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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

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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.

OIEx Featured in International Webinar hosted by Times Higher Education (UK) 

Collaboration between academia and industry is essential to promoting innovation and economic growth. As industry demands continue to change, research information management systems and centralised profiling tools can help institutions position themselves as valuable partners in innovation by maximising the visibility of their research. During a Times Higher Education webinar, held in partnership with Digital Science, a panel of experts -- including  Jeff Agnoli of OIEx -- explored how universities can use technology to showcase their research assets and build mutually beneficial partnerships with industry.

The webinar also include the key findings from Catalyzing Collaboration: How Research Information Management Systems Drive Academic-Industry Partnerships, a white paper that featured OIEx.

The webinar drew an audience of nearly 200 users from around the globe and can be accessed online. 

“The importance of industry engagement with research is how it enriches and augments the research impact at the institution,” said Derek Newton, assistant vice-president of innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto in Canada. “Often, it enriches the types of research projects our students can access and ensures that they’re employment-ready at the end of their project.”

Christopher J. Rowe, executive director for industry collaborations at Vanderbilt University in the US, highlighted the significance of understanding industry partners’ needs and how universities can “shorten the distance between industry and the researchers by being a matchmaker”. He discussed leadership’s responsibility to create an institution-wide culture of innovation and build sustainable relationships with industry. 

Mike Kagioglou, pro vice-chancellor of research and business innovation at De Montfort University in the UK, said that universities need to be flexible in the way they engage with industry as companies come with different perspectives, aspirations and maturity levels. 

The panellists discussed the role of research information management systems in enhancing the discoverability of research outputs and helping industry navigate university systems, which can be complex and decentralised. “Higher education institutions can be insular, but they need to do more outreach,” said Jeff Agnoli, senior liaison for strategic partnerships with the Ohio Innovation Exchange, Ohio State University in the US. “The platforms we use to promote and curate our resources are absolutely essential.”

Kagioglou spoke about the challenges of managing the variety of research data produced at universities. “It’s difficult for all of that information to be in one place. That’s where I see the value of research management systems – in trying to pull together everything that exists in an organisation and present it in a way that can address very specific areas of strategy,” he said.

“Research information management systems are specialist tools that are designed to collect and showcase the breadth and depth of a researcher’s expertise,” said Kate Byrne, senior vice-president of product, academic and publishing at Digital Science. “Collecting that data once will let you reuse it for so many things. But in this space, it’s about bringing a researcher’s CV to life and showing the relevance of the work that they’ve done,” she added.

“Storytelling around successful partnerships is critical to growing the nature and number of partnerships we have,” said Agnoli. “Telling those stories is wonderful for encouraging faculty members at your institution to think about these types of partnerships and helping companies who haven’t yet engaged with the university hear and understand some of the positive impacts.”

PANELISTS

• MODERATOR:  Sreethu Sajeev, Deputy editor for branded content, Times Higher Education (London, England)
• Jeff Agnoli, Senior Liaison, Corporate Partnerships, Ohio Innovation Exchange of the Ohio Dept of Higher Education
• Derek Newton, Assistant Vice-President, Innovation, Partnerships and Entrepreneurship, University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada)
• Christopher J Rowe, Executive Director for Industry Collaborations, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Mike Kagioglou, Pro Vice-chancellor of Research and Business Innovation at De Montfort University (Leicester, England)
• Kate Byrne, SVP Product, Academic & Publishing, Digital Science (London, England)

Find out more about Digital Science.

Learn more about the Digital Science report Catalyzing Collaboration: How Research Information Management Systems Drive Academic-Industry Partnerships.