WSU gets $3.5M from state to create high-paying research jobs

By Barrie Barber Springfield News Sun

BEAVERCREEK — A consortium of the Wright State Research Institute and area companies will create 50 full-time jobs with an average wage of about $90,000 a year to work with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to study human performance.

The advanced-degree jobs, in areas such as the neurosciences, will be created in the next 12 to 18 months, said Stephanie Gottschlich, a Wright State spokeswoman. The work will investigate how to improve the performance of both unmanned aerial vehicle operators and analysts, she said.

The Human Performance Consortium, a group made up of the Air Force, Wright State University, and industry, will collaborate on the effort, Gottschlich said.

The project cleared a final hurdle Monday when a state Controlling Board gave a go-ahead to a $3.5 million loan to Wright State Applied Research Corp., the contracting arm of the institute, to pay for research space and equipment.

Mike Clark