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U.S. Airmen from the 79th Rescue Squadron and the 571st Mobility Support Advisory Squadron work to load the LIFT aircraft eVTOL onto a C-130J Super Hercules from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport, Ohio, March 23, 2021.  This marked the first time the LIFT electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL, was transported using military aircraft.

U.S. Airmen from the 79th Rescue Squadron and the 571st Mobility Support Advisory Squadron work to load the LIFT aircraft eVTOL onto a C-130J Super Hercules from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport, Ohio, March 23, 2021. This marked the first time the LIFT electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL, was transported using military aircraft. (Wesley Farnsworth/U.S. Air Force)

DAYTON, Ohio (Tribune News Service) — The leaders of research services company Infinity Labs believe they are the only company to have received two Phase II Agility Prime contracts.

Agility Prime is the Air Force's development of electric vertical takeoff and landing, or "eVTOL," aircraft, sometimes called advanced air mobility aircraft or simply "flying cars."

Jason Molnar, the company's chief strategy officer, said he is not aware of any other companies who received three "Phase I" awards in the Agility Prime project, as his business has.

"For Phase II, we know of a few companies and university partners who've won an award but not two awards. As of today, I only know of one company, Infinity Labs, who's been fortunate enough to win two separate awards," Molnar added.

Last week, the company announced its first Phase II award, to explore first urban air applications with satellite communications hardware and networks.

So do these double Phase II awards put Infinity Labs in rarified air?

"We both believe so and have been told so by friends in the industry which is humbling and exciting but it's certainly not something we take for granted," Molnar said.

This latest contract award is focused on analysis of emerging "Urban Air Mobility" (UAM) battery technologies, and the Dayton company's effort establishes an open-source modeling, simulation, and analysis toolset for use in the design and analysis of UAM aircraft batteries and electrical systems.

The business will also provide insight into the potential of reuse/recyclability of batteries for second-life applications.

Contract terms are $750,000 over a 15-month period.

Said Molnar, "Both efforts considered, these awards support the hiring of up to six full time employees."

(c)2021 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)

Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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