A thriving local economy can be built that way, too.
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