Airable Research Lab Expanding to Shawnee State in Hopes of More Soybean Innovation

Soybean industry, education, business and government leaders from the area and around the state were on hand with the Ohio Soybean Council to sign a memorandum of understanding with Shawnee State University for the expansion of Airable Research Lab.

By Joel Penhorwood, Ohio Ag Net

A major investment in agricultural research is taking shape in southern Ohio. With $1 million dedicated to renovating and expanding Shawnee State University’s Advanced Manufacturing Center, Airable Research Lab is setting up a new hub aiming to unlock new market opportunities for soybean-based products.

In February, Barry McGraw, founder of Airable Research Lab, joined Ohio farmers, industry leaders, and dignitaries to celebrate the expansion. Airable Research Lab, a business line of the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC), signed a memorandum of understanding with Shawnee State University to expand operations to a second location, on the Shawnee State campus. The collaboration will benefit students, researchers, and Ohio’s agricultural economy with new capabilities in plastics, robotics and advanced manufacturing, all focused on the creation of new markets for soybean-based products.

“Airable Research Lab started in late 2019–2020 with the whole idea of accelerating commercialization of soy biobased products, working directly with industrial and consumer companies to develop what they need versus just doing research. We’re using farmers’ checkoff money to do research based on customer need and client need; thus, we’re just increasing the probability of having commercial success and creating demand for the soybean farmer,” McGraw said. “So why are we at Shawnee State? We’re headquartered in Delaware, and our business model is utilizing underutilized college or university space. We founded the company at Ohio Wesleyan University, where we lease their chemistry space. So we have a lot of chemistry space, and we’re getting good at what we do. In the meantime, we’re having a lot of clients asking for polymers and composites, but we really just don’t have the capabilities. We’ve been talking to Shawnee State and signed an agreement that says they’re going to build a facility within their Advanced Technology Center that’s really going to be more of a chemical engineering polymer coating space. Not only are we going to be able to do a lot of chemistry using soy to create demand, but now we’re getting into polymers, which are very big commodity-type market right now — and we’re again using university space, partnering with the entrepreneur side of it to use space and support our current business.”

The new facility will add capabilities for creating new soy products. The $1 million expansion is fully funded by state soybean checkoff boards, including Airable’s seven funding partners: the Kentucky Soybean Board, Illinois Soybean Association, Iowa Soybean Association, Michigan Soybean Committee, Missouri Soybeans, North Dakota Soybean Council, and, of course the Ohio Soybean Council. The funding marks an important investment in the future of soybean research and development. These funds will primarily support the construction of a state-of-the-art 1,500-square-foot bioprocessing facility tailored to meet the specific needs of Airable’s research team. This expansion is part of a larger $5 million renovation of Shawnee State’s facility, with the lab set to be completed by the fall of 2026.

“We’ll be able to develop more applications using soy. I’m excited because we can do projects we can’t do now, and we work with clients to develop soy-based products without adding a lot of overhead costs to the soybean farmer checkoff,” McGraw said. “We’re still in that same business model, staying efficient using underutilized space with the key of accelerating soy-based products, the licensing and commercialization. With equipment like injection molders, extruders and all the analytical equipment the university has, that allows us to develop products so much faster.”

The focus of Airable Research Lab is the commercialization of new products using soy.

Adam Miller, interim dean for the College of Business and Engineering Technology at Shawnee State, said the new partnership means exciting things for the school and its students.

“We really try to engage with industry to be able to provide those opportunities where students are able to understand what it’s like working with people and just having that innovation culture or that innovation ecosystem in place where they can learn about what it takes to be a researcher or what types of opportunities are out there,” Miller said. “I think there’s a benefit for our students beyond the classroom aspect and that we will have some interaction and engagement with the Ohio Soybean Council, Airable Lab and the researchers that they have on campus.”

Brandon Kern with OSC said the opening of the new lab will continue more of what Airable has been doing in recent years.

“This is a really exciting partnership. For Airable, this is going to expand their research and development capabilities. They’re already doing so much quality work in terms of creating new markets for soybean farmers by expanding the number of products out there using soybeans as input, but you know today’s partnership is a whole expansion of that capacity and that ability to do even more with all the players involved here,” Kern said. “A big part of this is going to be in the polymer space. Renewable polymers are huge and expanding across the country. For us to be able to be a leader here in Ohio with this partnership, I think that’s really exciting, and it’s going to be great for soybean farmers in the state.”

Bill Bayliss is a Logan County farmer and chairman of the Ohio Soy Council Checkoff Board and also chair of the Airable Research Board.

“It creates more demand for our product — that is No. 1. Soybeans are made out of 80% meal and 20% oil. In the past, our customers were the livestock and poultry farmers. But now, as the world evolves, we see the oil is becoming a driving force behind demand, and so we’re coming up with all kinds of different ways to utilize the oil part of it,” Bayliss said. “We’re trying to take the checkoff funds that every farmer contributes — one-half of 1% of the dollar they got from their soybeans — to put into research and build the market for the future.”

Education, business and government leaders from the area and around the state were on hand to celebrate the move, which Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Brian Baldridge hailed as a big win for Ohio’s farmers.

“As farmers, we all we know we’re price takers. With efforts like this, we are making sure that we have markets for the future through collaboration to create opportunities for the future of research that we need to do to make sure our markets are stronger than ever,” Baldridge said. “What is that next piece of the puzzle that creates markets and opportunities for Ohio soybean farmers?”

Soybeans are Ohio’s most-produced crop by acreage and the top export crop, bringing in $6 billion in annual revenue in Ohio.