Category: Affiliates & Subsidiaries

Rushlight Ventures moves to downtown Dayton amid expanded partnership

Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. (CRG) recently announced a new strategic relationship with sister company Rushlight Ventures. Under the terms of the agreement, Rushlight Ventures will have first rights of offer to commercialize all intellectual property generated by CRG. This significantly expands the relationship between the two entities, which are sister companies under Rushlight Assets, the parent holding company.

Rushlight Ventures plans to add multiple new hires as it anticipates taking on additional client companies.

“We plan to open an office in Dayton’s downtown Hub facility this spring, in addition to maintaining offices in Miamisburg,” said Rushlight Assets president Andrew Cothrel. “We will be positing multiple openings in January to grow the team.”

As part of the agreement, Rushlight Ventures also will perform a variety of commercialization support activities for CRG.

“The agreement with CRG is an important milestone for Rushlight Ventures,” said Cothrel. “It sets the stage to not only enable improved commercialization services to our sister company, but also allows Rushlight Ventures to begin to serve other clients with similar profiles. We intend to unlock a great deal of government-funded research value as we assist clients beyond CRG with their commercialization success.”

Read the Dayton Business Journal article here.

 

Lectratek finalist in Urban Air Mobility Challenge

CRG’s eAviation spinoff, Lectratek, was one of 19 finalists in the Urban Air Mobility Challenge selected to pitch their capabilities on September 28 in Washington D.C. This will be an opportunity for Lectratek to pitch to representatives from government agencies, Vertical Lift Consortium representatives and members, and leading corporate partners for a chance to earn their piece of $50,000 in prize money.

The Urban Air Mobility acceleration and awards program is sponsored by the Vertical Lift Consortium, the nation’s leading organization rapidly transitioning innovative aviation technologies for the U.S. government. This Challenge is the first in a series of accelerator events aligned with industry, government and military needs and over $50B in Smart Mobility initiatives within the nation’s Infrastructure Law.

Lectratek will pitch and connect its technologies with leading corporate, investment and federal prospectors. Finalists will receive engagement and membership opportunities with the Vertical Lift Consortium, while competing for $50K in non-dilutive funding.

CRG launches Rapid Cure System

Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. (CRG), with support from licensing partners Kineticure, LLC and Heatcon Composite Systems, Inc., launched the Rapid Cure System (RCS)™ to accelerate the cure of bonding materials throughout production and sustainment life cycles. This makes the RCS a must-have for OEMs and MRO organizations performing in-field and depot repairs.

The Rapid Cure System

Successful development of the RCS was accomplished through the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

The patented RCS is a quick, portable curing system that utilizes safe, localized heating methods and includes multiple, independent control zones. RCS products permit a single user to perform several cure processes concurrently, increasing efficiency and reducing costs. In one use case the RCS can reduce ambient cure time from 24 hours to less than 4 hours, meeting needs driven by 5th generation aircraft.

For more information about RCS products or to place an order, visit Heatcon’s website.

New FAA drone rules favor Lectratek’s ducted systems

The FAA is coming out with new rules requiring that drones have no exposed rotating parts — good news for Lectratek’s ducted fan propulsion systems. The final rules will be released in January.

Under the Operation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People rules, drones will be required to have no exposed rotating parts that could potentially lacerate human skin. For example, if the propellers that provide lift and thrust for the small unmanned aircraft are internal to the unmanned aircraft, such as in a ducted fan configuration, and are incapable of making contact with a person as a result of an impact, then the parts would not be exposed, and the aircraft would satisfy this proposed requirement.

Lectratek is poised to provide the suitable propulsion systems as well as lightweight batteries required for electric flight.

Lectratek makes list of 10 startups to watch in 2021

Launch Dayton, Dayton’s on-line startup community of entrepreneurial “ecosystem builders,” announced the top 10 startups to watch in 2021. Lectratek was listed among them.

“Lectratek LLC is looking to power the world’s first flying cars. The startup is focused on powering eAviation technologies for an industry poised for dramatic growth in the coming years. A spinout of private aerospace and defense firm Cornerstone Research Group, Lectratek leverages two decades’ worth of federally sponsored research into electric aviation for applications from commercial and industrial drones to mid-tier commercial airliners. The current team is actively recruiting for executive leadership and business development positions.”   –Launch Dayton

Read Launch Dayton’s full article here.

The DBJ publishes article about Lectratek

The Dayton Business Journal published an article titled, “CRG Venture Studio launches new electric aviation company” about the formation of Lectratek LLC.  An excerpt below:

“Cornerstone Research Group Inc. (CRG), a privately held aerospace and defense firm based in Miami Township, announced Monday its new company — Lectratek LLC. The new business, launched by CRG’s Venture Studio unit, is an electric aviation technology company. It is focused on powering “eAviation” tech for an industry the company says is poised for dramatic growth in the coming years.”

Read the full Dayton Business Journal article here.

DDN publishes article about the launch of Lectratek

The Dayton Daily News published an article on the formation of Lectratek by CRG’s Venture Studio, titled “Miami Twp. defense contractor announces new aviation spinoff.” An excerpt is below:

“Creating new businesses and divisions is all in a day’s work for Cornerstone. Lectratek will take advantage of CRG-developed technologies, including engineering services and aircraft parts related to electric propulsion, advanced composites and safe energy storage, the company said in a release,” says an excerpt from the article.

Read the full Dayton Daily News article here.

CRG launches new eAviation company: Lectratek

CRG’s Venture Studio today has launched an electric aviation (eAviation) technology company, Lectratek LLC. This new company is focused on powering eAviation technologies for an industry poised for dramatic growth.

Lectratek leverages core proprietary technologies developed over the years by CRG. Initial offerings will include engineering services and aircraft components related to electric propulsion, advanced affordable composites, and safe energy storage. Growth over time is anticipated to eventually touch virtually all aspects of electric aviation powertrains and some structural components. The new company is already off to a strong start, leveraging over $25 million of prior DoD/NASA investment at CRG, including three new Agility Prime contracts.

“Nothing could be more appropriate to the Dayton region’s inventive roots than growing a company to be a leader in the next wave of aviation,” said CRG’s CEO Patrick Hood. “Electric aviation is rapidly moving from something people dream about to something people will use every day, and Lectratek is positioned to be a leader in the field.”

Lectratek is the first new company coming out of CRG’s recently formed Venture Studio to gain critical mass, according to Andrew Cothrel, CRG’s Chief Venture Officer. “We are really pleased with how quickly customer demand is becoming tangible for Lectratek, particularly for our highly unique propulsion solutions,” said Cothrel. “While it is still early days in eAviation, this is a market forecasting to be worth $178B by 2040, and we think Lectratek has something to offer that can lead to enduring success.”

CRG and Spintech work with AFRL to improve fabrication of aircraft engine inlet ducts

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies Division and the contractor team of Cornerstone Research Group, A&P Technology and CRG’s affiliate, Spintech LLC, conducted research to quantify the benefits of replacing legacy manufacturing processes with novel processes for the fabrication of an 11-foot long, S-shaped engine inlet duct.

The approach replaces the hand applied composite prepreg with an automated overbraid process which applies dry fiber to a mandrel. The very heavy multi-piece steel mandrel was replaced with a light-weight single-piece shape-memory polymer mandrel and the dry braided carbon fiber was processed with a low cost epoxy resin using a vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process.  The team completed analysis of the overbraid architecture, fabrication of a shape memory polymer (SMP) forming tool and construction of the SMP mandrel that will serve as the tool during the preform overbraid process.

One of the primary goals of this program is to understand part cost and production time benefits from introducing the new tooling and processing solutions. The final inlet duct will be delivered to the government for further integration into the Aerospace System’s Directorate’s complementary airframe design and manufacturing program. Personnel at the Aerospace Vehicles Division will conduct static ground testing of the integrated braided fuselage and inlet duct structure. Read full article here.

CRG purchases property in Miami Township

On January 28, 2020 CRG acquired new facilities located on Washington Church Rd. in Miamisburg Township. Because of the company’s rapid growth last year (48% increase in staff) and growth projected over the next few years, they required more space for offices, production lines and labs. See DBJ Covers CRG’s Plans to Expand.

This new property more than triples CRG’s facility space. The building is fully climate controlled, with a total of 174,000 sq ft. Located on 60 acres, the new facility adds 126,000 sq ft of manufacturing or production space, 36,000 sq ft of warehouse space, plus 12,000 sq ft of office space. This acquisition leaves room for expansion, including space available for additional new outbuildings. Once the new building is fully occupied, the current space at Earl Blvd. will be used for composites development and manufacturing.

CEO Patrick Hood said, “I am excited to have worked with the Dayton Development Coalition, JobsOhio, Montgomery County and Farmers and Merchants Bank to acquire the property on Washington Church Road. This property will be instrumental in our expansion plans. Our team has developed several new technology platforms rapidly reaching maturity and will require space for both production and added business staff. This property has the space to expand our development and production capacity as well as plenty of acreage to build out a campus to support additional growth.”

CRG also recently leased and moved some of its aerosystems projects into 77,000 sq ft in a building next door to their current space on Earl Blvd. In addition, Advantic, a subsidiary of CRG, has moved into 55,000 sq ft of that extra space next door to support its incredible growth. They tripled their staff in the past year.

After some renovation and re-outfitting, CRG plans to begin moving some activities to their newly acquired building in June.