KETTERING, Ohio – The Gaming Research Integration for Learning Laboratory, or GRILL®, under the Air Force Research Laboratory, 711th Human Performance Wing, Airman Systems Directorate’s Warfighter Readiness Research Division will be getting a new home early next year, thanks to a 30,000 square foot renovation of unoccupied building space at the Dayton Regional STEM School on Woodman Road in Kettering.
The school, celebrating its 10th anniversary, officially kicked off a $2 million capital improvement project Oct. 19 during a ceremonial brick breaking ceremony at the facility, that will help ensure students continue to receive a rich learning experience that reflects a commitment to STEM education.
School officials anticipate the expanded space will support the learning process, cross-curricular collaboration, partner engagement, and a growing student body. It will also create five new classrooms, a science lab, assembly space, and a flexible learning laboratory – a new space that will be home to the GRILL®.
The GRILL® is an educational outreach program that inspires student interest in STEM through modeling and simulation software, helping to equip the region’s next generation of critical defense workforce.
“Anything we can do in the Department of Defense and the Air Force to increase the opportunity for students to grow, learn, and become productive workers in the STEM career fields, we’re all in,” said Jack Blackhurst, executive director of the Air Force Research Laboratory. “This has been a vision for us for a number of years, and it’s going to be exciting to see the GRILL move over to this facility and to see the students engaged on a regular daily basis.”
“I also want to throw out a special thanks to the Wright Brothers Institute and Tech Edge who have been gracious hosts for the last number of years, allowing us to incubate the capabilities that will now become permanent residents and a permanent capability here at the Dayton Regional STEM School,” said Dr. Winston “Wink” Bennet Jr., technical advisor at the 711th Human Performance Wing’s Warfighter Readiness Research Division.
During the ceremony, school officials announced an anticipated completion date for the project of March 2019.