Wichita State Poised For Massive Growth

[SubGod22]

Stumbled across this article on the 10 year master plan if anyone wants a quick refresher.

MSN - Board of Regents approves Wichita State's 10-Year Master Plan

The board’s approval means over the next decade, plans can move forward with demolishing 10 older campus buildings, including the Heskett Center and Hubbard Hall. The master plan also includes constructing more than a dozen buildings.

WSU plans to split its campus into five districts: An academic core, the Innovation Campus, a “gateway” between campus and 17th Street, a historic district, and an athletic district.

[pogo]

I’m out of state, but enjoy seeing progress. Sometimes sources are difficult to come by. Did you drive by and see change, or is there a source you can point me to?

thank you!

I drive by about once a week just to amaze myself at how grown up our university seems. If only half of the 10 year plan gets done it will be transformative

[shoxlax]

I’m out of state, but enjoy seeing progress. Sometimes sources are difficult to come by. Did you drive by and see change, or is there a source you can point me to?

thank you!

I am out here every day so I am happy to post pictures of different improvements and construction.

Speaking of which, the Pentagon was built in two years. We are already on Year Three of the remodel of Clinton Hall with no end in sight. El Chapo was faster digging a tunnel with a spoon.

[shoxlax]

https://thesunflower.com/85010/news/kbor-approves-wsu-master-plan-to-demolish-add-buildings-on-campus/

Interesting about the Athletic District and Fairmount Park.

[SubGod22]

https://thesunflower.com/85010/news/...ngs-on-campus/

Interesting about the Athletic District and Fairmount Park.

Indoor track facility where the Child Development Center currently is?

[Kung Wu]

I am out here every day so I am happy to post pictures of different improvements and construction.

Speaking of which, the Pentagon was built in two years. We are already on Year Three of the remodel of Clinton Hall with no end in sight. El Chapo was faster digging a tunnel with a spoon.

Is Clinton the one that had an underground tunnel flood?

[1972Shocker]

Indoor track facility where the Child Development Center currently is?

Not sure where they will build but with Heskett Center on the demolition list that would need to happen. I was recently at Washburn in Topeka for a football camp my grandson was attending and it was held in the Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility which was constructed in 2020. Half of the building is used primarily as the Washburn football indoor facility but that could be used for other things. The other half is the Washburn indoor track facility and it is very nice. The only banked indoor track facility in NCAA Division II. It puts the Shocks Heskett Center indoor track facility to shame.

https://wusports.com/sports/2021/1/13/general-untitled-sportfile.aspx

Compare this the the Shockers' Heskett Center Facility: https://goshockers.com/sports/2015/6...tt_Center.aspx

The Shocks competed in 2 meets in the Washburn facility this past year. Being able to compete on a banked track is very desirable since the AAC Indoor Championships and NCAA Indoor
Championships are held on banked tracks.

On the other hand Washburn's outdoor track facilities are wanting as they only have a 4 lane track around their football field. So while Washburn hosted 12 indoor meets this past year they hosted on outdoor meets. Just can't do it with a 4-lane track.

To tell you the truth I find Coach Rainbolt's performance outstanding especially when you consider that miserable state of our track facilities. Thank goodness we finally moved the track teams out of the bowels of Cessna Stadium to the new Student Athlete Success Center in 2020. Now if we can get the University Stadium project completed and a new banked indoor track facility perhaps Coach Rainbolt can up his game even more.

[WstateU]

I am out here every day so I am happy to post pictures of different improvements and construction.

Speaking of which, the Pentagon was built in two years. We are already on Year Three of the remodel of Clinton Hall with no end in sight. El Chapo was faster digging a tunnel with a spoon.

[shoxlax]

Is Clinton the one that had an underground tunnel flood?

Not sure. I can ask.

[Kung Wu]

Not sure. I can ask.

Not sure if that's the one, but that event might have caused a big delay in construction potentially, if so.

[SubGod22]

WSU - WSU Center for Entrepreneurship reintegrates with Barton School of Business

Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, after five years with the College of Innovation and Design (CID), is reintegrating with the Barton School of Business. This move aims to enhance alignment with Wichita State’s initiatives in bolstering entrepreneurship programs, providing immersive student experiences, engaging with the entrepreneurial community, and meeting the needs of aspiring and current entrepreneurs.

"The Center for Entrepreneurship transitioning to the Barton School of Business is a strategic move that aligns with our shared vision of fostering a culture of entrepreneurship across Wichita State University. As CID focuses on deepening its strength in managing and developing emerging technologies, we look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts with the Barton School to empower the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders," said Dr. Jeremy Patterson, dean of the College of Innovation and Design.

The Center for Entrepreneurship will continue striving for excellence by integrating its programming and mission into the entrepreneurial academic and research pursuits of the Barton School and across the WSU campus. Integration with the Barton School has the potential to enhance its position as a premier entrepreneurial center and will facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration with other colleges on campus, including the College of Innovation and Design. The center will continue its pivotal support of students and founders in the early startup phase of their ventures, while building on the continued development of the existing entrepreneurial ecosystem.

"Our aim is to foster a dynamic ecosystem where ideas bloom and connections flourish. Through deepening our involvement with the entrepreneurial and business community, we are not just nurturing a promising future for our students and esteemed faculty, but also enriching the economic prosperity of our region and beyond," stated Basil Hourani, a distinguished member of the Barton School Dean’s "Fabulous 50" Advisory Board, serving as chair of the Entrepreneurship Taskforce and recently engaged as the Barton School’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Hourani is co-founder and executive partner at Capital7.

"We are grateful to the College of Innovation and Design for their stewardship of the center for the last five years," said Dr. Larisa Genin, dean of the Barton School. "As we look to the future, we are enthusiastic about enhancing our collaboration not only with this college, but also with others across Wichita State University. Together, our unified commitment is to elevate the Center for Entrepreneurship to unparalleled heights of excellence and recognition. Our aspiration is to transform it into a vibrant, interdisciplinary global hub that not only offers extensive opportunities but also cultivates invaluable insights for the advancement and prosperity of our community. This initiative will provide exceptional immersive experiences for our students, faculty and other vital stakeholders, establishing new benchmarks for innovation and engagement."

"WSU was one of the first universities to offer academic opportunities in entrepreneurship," said Dr. Shirley Lefever, executive vice president and provost at Wichita State University. "The Center for Entrepreneurship has made a significant impact on businesses across the country and will continue to provide meaningful, tangible and immersive experiences."

The center was founded in 1977 by Fran Jabara, a professor, former dean of the Barton School and an inaugural member of the Barton School’s "Beyond" 2024 Hall of Fame. With his own funds and university support, he created the center’s first program, a workshop titled "Entrepreneurship: Your Future in Business." The center was the first of its kind on a college campus and has been internationally recognized as one of the finest, most comprehensive programs in the nation.

I didn't realize it hadn't been associated with the Business School.

[WstateU]

WSU - WSU Center for Entrepreneurship reintegrates with Barton School of Business



I didn't realize it hadn't been associated with the Business School.

I attended this inaugural workshop… it was ‘life-changing’.

“With his own funds and university support, he created the center’s first program, a workshop titled "Entrepreneurship: Your Future in Business."“

[SubGod22]

WSU - NSF awards almost $1 million to WSU biologist

In an alternate universe, Tom Luhring’s interest in biology might have led him to a career in medicine, where he would be working indoors at a medical office or hospital.

“I am a first-gen student, so I thought if you liked biology, you have to be a medical doctor,” Luhring said. “It wasn't until I started to take some classes that I saw that there were other career paths. When I took herpetology, I realized that I could work with frogs, salamanders, snakes and turtles — and actually do that for a living. That was the moment for me when I was finally passionate about doing something as opposed to just feeling like I have to make a living.”

That passion helped Luhring, assistant professor of biology at Wichita State University, secure nearly $1 million from the National Science Foundation to study the effects of drying and warming on aquatic systems, such as lakes, rivers and streams, and how these changes impact the waterbodies themselves and the organisms that dwell within them.

Luhring’s award is part of the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), which according to the NSF’s website, “Supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.”

Luhring said that typically, when researchers look at how ecosystems function, they're interested in the flow of materials across different systems or different groups — from plants to animals or from water to the plankton that's in the water. This usually takes only two or three elements into consideration — “carbon, nitrogen and maybe phosphorus,” he said.

“Organisms are made of about 20 or so elements, and we generally haven't considered how the balance of all these things works together. That's what this project is doing: integrating multiple elements as they respond to the refilling of dried waterbodies and different temperatures, and the effects that this has on organisms living in them,” Luhring said.

His research will focus on intermittent aquatic systems — for waterbodies that dry up and refill.

“In Kansas, 70-80% of all the streams, pools, ponds and rivers that are natural in Kansas dry out and refill regularly. When a wetland dries and refills, that completely changes the chemistry of the water. The elements that are in the water are very different than a system that stays wet all the time. But generally, most of our knowledge on the elemental composition of waterbodies is based on systems that are full all the time,” Luhring said.

Part of his research will involve working with high school students from Wichita Public Schools.

“This specific award is designed for recipients to develop as a teacher-scholar,” Luhring said. “You're supposed to have an intentional link between your research and teaching. My project works with USD 259 and their drive to address next-generation science standards, particularly around quantitative reasoning.”

The CAREER award financially supports high school teachers through mentored joint curriculum development so students at four USD 259 schools — North, Northwest, Southeast and Heights high schools — will be able to enroll in Field Ecology at their schools while simultaneously earning college credit at Wichita State.

“Not only do they get to go into the field and do some field research and gather real data that they get to use, but they're also going to get college credit,” Luhring said. Creating hands-on opportunities for students


Molly Russell, a first-year WSU graduate student in biological sciences, said that she was drawn to the project because it intersected with some of her undergraduate interests: how amphibians and reptiles react to climate change impacts.

“I also have a bit of experience working in aquatic systems with variable nutrient concentrations because that was always a big focus back home as harmful algal blooms were a pretty pervasive issue in Lake Erie every year,” said Russell, whose hometown is Aurora, Ohio. “The blooms damaged local ecosystems and caused many problems for the humans, flora and fauna living nearby.”

She also said working with high school students and teaching them about research and ecology was another interesting aspect of the project.

“I like the fact that a large part of this plan is to promote ecological studies, fieldwork and opportunities among historically underrepresented students – another topic I am especially passionate about and have found myself advocating for as well,” Russell said.

Parker Binns — who hails from Leoti, Kansas — earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Wichita State in spring 2024, and he’ll now be working with Luhring as a graduate student. Binns said the NSF award creates extensive opportunities for a broad range of students and researchers.

“Students pursuing higher education will gain funding and skills to help reach their goals,” Binns said. “Within the Wichita school district, lessons will be developed through this award to teach the next generations the importance of STEM careers and inspire students to pursue these careers. The research topic is also important. The impacts of climate change on aquatic ecosystems may be better understood and that research can then be applied to help the ecosystem.”

Including high school students in this research will help build foundations of inclusivity and create an environment where diverse minds can come together and share knowledge.

“The ecological field is historically underrepresented – both in terms of secondary education and professional careers,” Russell said. “This award places ecological education and engagement among high school students at the forefront, underscoring the pillars of scientific excellence. Scientific advancement depends on creativity; that creativity emerges from diversity; and the advantages of diversity are ultimately realized through inclusion.”

Earlier in his career, Luhring remembers hearing about professors in his department and colleagues in the field earning NSF awards, and it was inspirational.

“I just remember it being a huge deal,” he said. “It's pretty humbling to receive the same reward as a lot of those researchers that I really respect such as Holly Moeller (UCSB).”

[SubGod22]

WSU - Wichita State is now home to a nanosatellite, taking research on NASA project to a new level

The arrival of a nanosatellite – referred to as a CubeSat – on campus signals significant progress in Wichita State University’s NASA project to design a solar probe to investigate neutrinos.

“This is the first major spacecraft to be at Wichita State,” said Dr. Nickolas Solomey, a professor of mathematics, statistics, and physics. “That’s a great step.”

A team of researchers, led by Solomey, has worked on the development of a CubeSat, a kind of nanosatellite, since 2021. The CubeSat, built by NanoAvionics of Lithuania, will carry and test a WSU-designed prototype neutrino detector in low Earth orbit to prove the detector can operate in space and measure the rate of cosmic and gamma rays.

The project began in 2016 and received its first funding in 2017. In 2021, NASA gave WSU a $2 million grant for the project to flight test a neutrino detector with a CubeSat. The CubeSat is a rectangle 10 by 10 by 30 centimeters made of aluminum. The prototype detector weighs 250 grams and will be housed with computer cards and solar panels in the CubeSat.

Five Wichita State graduate students are working with Solomey on the project: Kyle Messick (doctoral degree in aerospace), Brian Doty (doctoral degree in physics and applied math), Johnathan Folkerts (doctoral degree in physics and applied math), Brooks Hartsock (doctoral degree in physics and applied math) and Tyler Nolan (master’s degree in physics).

Neutrinos are miniscule subatomic particles that are similar to electrons but have no charge and almost negligible mass. Understanding neutrinos holds the keys to understanding the structure of the universe and the origin of mass. According to neutrinos.fnal.gov, neutrinos are the second most abundant fundamental particle in the universe, and the sun is the source of most of these neutrinos.

Neutrino detectors currently in use are positioned deep below the Earth’s surface.

“No one has ever operated a neutrino detector in space,” Solomey said. “This will allow us to look at the sun in a very new way. We can do experiments we can’t do here on Earth with solar neutrinos.”

WSU’s CubeSat arrived in late June and is housed in a sterile room in Jabara Hall. The schedule calls for launch in June 2025 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“My hope is that this will add ways in which we can study the core of the sun,” Solomey said.

[shoxlax]

We are way behind in Cube Sat education. Hopefully this will help.