University Of Dayton

University of Dayton Research Institute Division, a private tax-exempt nonprofit research organization based in Dayton, Ohio, delivers advanced aerospace research, development, testing, and engineering services to federal defense and civilian agencies as a prime contractor on large indefinite-delivery vehicles and as a recipient of federal grants, with no SBA set-aside designations and a sophisticated position across multiple Air Force and Department of Defense research vehicles worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Research Institute's customer concentration is heavily weighted toward Air Force programs. The Department of the Air Force accounts for 1,637 awards carrying $3 billion in combined potential value; the Air Force Research Laboratory (operating under Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory designation in the source) holds 453 awards valued at $3.28 billion; and Air Force Sustainment Center and related Air Force Materiel Command entities hold an additional $1.92 billion in combined potential value. These three Air Force customer groupings represent approximately 75% of recent award count and nearly 19% of the organization's entire combined potential value, which totals $59.9 billion. The National Science Foundation, the Army, and the Defense Logistics Agency represent secondary customer tiers.

Capability scope spans multiple aerospace and defense research domains. Representative prime contract work includes a $227.2 million delivery order under the Rapid Operational Capabilities and Manufacturing for Optimized Readiness (ROCMOR) vehicle awarded by the Air Force on March 16, 2026, for research, development, testing, and engineering services in advanced aerospace technologies and manufacturing; a $499,999,999 single-award PRECIOUS (Pervasive Research and Evaluation for Complex-Solutions in Operational and Urgent Systems) indefinite-delivery contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory effective May 31, 2025, supporting four task orders totaling over $432 million for robotic laser processing, advanced optical measurement systems, and specialized engineering support through August 2032; a $99.6 million Sustainment and Combat Readiness Capabilities (SABR-C) contract awarded by the Air Force on September 16, 2024; and a $43.96 million definitive contract for the HAARDCORE (Hybrid Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy Research and Development Considered Operationally Relevant and Explainable) program awarded August 25, 2025. Across these prime contracts, the Research Institute engages multiple named subcontractors including Altair Engineering for computational analysis, Nordam Group LLC for engineering support, Insight Global LLC for staffing services, Maverick Corporation for engineering support on stealth bomber sustainment, and specialized vendors including Stratasys, VRC Metal Systems, Ansys, EOS, and others supplying additive manufacturing, materials, and test equipment.

The organization holds prime positions on multiple government-wide and Air Force indefinite-delivery vehicles. The OASIS+ Unrestricted GWAC (General Services Administration Federal Acquisition Service, $999 billion ceiling through December 16, 2029) anchors a multi-agency platform enabling task order placement by civilian agencies and the Department of Defense. The Rapid Sustainment Office Multi-Award Contract (RO MAC, $975 million through July 2033) supports Air Force warfighter readiness across sustainment operations. The Aerospace Materials Processing, Performance and Characterization (AMPPAC) single-award contract carries a $97 million ceiling through January 2033. The Counter-Targeting Enhancement Research (COUNTER) single-award IDV is valued at $98.5 million through July 2030, with two active task orders totaling approximately $42 million. The Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC, $46 billion ceiling through September 2031) provides access to Air Force Sustainment Center and Armament Directorate rapid acquisition capabilities. The organization also holds a Federal Supply Schedule position on the GSA Multiple Award Schedule with labor categories spanning Student Intern through Subject Matter Expert, hourly rates ranging from $31.66 to $264.51, and education requirements from high school through bachelor's degree without security-clearance positions.

Federal grant footprint spans defense research, basic science, and education. The Research Institute is a prime recipient of Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program grants (CFDA 12.800), including a $284,136 project grant awarded May 1, 2026, for benchmarking event-based velocimetry for 3D flowfields. National Science Foundation awards include a $174,991 Computer Research Initiation grant (CFDA 47.070) for cybersecurity research on photoplethysmography-based biometric systems, a $125,000 Engineering Research Initiation grant (CFDA 47.041) for defect detection in metal additive manufacturing, and multiple collaborative research project grants in materials science, mathematics, and engineering education. A $1.26 million Pipeline Safety Research Cooperative Agreement (CFDA 20.724) from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, effective September 30, 2025, funds development of strain capacity prediction models for aging pipeline infrastructure with subrecipients Texas A&M, Rutgers University, University of Cincinnati, and the Center for Reliable Energy Systems. The National Cancer Institute awarded $451,131 for endoplasmic reticulum-targeting fluorescent imaging agents research on lung cancer (CFDA 93.394). The National Institute of Mental Health provided $413,681 for phospholamban research in thalamic circuits (CFDA 93.242). The organization also received a $1.178 million Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program grant for X-ray crystallographic computed tomography of aerospace materials and a $350,692 NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant for acquisition of a multifunctional rheometer system.

Activity has remained steady to slightly declining in recent years. The organization received 41 awards in 2022, 66 in 2023, 64 in 2024, and 45 in 2025, with 15 awards recorded in 2026 through early July. Sixty awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $360.4 million and therefore face recompete exposure within that window. Top recompete-period awards include the SERP (Structures Engineering Research Program) delivery order for $17.5 million completing October 2026, the F-15 Sustaining Engineering Services order for $2.82 million completing July 2026, and the ROCMOR vehicle itself with the March 15, 2031 completion date on the base contract period.

The organization operates primarily as a prime contractor across its federal portfolio—97% of awards are prime contracts or grants, with only 3% as sub-awards to other primes. Service Contract Inventory reporting captures limited activity: $758,000 in invoiced federal services revenue across three fiscal years (FY2022–FY2024), translating to approximately 0.6 FTEs in FY2022, 0.2 FTEs in FY2023, and 0.4 FTEs in FY2024. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable services averaged $470.26 per hour at the median, with a range from $363.64 to $638.77 per hour across the tenth to ninetieth percentile. Subcontractor engagement on SCI-reportable prime contracts shows 0% average sub-hours share, indicating the Research Institute delivers most labor directly rather than through subcontractor labor delegation on reported services contracts. The organization's award history spans research and development activities (NAICS 541711-541715 codes dominate, accounting for over 180 awards each), engineering services (160 awards), and testing laboratory services (67 awards), concentrated in applied research, exploratory development, and basic research activities under defense R&D PSC codes.

The organization maintains active subcontract relationships with prime contractors including Leidos (multiple metrology, rapid technology development, and STOL task orders), Life Cycle Engineering (fuels and lubricants Navy support), Lockheed Martin (advanced systems MSPA and long fiber injection development), The Boeing Company (T-7A Red Hawk technology), Bluehalo LLC (functional responsive experimentation), KBR Wyle Services (optoelectronic technology), and Azimuth Corporation (structured optical materials research), performing specialized materials research, advanced manufacturing, and technical support services as identified subcontractor roles.