Digital Transformation Center at University of Dayton Research Institute

What Digital Transformation Center at University of Dayton Research Institute does

The Digital Transformation Center (DTC) is a non-profit collaborative innovation hub operated by the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), founded in 2023 and headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. Its mission is to advance digital transformation for the U.S. Air Force and the broader defense industrial base by convening industry, government, and academic partners in a shared physical and digital workspace. Core offerings include the Digital Enterprise Collaboratory (DEC) — a 15-workstation lab powered by Ohio University featuring AR/VR equipment and engineering software from Siemens, Dassault, Ansys, and MATLAB — along with flexible collaboration spaces (conference rooms, hotdesking, brain bubbles), a maker space for 3D printing, digital twins, and MBSE prototyping, and secure facilities capable of hosting classified meetings of up to 40 persons. Workforce development runs from K-8 STEM outreach (Windmill Project) through university internships and professional MBSE certification via Studio SE.

Revenue is generated through tiered annual membership subscriptions: Standard at $7,000, Waiting List Premier at $8,500, Premier at $10,000 (sold out), and Premier Plus at $12,000 (sold out). As of August 2024, the DTC had 17 industry members engaging daily with the Air Force and academia; broader materials reference 35+ member organizations including BAE Systems, IBM, Siemens, MathWorks, Ansys, Deloitte, Field Aerospace, and VTG Defense. Distribution is exclusively direct, with no reseller or channel partner model. The customer base spans three primary verticals — U.S. Air Force / DoD, defense and technology industry, and academic institutions — all served through a single Dayton facility.

The DTC sits at the center of the onMain Innovation District, a 38-acre redevelopment of the former Montgomery County Fairgrounds co-led by the University of Dayton and Premier Health. A $35 million Ohio Innovation Hubs Program grant (August 2024) is funding construction of the Think Dayton Building, a 120,000 sq ft, five-story facility scheduled to open in Q1 2027 that will serve as the DTC's future home. Long-horizon targets through 2031 include 2,000 new jobs, $500 million in new research dollars, 2,000 STEM internships, and a 25% increase in regional STEM graduate retention.

Name

Digital Transformation Center at University of Dayton Research Institute

Legal name

University of Dayton Research Institute

Website

https://daytondtc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Digital Transformation Center is a University of Dayton Research Institute-affiliated non-profit hub that convenes U.S. Air Force, defense industry, and academic partners in Dayton, Ohio to advance digital engineering, MBSE, and workforce development through a membership-based collaboration model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dayton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: The DTC generates revenue through annual membership fees at multiple tiers (Standard, Premier, Premier Plus, Waiting List Premier). Membership provides access to collaboration spaces, digital tools, conference rooms, hotdesking, member events, and in higher tiers, dedicated office space.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The DTC is a membership-based collaborative hub where industry, government, and academia converge to advance digital transformation. It provides physical collaboration spaces (hotdesking, conference rooms, secure spaces), a Digital Enterprise Collaboratory with digital engineering software and AR/VR equipment, a Maker Space for prototyping, and workforce development programs from K-8 STEM through professional MBSE certification.

Product overview

The Digital Transformation Center (DTC) is a collaborative innovation hub operated by the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) that provides a unified platform of physical spaces, digital tools, and workforce development services. The core offering centers on the Digital Enterprise Collaboratory (DEC) powered by Ohio University, which provides access to engineering software, AR/VR equipment, and collaboration spaces. Membership programs tier access to private offices, hotdesking, conference rooms, and event venues. The DTC also delivers workforce development through K-8 STEM programs, internships, upskilling, and MBSE certification training. A major expansion is underway with the 120,000 sq ft Think Dayton Building scheduled to open Q1 2027.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Digital Enterprise Collaboratory (DEC): A hands-on training lab powered by Ohio University, offering digital engineering software and tools including AR/VR equipment for DTC members and students.

Products and services

• Digital Enterprise Collaboratory (DEC)
• Collaboration Spaces
• Membership Programs
• Workforce Development Programs
• MBSE Training & Certification
• Insight Lab Series
• Student Projects

Quantifiable outcome

• 17 industry members engaging with Air Force and academia daily as of August 2024
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024UDRI is the parent organization powering the DTC. The DTC serves as a key initiative under UDRI, which provides research capabilities and staff to advance digital transformation for the Air Force. UDRI division heads and staff are embedded in DTC operations.
• onMain Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024onMain Inc. is a partnership between University of Dayton and Premier Health. The DTC will be the cornerstone building of the onMain development. onMain received $35M state grant for construction and operation of the DTC as part of Ohio's Innovation Hubs Program.
• Ohio UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024Ohio University powers the Digital Enterprise Collaboratory (DEC) at the DTC. The DEC provides industry members, students, and government with access to digital engineering software including Siemens NX, Dassault systems, Ansys tools, and MATLAB, plus AR/VR equipment.
• Wright-Patterson Air Force BasecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024Key defense partner supporting the onMain Innovation Hub. Partners work toward making Dayton a global leader in digital transformation technologies for aviation and national defense.
• City of Dayton / Montgomery CountycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024Local government partners supporting the onMain Innovation Hub and DTC development as part of the 38-acre redevelopment of the former Montgomery County Fairgrounds.
• Studio SEsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024DTC partners with Studio SE to offer MBSE Masterclass and SysML training, including CEU-accredited courses designed for engineers, architects, project managers, and professionals moving into model-based workflows.
• Learn to Earn DaytonsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024DTC supports the PACCE career pathways program for Learn to Earn Dayton as part of workforce development initiatives.
• Premier HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Premier Health co-founded onMain Inc. with the University of Dayton. The DTC is the cornerstone building of the onMain development at the former Montgomery County Fairgrounds site.
• Dayton Development CoalitionsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Regional development partner supporting the onMain Innovation Hub initiative.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MassChallenge: A global non-profit startup accelerator operating physical hubs in Boston, Providence, and other cities. MassChallenge is comparable to DTC because it operates as a membership/partner-funded collaborative hub providing physical workspace, programming, and connections between startups, corporates, and government stakeholders.
• Defense Innovation Unit (DIU): DoD organization that accelerates commercial technology adoption across the military services, with offices in Mountain View, Boston, Austin, and Washington DC. DIU is comparable to the DTC because it focuses on bridging defense end-users (similar to DTC's USAF programs) with non-traditional vendors via partnership models rather than traditional contracting.
• SOFWERX: A non-profit innovation hub co-located with U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, FL that interfaces SOF end-users with industry and academia through physical collaboration spaces, events, and prototyping. SOFWERX is a near analog to DTC's model (non-profit, physical hub, government-academia-industry interface) but serves SOCOM rather than the Air Force.
• 1871 Chicago: A non-profit innovation hub in Chicago providing co-working space, programming, and corporate-startup-academic networking. 1871 mirrors DTC's membership-based collaborative hub model and event-driven community engagement approach, though 1871 serves the broader tech ecosystem rather than defense specifically.
• National Security Innovation Network (NSIN): DoD program office that creates networks of innovators across academia, industry, and government to solve national security problems. NSIN parallels the DTC's academic-industry-government engagement model but operates federally across multiple geographies rather than at a single regional facility.
• AFWERX: The U.S. Air Force's official innovation arm operating hubs in Austin, Las Vegas, and Washington DC. AFWERX is the closest direct peer to the DTC because it pursues the same mission of connecting Air Force end-users with commercial technology providers, academia, and non-traditional vendors, but does so as a federal program of record rather than a membership-funded non-profit.
• MD5 National Security Technology Accelerator: DoD-affiliated accelerator founded to transition national security technology from academia and startups to operational military users. MD5 is comparable to DTC because it operates as a non-traditional bridge between commercial/academic technology providers and uniformed end-users in defense digital transformation initiatives.

Others

• Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC): An independent, non-profit, applied scientific research and development professional services organization serving DoD and other federal clients. CTC is comparable to DTC because it operates as a non-profit R&D provider supporting defense digital transformation, workforce development, and Air Force technical missions from the same region.
• Riverside Research: A Dayton, OH-based non-profit scientific research organization with deep ties to the U.S. Air Force and intelligence community. Riverside Research is comparable to DTC because it operates in the same Dayton defense research ecosystem, and Dr. Ann Carbonell joined the DTC from Riverside Research, indicating direct personnel and partnership overlap.
• Battelle Memorial Institute: The world's largest non-profit R&D organization, operating national security and digital engineering programs for federal clients including the DoD. Battelle is comparable to DTC because it operates large-scale non-profit research infrastructure supporting defense modernization, though at materially greater scale and geographic reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/daytondtc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digitaltransformationcenteratuniversityofdaytonresearchinstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Digital Transformation Center at University of Dayton Research Institute