Partner with ESL

The ElectroScience Laboratory (ESL) is a major center of excellence within The Ohio State University College of Engineering and is one of the largest radio frequency and optics research laboratories in the world. Since 1941, ESL has consistently maintained a national and international pre-eminence in the field of electromagnetics, influencing radio research like no other institution in the world.

 

student working on robot

Our center consists of 159 people, including 30 faculty and researchers, and more than a dozen visiting scholars and postdoctoral researchers, supported by 10 administrative staff.

Research Programs

ESL is a breeding ground for the future RF/optics engineers. As of autumn 2014, 89 graduate and 13 undergraduate students perform research under the guidance of ESL faculty for the programs that are supported by:

  • Department of Defense (DoD)
  • Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
  • Office of Naval Research (ONR)
  • National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI)
  • Industry through STTR/SBIR partnerships

ESL Student Researchers

Our graduate students are often recruited as interns at these government agencies and within the industry. Through summer fellowship and internship programs, students:

  • Seize opportunities to work with pioneering teams
  • Gain exposure to recruitment opportunities
  • Meet their future employers.

In addition, undergraduate and high school students from diverse backgrounds are recruited by ESL to gain research experience that proves to be beneficial for their future careers and graduate school applications. Select undergraduate students continue to work with the faculty and graduate student mentors throughout their academic years.

Consortium on Electromagnetics and Radio Frequencies

ESL promotes, supports, and engages in research partnerships with established and start-up companies, through STTR/SBIR programs and consortiums such as the Consortium on Electromagnetics and Radio Frequencies (CERF).

Through these collaborations, our industry partners engage in mutually beneficial relationships with our faculty and student researchers and gain access to the state-of-the-art ESL experimental facilities, specialized in wireless sensors, radio frequency identification (RFID), biomedical sensing, RF materials engineering, radars, microwave and THz imaging, optics, and certain wireless communications.

 

compact range at ESL
Anechoic Chamber

Through various levels of partnerships, our industry affiliates gain access to the ESL’s anechoic chamber, the largest and finest in an academic institution in the world, for measuring scattering parameters and testing new antennas that are now being applied to commercial products.

At Helios (Hyperspectral Engine Lab for Integrated Optical Systems) lab, academic and industrial partners investigate new materials for reliable, low loss and low-cost printing approaches, and for faster, smaller, high performance and cheaper terahertz devices and systems. Our partnerships with academic and industrial affiliates cultivate and lead to innovative research results and contribute to the training of our highly sought-after graduate students.

Partner with Us

If you are interested in partnering with ESL and exploring various areas of collaboration, please contact:

 

Christopher Ball
Interim Director