Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) President and CEO John Sankovic, Ph.D. and Great Lakes Biomimicry (GLB) Chairman and Founder Tom Tyrrell announce the merger of the two non-profit organizations. With this merger, OAI is positioned to further assist Ohio’s aerospace industry to be more competitive in the global market emphasizing value in sustainable solutions. Additionally, GLB will expand OAI’s education and innovation offerings.

Global aerospace companies are reducing greenhouse emissions as an imperative business function. Biomimicry, or learning from nature, makes 3.8 billion years of nature’s research and development available to companies searching for sustainable solutions.

“This merger comes at a time when the industry is looking for a recharge and a boost to excel in an evolving business climate,” Sankovic says. “Industry leadership dictates the trajectory towards sustainable solutions. GLB is a valuable asset to OAI’s forthcoming Industry Association and the aerospace industry on an international scale.”

Moving forward, OAI will work to present sustainable solutions to the Industry Association network and include this element in conferences and event presentations.

GLB, now as a wholly owned subsidiary of OAI, will support innovation by looking to natural systems for solutions to current challenges. GLB employees were retained by OAI during this merger.

The OAI is a nonprofit 501(c) (3), the first NASA associate collaborative institute chartered to foster relationships between industry, education, and work with government agencies. The organization has 32 years of experience in aerospace research, education, and workforce development, while building and managing collaborations, consortia, and public and private relationships. The organization will soon launch the Ohio Aerospace Industry Association, further connecting businesses, government, and academia to streamline and improve supply chain management.

GLB helps businesses learn from nature to accelerate sustainable innovation. Formed as a 501 (c) (3) in 2010, GLB has collaborated with several Northeast Ohio organizations and businesses to bring the wisdom of nature to help them solve problems.