Wichita State Poised For Massive Growth

[SubGod22]

Another U.S. official to be on WSU campus today.

KAKE - Jerry Moran to host U.S. Secretary of Commerce at Wichita State University

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - U.S. Senator Jerry Moran announced today that he will host U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Tuesday, April 11 at Wichita State University.

Moran is the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is also set to attend.

Wichita State says that the event will include a tour of its National Institute for Aviation Research beginning at 8:45 a.m., as well as a roundtable discussion on broadband and media availability at 9:45 a.m. in the Woolsey Hall Fidelity Bank ballroom.

[SubGod22]

Has anyone seen any updates, or been in the area, of the University Village development between 17th and 16th streets. I know we've seen apartments go up over there, but there were talks of retail and other business plans in the area but I haven't seen and can't seem to find anything on it in the last year. I love what they're doing at 21st and Oliver and what it will do for campus and the area, but having a larger build up on the south side of campus isn't bad at all either. And with the new apartments over there, and even some of the partnership buildings along 17th, it seems like there's a lot of potential for that.

[SubGod22]

KAKE - Joint WSU-KU biomedical campus could receive nearly $150 million in funding

WSU President Dr. Richard Muma says the campus will be “one of the most transformational buildings in this city. It will change health care for the future in this city.”

The project has an estimated cost of $300 million, a big price tag but one that the Kansas state legislature is planning to help with.

It has set aside 142 million dollars in federal COVID funds from the American Rescue plan that haven't been spent yet and put it in this year’s budget to help cover it.

The budget is still pending approval from the Governor.

Minns says “If we didn't have the state support of a substantial amount as they’ve allocated, it would be a non-starter."

The project is in the early design stages but Muma says having this support from the legislature helps keep the momentum going. He says it has already allocated $35 million last year to hire the design and architecture team and he thinks there could be more from the legislature allocated beyond the ARPA money this session.

He says they need $225 million to fully get the project underway.

Once the project picks a site downtown, Muma says it should break ground in early 2024 and be completed by 2026.

This is going to be massive for downtown Wichita. I'm really excited to see where they finally decide to build it and how development around it takes shape. By 2030, we could see significant progress/change downtown and for the better.

[shocker_torero]

Has anyone seen any updates, or been in the area, of the University Village development between 17th and 16th streets. I know we've seen apartments go up over there, but there were talks of retail and other business plans in the area but I haven't seen and can't seem to find anything on it in the last year. I love what they're doing at 21st and Oliver and what it will do for campus and the area, but having a larger build up on the south side of campus isn't bad at all either. And with the new apartments over there, and even some of the partnership buildings along 17th, it seems like there's a lot of potential for that.

I haven't heard anything since early-mid 2022 when the school named a property developer - Lane4 out of Kansas City. When they were named, they had a vague presentation on building commercial properties but didn't specify that there was any actual interest. There is still a "University Village" homepage up on WSU's website, but links with details are now dead and giving a 404 error. Would be a shame if it fell flat and fell through. It's a good idea if executed well. It would complement the apartments going up on 17th and the Innovation Campus development.

Looks like who was the WSU chief Engagement and Development Officer Kaye Monk-Morgan, who seemed to be involved in planning, is also no longer with the university as of April 2022. Connected? Maybe, but who knows.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - EPA selects Wichita State for environmental justice center site

Each of the 17 sites, including WSU's Environmental Finance Center, housed within the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs, will receive at least $10 million over the next five years from the EPA in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy.

"This grant from the EPA is a phenomenal opportunity for Wichita State to drive prosperity for rural and underserved communities, who unfortunately carry a disproportional share of pollution and environmental hazards,” said Wichita State President Rick Muma in a news release. “We look forward to the opportunity to advance environmental justice in our region and promote healthy growth for Kansas and our Midwestern neighbors."

As the justice center for EPA Region 7, the EFC at WSU will "implement an engagement and community assessment process to learn from communities about their burdens, barriers, priorities and opportunities, then work with the communities to address their unique needs by providing training, technical assistance, support services, applied research, tool development and other resources that will help remove barriers and improve accessibility for communities with environmental justice concerns," the news release said.

[SubGod22]

What an experience for students searching for a future in the field of video.

WSU - Live from the Arkansas River, Wichita State students live-stream regatta

Putting a live sports event on camera is an experience like no other for students thinking about a career in video. Sports are unpredictable and create imagery that tells the story through action and emotion.

Rowing produces all that against the backdrop of the river and the weather.

That is the story Coach Calvin Cupp wants to tell about his Wichita State University team and the Plains Regional Regatta. It takes place Sunday on the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita over a mile-and-a-half of water between the Lincoln Street and First Street bridges.

Wichita State’s Media Resources Center will live-stream the regatta for the third year, using MRC staff and students for all aspects of the production.

“We wanted to create a regatta in our region that was very athlete-centric,” Cupp said. “We looked around and said, ‘What can we do to elevate the experience for the student-athlete?’ Rowing doesn’t get on TV. We can create that same experience they see other college athletes having on TV.”

In 2014, the MRC worked with the rowing team on a promotional video. That connection grew into live-streaming in 2021.

“It’s one of those ways to create awareness and exposure,” Cupp said. “It helps expand and expose our program to our community. It’s hard to get people here to show them what we do. But I can send them a link, and they can watch it from their computer or their phone. We can bring it to them in a high-quality, high-production way.”

For students, the demands of live action give them proficiency in an area that the classroom doesn’t usually demand.

[pogo]

Looks like they have started moving construction trailers into position for the new ATF lab/building and also moving furnishings into the office spaces of the renovated "old" NetApp quarters

[SubGod22]

Some interesting research going on here.

WSU - Owls inspire Wichita State researchers to create soundless propellers

Johnston said the team spent a considerable amount of time studying owls and their flight to understand the nuances of the birds’ biomechanics.

The goal is to 3D print feathers to create drone propeller blades “to see if we're actually able to make the drone quieter, similar to how an owl feather makes its flight quieter,” Johnston said.

NASA has funded AeroFeathers with an initial grant of $40,000. The team will now need to raise $2,000 through crowdfunding. Once they’ve completed the crowdfunding requirement, NASA will award them with an additional $40,000.

“I think the main goal of the crowdfunding is to increase public awareness of research, so NASA thought a crowdfunding idea would be a good thing to get students to interact with the public,” Johnston said. “Even if it's just a small amount, it's still creating public interest in research.”

This is also an opportunity to teach students how to raise research funding, said Dr. Bhisham Sharma, AeroFeathers’ faculty advisor and assistant professor of aerospace engineering at Wichita State.

“They need to learn how to communicate their science to the general public, learn how to sell an engineering idea, and be able to attract money from other places,” he said.

The $82,000 award will fund a large-scale 3D printer that will be able to print the owl-inspired drone blades, facility fees for students to use external research facilities for acoustical testing, travel expenses for the students to present their research at conferences, and it will pay wages for two undergraduate WSU researchers on the project.

“Hopefully, we'll have an actual drone propeller built in the next six months,” Johnston said.

If this works, it could actually revolutionize many different products, especially anything containing fans and such.

[Kung Wu]

Some interesting research going on here.

WSU - Owls inspire Wichita State researchers to create soundless propellers



If this works, it could actually revolutionize many different products, especially anything containing fans and such.

This what the zipline crew modeled their props after.

[SubGod22]

Another avenue for getting students valuable experience and into good careers.

WSU - WSU's Gateway to IP program leads STEM students into patent law careers

When Rob Gerlach joined the Office of Tech Transfer and Commercialization at Wichita State in 2018, he noticed a gaping hole in the community: For a city that prides itself on its entrepreneurial spirit, Wichita was severely lacking in people to protect and manage its innovations.

In fact, a quick database search revealed that there were only a handful of patent practitioners in Wichita.

“To my surprise, and somewhat horror, there were fewer than 10 of us, which is crazy,” said Gerlach, executive director of Technology Transfer and Commercialization (TTC).

To put that into perspective, the law firm where Gerlach practiced patent law in St. Louis had around 20 registered patent attorneys and patent agents focused on intellectual property (IP), and the entire city of St. Louis has more than 200 patent practitioners.

“That’s a problem,” he said. “We at Wichita State University need to try to help correct that problem.”

So Gerlach created the Gateway to IP program “with the purpose being to increase Wichita’s IP IQ.” Through the program, Gerlach and his team in the TTC office mentor students and introduce them to the pathway to becoming a patent agent.

“We’re trying to connect with students who have a hard science background: engineering, chemistry, biology — all those qualify. When a student gets their BS degree from WSU, they are then able to sit for what’s called the patent bar. If they pass the patent bar, at that point, they become what’s known as a patent agent,” he said.
.....

Kyrie Cameron, a partner at Patterson + Sheridan LLP in Houston, has had several Wichita State students intern at her firm.

“The interns we have worked with from Wichita State come into our office with great patent prosecution experience,” Cameron said. “They come in so prepared and so knowledgeable that we're always looking for ways to challenge them with unique projects.”

She said that many of the firm’s summer interns spend much of their time learning the patent process.

“But with Wichita State students, because they have that foundation by their experience in the office with Rob, we can introduce them to all kinds of things,” Cameron said. “We've been blown away by what Wichita State students can do, so they usually get exposure to litigation-related tasks — whether that's discovery reviews or helping prepare for hearings or portfolio reviews for clients.”

Cameron, who has visited the Wichita State campus, said she’s impressed with the real-world applications and industry partnerships that WSU students are exposed to in their classes.

“Their understanding of engineering principles related to commercial uses of those principles — like actual products and actual things that happen in the world — they're not reading it from a textbook,” she said. “They’re working on solving real world problems. They're capable of hearing what our clients' inventions are, how they're commercially relevant, and what problems in the world they're trying to solve with their invention. They're uniquely prepared to address problems.”

[SubGod22]

WSU - Wichita State climbs U.S. News and World Report rankings for engineering and physician associate grad programs

In the most recent graduate school rankings from U.S. News and World Report, Wichita State University’s College of Engineering continued its steady ascent, landing in the 47th spot for the 2023-24 academic year. Additionally, the College of Health Profession’s physician associate program is debuting in the rankings, at No. 65.

In both lists, Wichita State is the highest ranked university in Kansas and the only one in the top 100.

In the past four years, WSU’s College of Engineering’s graduate program has consistently climbed the charts from No. 94 to 77 to 59 in 2022, and now this year at No. 47 — the highest yet.

“WSU’s continued rise in prominence helps confirm what many in the industry already know: that as Kansas’ only urban public research university, Wichita State helps meet industry’s needs through top-notch research while providing a well-rounded, affordable education to students,” said Dr. Anthony Muscat, dean of the College of Engineering.

There are 15 graduate programs offered through the College of Engineering, including master’s and doctoral degree tracks; and students have abundant opportunities for research and applied learning through many industry partnerships. The National Science Foundation also recently Wichita State in the top 20 for engineering research and design funding with more than $192 million in fiscal year 2021.

[SubGod22]

I remember reading about the plans for this, but this is the first time seeing the finished product.

[WstateU]

I remember reading about the plans for this, but this is the first time seeing the finished product.

Same here, that is really cool. I had a bucket list item to 'camp and photograph' in the Flint Hills... still at the top of my list.

[SubGod22]

WSU - Wichita State and Ascension Via Christi are affiliating to grow the pipeline of health care professionals

Wichita State University's College of Health Professions and Ascension Via Christi's Wichita hospitals announced today the creation of a strategic initiative to provide a critical pipeline of qualified health care professionals to the region.

Through the affiliation, Ascension Via Christi's hospitals will provide office and classroom space to Wichita State’s College of Health Professions’ School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences, expanding WSU students’ close access to working health care professionals directly in the hospital setting.

Additionally, the affiliation will provide a framework for WSU and Ascension Via Christi to help fuel the pipeline of trained health care professionals entering the field and further enhance professional growth opportunities for current and future Ascension Via Christi associates and WSU students.

"As Wichita State strives to live its mission to be an educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater good, it's crucial to prioritize the health and well-being of our community as a vital component in our overall success and prosperity," said Wichita State Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Shirley Lefever. "This collaboration connects our students with advanced professional opportunities, addresses the need for qualified health care workers in our state, and further establishes Wichita as a health care hub for our region. It also increases access and affordability to working health care professionals looking to enhance their education through Wichita State."

Kevin Strecker, ministry market leader for Ascension Via Christi, said the affiliation aligns well with the health care system’s mission and efforts to recruit and retain the associates needed to ensure high-quality, compassionate care.

“WSU wants to expand the enrollment capacity of its College of Health Professions degree programs, and we hope many of those students will choose to pursue their calling at Ascension Via Christi,” Strecker said.

[Aargh]

Cessna demo and renovations to start around June 1 - as soon as the State Track Meet is done.

https://www.ksn.com/sports/shockers/demolition-to-begin-soon-at-wsus-cessna-stadium/?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com