In a continuing partnership, the U.S. Air Force has awarded the University of Florida a $49 million contract for cutting-edge research and workforce development at UF’s regional engineering campus adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base.
The Department of Defense noted last week that the contract for the Research and Engineering Education Facility (REEF) will provide the “academic core of regional innovation, education and workforce development competency.” UF’s Florida Applied Research in Engineering (FLARE) team, part of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, is leading the partnership, which includes applied research and development capability complementing Air Force Research Laboratory and Eglin Air Force Base missions.
“This will align operations with Eglin Air Force Base’s next-generation weapons development to build on our long-standing partnership with more synergy facilitated by a professional team led by FLARE, which has collaborated closely with Team Eglin since 2019 to deliver unique tools, technology and research at the REEF Campus,” noted UF FLARE and REEF regional director Richard Vigeant.
Vigeant said the evolving REEF/FLARE regional defense operation will unleash growth by aligning academics, regional innovation and workforce development, thus complementing Team Eglin’s critical technology investment areas, needs and missions at the REEF campus.
The educational component will be expanding the REEF campus, adding customized short course and certificate programs that align with Team Eglin’s critical technology investment areas and mission needs. A technology incubator lab will support emerging technical areas and facilitate technology transfer/transition and entrepreneurial growth.
“This strong partnership is going to enable, expand, and accelerate research, education, and entrepreneurship in lockstep with the most recent and emerging critical S&T focus areas and strategy of Team Eglin,” Vigeant said. “This will in turn attract and produce the talent to match their urgent mid and near-term needs and simultaneously enhance STEM programs to match their long-term workforce needs.”
An extension of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering – and originally established as the Graduate Engineering Research Center on Eglin Air Force Base in 1969 – the UF REEF in Shalimar (in the Panhandle) was constructed in 1995. The 20-acre regional campus is on land leased from Eglin Air Force Base about 1.5 miles northwest of the west gate. In addition to supporting the needs of the warfighter, REEF and FLARE missions aim to foster and sustain partnerships with the private, academic and public sectors to help grow the region’s innovation economy.
“Our long-standing partnership has, and will continue to enhance the education and training of Team Eglin’s workforce with graduate engineering level programs at both the master’s and doctorate levels, as well as certification programs and technology development,” Vigeant said. “In concert with research, Eglin leaders considered advanced degree programs essential to achieving high-caliber engineering expertise.”