2025 OAS Annual Meeting
Sponsored By:
The Ohio Academy of Science’s Annual Meeting is for academic, governmental, and industrial scientists and engineers, university and pre-college educators, undergraduate and graduate students, and interested lay citizens in the Ohio region. Annually, the scientific presentations have been complemented by the Keynote Lecture and a Panel Discussion.
For 2026, the OAS Annual Meeting will be held in the fall and will be expanded to a two-day event hosted by The Ohio State University. The Annual Meeting will be held in the Fawcett Center at OSU on October 23 and 24. The theme of the event is “STEM Workforce Development: Building Ohio’s STEM Workforce Pipeline”, with day 1 featuring a design challenge, a keynote address, a panel discussion, and networking opportunities for the attendees to interact with exhibitors and each other. Day 2 will feature our more traditional research symposium format, with a panel discussion, poster sessions and oral presentations held throughout the day.
It is a unique opportunity for STEM students (graduate and undergraduate), STEM professionals, and representatives from government and industry to (1) present at a regional conference; (2) attend the conference sessions; and (3) network with scientists, engineers, educators, employers, and students across Ohio.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Exploring the Next Frontier: Ohio’s Leadership in Opening
the 8th Continent
2026 Keynote Speaker:
Dr. John M. Horack, Vice President for Research, The Ohio State University
John M. Horack is the vice president for research at The Ohio State University where he leads the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge (ERIK), overseeing strategic research operations, commercialization and venture initiatives, and collaborative partnerships across the university. A 30-year veteran of the spaceflight industry, he is a globally recognized leader in space-based research, flight hardware development, program management, and space policy in the academic, government and private sectors.
Dr. Horack is the inaugural holder of the Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy at Ohio State, with tenured, full-professor appointments in the College of Engineering’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Prior to joining Ohio State in 2016, he served for four years as vice president of Teledyne Brown Engineering’s Space Systems group in Huntsville, Alabama, with responsibility for overseeing all government and commercial Space programs.
From 2009-2012 Dr. Horack served as vice president of research for The University of Alabama in Huntsville. During his tenure theuniversity grew annual research expenditures from $65M to nearly $100 million and moved from an R2 to an R1 institution.
Dr. Horack had an impressive career at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) having achieved the level of Senior Executive Service. His last position at NASA was as manager of the Science and Mission Systems Office. He has also held the positions of gamma ray astrophysics research scientist; assembly, test, and calibration scientist for the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE); and resident scientist for spacecraft integration at TRW in Redondo Beach, CA, for assembly and test of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, launched in April 1991 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.
He began his NASA career in 1987 after graduating from Northwestern University with a BA in physics and astronomy. He earned an MA and PhD in physics from The University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
He has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers and conference presentations. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Astronomical Society as well as an Associate Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and Fellow with the Royal Aeronautical Society (UK).
SCHEDULE
2026 Annual Meeting Schedule
Friday, October 23:
12:30-1:00 PM – Registration
1:15-1:30 PM – Opening Remarks
1:35-2:20 PM – Keynote Address by Dr. John Horack, VP for Research at The Ohio State University
2:20-2:35 – Break
2:40-3:45 – Design Challenge Presentations
3:45-4:00 – Break
4:05-4:50 – Panel Discussion, Public Interest Technology
4:50-5:00 – Design Challenge 1st Place Announcement
5:00-6:30 – Networking and Reception
Saturday, October 24
7:30-9:00 AM – Registration
7:30-8:30 – Breakfast
8:00-8:40 – Welcome and Opening Remarks from Mike Duffey, Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education
8:45-9:45 – Oral Presentations Session A
9:45-10:00 – Break
10:00-11:30 AM – Poster Session A
11:30-12:15 – Panel Discussion, STEM Job Market
12:15-1:00- Lunch
1:10-2:40 – Poster Session B
2:45-3:45 – Oral Presentations Session B
3:45-5:00 – Poster Session C
5:00-5:15 – Closing Remarks
PRESENTER INFORMATION
Presenters can communicate their research in either a 10-minute podium session or through a 48″ x 36″ poster presentation. Presenters must present current research. Research in progress submissions are accepted. Download a one page flyer here.
The Academy is accepting abstracts at https://form.jotform.com/OhioScience/2026-AM-submission.
Abstract submission closes on Monday, September 28, 2026, at 5:00 PM.
First authors will pay their abstract submission/registration fee at the time of submission.
- Members: $90
- Non-Members: $190
Fees include registration, lunch, abstract fee, and further publication in The Ohio Journal of Science.
Become a member at https://www.ohiosci.org/members/. If your college/University is an institutional member, use their code at checkout to join at no cost.
Additional Author, Member, Advisor or General Attendee can register beginning Tuesday, September 8, 2026.
- Fee: $45 per day (includes registration & lunch)
DESIGN CHALLENGE
The Ohio Academy of Science invites undergraduate and graduate teams to take on a problem Ohio is living through right now. Data centers are going up across the state faster than the systems around them can comfortably absorb, and the questions that raises are not simple ones. They are technical, environmental, economic, and social all at once, which is exactly why no single discipline can answer them alone.
This challenge asks a team of students to choose one piece of that problem, study it seriously, and propose something better. Teams submit a written report in late September. Three finalist teams are invited to present their work in person at the OAS Annual Meeting in October, in front of the Meeting audience and a panel of invited judges, and all three are invited to publish in The Ohio Journal of Science.
Learn more about the 2026 Design Challenge at https://www.ohiosci.org/design-challenge/
2026 HOST – THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
The Ohio State University, an Ohio land-grant institution, was established in 1870 and is ranked among the top 15 national public universities by U.S. News & World Report. With campuses located throughout Ohio, students, faculty, and staff are provided opportunities to engage in meaningful research, workforce development initiatives, and life-changing programming in and out of the classroom.
The university remains an exemplar for educational institutions in the state of Ohio. Through education, research, workforce development, and outreach, OSU supports education throughout all of Ohio, not just Columbus. OSU’s commitment to improving economic outcomes for all Ohio students is evident in their robust partnerships, dedication to outreach, and their commitment to innovation in education.
Learn More about The Ohio State University at https://www.osu.edu/
IMAGES FROM PAST ANNUAL MEETINGS
