Battelle Funds 16 Central Ohio STEM Programs Serving 14,000 Youth

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sixteen Central Ohio nonprofits will receive $968,000 through the 2026 Battelle Central Ohio STEM Grants, expanding high-impact science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning opportunities for more than 14,000 students and 1,400 educators across the region.

The 2026 awards lift Battelle's cumulative giving through this program to $8.8 million since the grants began in 2013. This year’s portfolio highlights a strong focus on innovation: artificial intelligence-driven programming at Franklin Park Conservatory, aviation pathways with Urban Aviators Society, immersive biomedical exploration through Educational Solutions and earn-a-bike engineering at Franklinton Cycle Works.

"These programs put real tools in the hands of students that build STEM skills," said Wes Hall, Senior Vice President of Philanthropy and Education at Battelle. "By funding local organizations, we can meet kids where they are and foster connections to future careers."

Facts about the 2026 Central Ohio STEM Grant

• Total Funding Awarded: $968,000
• Projected Student Impact: 14,341
• Projected Educator Impact: 1,421
• Cumulative Funding Since 2013: $8.8 million

A Kid Again Inc. – STEM Welcome Kits for Kids: Four hundred medically fragile children will receive at-home STEM kits packed with hands-on activities and career exploration videos. The kits are built for kids whose health limits their access to traditional out-of-school programming.

Central Community House of Columbus – STEM Central Future Innovators Initiative: Eighty K-5 students and their families will spend after-school hours and summer days with STEM professionals, field trips, and mentors at the Near East Side settlement house, which has anchored the neighborhood since the 1930s.

Central Ohio Manufacturing Partnership – Calculated Futures: Master the Math, Model the Path: Five hundred high schoolers will solve engineering challenges in after-school workshops led by mentors and manufacturing professionals. Math, AI, and design run through every session.

Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center – Build the Future Lab: Seventy-five elementary students will design products, run math and commerce challenges, and visit local businesses in an after-school program rooted in their own neighborhood.

Educational Solutions Company – STEM Career Studio: A Biomedical STEM Workforce Learning Initiative: A four-week biomedical program will move 200 students through mobile lab experiences, biotechnology investigations, and career exploration in the health sciences.

Final Third Foundation – Final Third Foundation Summer Camp: A summer camp for 150 kids blends soccer, literacy, environmental science, and wellness, treating STEM as one piece of a broader whole-child experience.

Franklinton Cycle Works – Earn-A-Bike STEM Education + Mentorship: One hundred youth will learn engineering, mechanics, and safety concepts through hands-on bike repair and mentoring. Participants apply their skills in real time, earn their own bike, and help provide free bikes to under-resourced peers.

Friends of the Conservatory – AI-Driven STEM Learning: Students will build an AI-driven app that powers Conservatory field trips, learning coding, real-world technology, and career skills as the tool takes shape. The program reaches more than 9,200 students and 800 teachers.

Hurt/Battelle Memorial Library – The Sound of Reading: One thousand kids will encounter STEM through music, hands-on science experiments, and reading workshops at the West Jefferson library, where summer programming pairs literacy and lab work.

Ohio Academy of Science – Research-to-Careers: Interactive Career Experiences for Students: Two hundred students will work through digital career simulations that map their STEM research interests to real workforce competencies, then reflect on the careers that fit.

See Brilliance – Neighborhood Tech Lab: A community-based STEM program for 250 youth will tackle problems pulled from the students' own neighborhoods. The work culminates in career-connected showcases held in schools and libraries across the city.

TECH CORPS – Techie Camp: Artificial Intelligence: Week-long camps will put 200 students inside real environmental datasets, teaching coding, data science, and AI fundamentals while opening windows into local tech careers.

The Hardy Center Inc. – Hardy Summer Pathways: A hands-on summer STEM bridge program will engage 120 youth in coding, engineering, environmental projects, and responsible AI activities to build problem-solving skills and early STEM career awareness.

The Ohio State University Foundation (WOSU) – Wild Kratts Creature Creator STEM Labs: WOSU will pilot Wild Kratts-themed labs and an AI-enhanced field trip experience for 1,300 students and 45 educators, stretching the public-media brand into hands-on classroom science.

Urban Aviators Society – Aviation & Aerospace Career Pipeline Initiative: Two hundred youth will participate in an aviation and aerospace STEM pipeline program to explore flight simulation, drone training, mentorship, and discovery flights to build technical skills and explore aviation careers.

Village of West Jefferson – Lunch and Learn: A career-connected lunchtime series will pull 350 students into hands-on enrichment and conversations with local STEM professionals, connecting learning to the real-world embedded into the school day.

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle makes the world better by commercializing technology, giving back to our communities, and supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.