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“A key pillar of Oklahoma State University’s strategy\nis leading in aerospace and aviation innovation, but we know our success is\nshared success,” OSU President Kayse Shrum said. “This is why we are\nso excited about our strategic partnerships with NASA, Tulsa Innovation Labs,\nand Osage LLC, an Osage Nation enterprise. Additionally, the U.S. Economic\nDevelopment Administration recognizes that taking Oklahoma’s aerospace and\naviation to the next level has national benefits, and we appreciate the\nagency’s critical support.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The LaunchPad Center will support the development and\ndeployment of emerging aviation technologies, including unmanned aerial systems\nwith uses ranging from critical infrastructure inspection and agricultural\nmonitoring to emergency response and last-mile delivery. Given Tulsa’s\nstrategic position as an urban hub in a rural region, the LaunchPad Center will\nalso focus on developing new air transportation systems to safely and\nsustainably move people and goods in places currently underserved by aviation,\nincluding rural and tribal communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Aviation is entering its third ‘golden age’ and the\nLaunchPad Center for Advanced Air Mobility is on the cusp of translating\nresearch into significant industry advancements,” said Dr. Jamey Jacob,\nexecutive director of the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and\nEducation (OAIRE), director of the Counter-UAS Center of Excellence and\nprofessor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at OSU. “OAIRE and the\ncreation of the LaunchPad Center under the OAIRE umbrella will bridge the gap\nbetween early stage research and applied technology, deploying developments to\nimprove industry, the economy and to move the research tied to aviation and\nspace forward.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jennifer Hankins, deputy managing director of Tulsa\nInnovation Labs, said they were thrilled to see this vision come to life. “Not only will the LaunchPad Center position Tulsa and northeast\nOklahoma for global competitiveness in advanced air mobility, but equally\nimportant is the signal this moment sends to our local community,” Hankins\nsaid. “This investment in OSU-Tulsa is part of our commitment to\nsupporting the ongoing revival of Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District, where\nthe center will be located. We are eager to see this project inspire Tulsa’s\nnext generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and young people interested in\ncareers in the next wave of the aerospace and aviation industries.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The LaunchPad Center will be housed with state-of-the-art\nresearch and development laboratory assets in the HRC, capitalizing on the\ncampus’ strategic location, educational connections and industry partnerships.\nLaunchPad’s first industry partner, WindShape, will create an environmental\ntest facility in the HRC, gathering data on any conditions UAS will experience\nwhile in flight but in a controlled laboratory environment. This includes\nenvironmental test facilities to evaluate drones in wind, rain, icing and\nwildfire conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The LaunchPad Center is one of four projects under the new\nTulsa Regional Advanced Mobility (TRAM) Cluster, which received $38.2 million\nin funding from the Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better\nRegional Challenge. This grant also created the Skyway Range, a flight test\nfacility which connects the Osage Nation and its enterprises’ Skyway36\nDroneport in Tulsa, OSU’s Unmanned Aircraft Flight Station near Stillwater and\ntwo additional nodes in the region to create an unparalleled asset for testing\nand evaluation of new technologies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “We believe this facility will be the first of its kind\nin the United States,” Jacob said. “With the Skyway Range test flight\nfacility, we have the capacity to test capabilities in the real world,\neventually in both urban and suburban settings. With our partnership with the\nOsage Nation and their Skyway Range, located 5 miles north of the LaunchPad\nCenter, we have the capacity to solve last-mile delivery problems. The long-term\ngoal is to support the ecosystem for external researchers as well as\nentrepreneurs with startup concepts they would like to transition from early\nstage to field testing.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Skyway 36 Droneport, a working airport where OSU\nresearch is already under way, is now fully dedicated to advanced air mobility\napplications. It will include immediate access to manufacturing space and allow\nresearchers to work hand-in-hand with industry to advance innovation seamlessly\nand quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Exposing our youth to emerging aviation technologies\nis critical for the next generation to be competitive in advanced air\nmobility,” said Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear.\n“Osage Nation Education and STEAM departments have laid a strong\nfoundation for these opportunities through strategic partnerships such as this,\nand we are excited for the LaunchPad Center to be a resource to continue this\nforward momentum.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Space Act Agreement <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Coupled with the ribbon-cutting for the LaunchPad Center,\nOSU also signed the Space Act Agreement, opening the door to expanded\nopportunities for education, workforce development and research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NASA Education and OSU are celebrating more than 55 years of\ncontinuous partnership that has inspired students and immersed them in NASA’s\nwork with programs such as Teacher in Space and Teaching from Space, Explorer\nSchools, Digital Learning Network and INSPIRE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the agreement, OSU and NASA will work together to\nfacilitate joint research, technology transfer, technology development and\neducational and outreach initiatives that build upon the long outreach and\nresearch history that NASA has with OSU. The overarching goal is to create a\nsustained pipeline of diverse talent for STEM careers at NASA and foster\nentrepreneurship and commercial opportunities in Oklahoma startup companies\nthat provide support for NASA operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NASA Director of STEM Engagement Gamaliel Cherry said the\nnew Space Act Agreement will build on the existing foundation and create an\ninnovative university partnership to leverage NASA and the university’s\nresearch opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’re excited to ensure that OSU is the cornerstone of\nwhat NASA has to offer,” Cherry said. “NASA has a university\ncollaborations initiative that focuses on making sure that key universities\nhave a focus in helping us achieve our mission, not only today, but in the\nfuture. And we’re proud to be here today to say that OSU is going to be a part\nof that.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n OAIRE faculty will also have the opportunity to engage with\nNASA through research and educational collaborations and support companies\nengaged in NASA Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business\nTechnology Transfer programs. The LaunchPad Center will benefit from this\narrangement by providing an additional opportunity space for LaunchPad Center\nresearchers and companies to collaborate with NASA on their advanced air\nmobility efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week, Oklahoma State University and partners \u2014 including Tulsa Innovation Labs and the Osage Nation \u2014 celebrated a ribbon-cutting at the LaunchPad Center for Advanced Air Mobility at OSU-Tulsa’s Helmerich Research Center (HRC). The LaunchPad Center will house dedicated resources to promote the development of new technologies in advanced air mobility, including staff to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[142,144,98,116,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aam-uam","category-aerospace-education","category-aviation-education","category-front-page-slider","category-oklahoma"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/OSU-ribbon-cutting-edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26048,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26044\/revisions\/26048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/OSU-inovation-labs-edit.jpg\")
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