Wichita State News: WSU Experts

Grad student taking census of Wichita's snowy egrets

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 09:58:00 CST

A pint-size gray fluff ball peeps its head out of its twig nest, only to see its own tiny reflection in a mirror.

Just underneath, Hannah Holden – armed with her 6-foot ladder and a 15-foot mirror on a pole – scribbles her daily observations on a 5-by-7-inch note card.

After she finishes with this nest, there will be plenty more for her to examine.

Every year, approximately 4,000 migratory birds take up temporary residence in a tree line on North Doris, near 13th Street and I-235 in west Wichita, and this year it's Holden's job to track 30 of their nests.

Holden, 24, a student at Wichita State University, is writing her master's thesis on the population dynamics of Wichita's snowy egrets – what the colony's rate of growth is. This is a two-year project for her.

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Heart app highlights ties between WSU, inventors

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 08:20:00 CST

Jeremy Patterson and Jibo He are inventors creating an app they call the Heart R8.

As in "heart rate."

It can read heart pulses in peoples' faces. It can tell what your heart rate is even with no electrodes hooked to your chest.

Patterson, who has a doctorate in physical exercise, says the Heart R8 could be a nifty invention for the fitness industry.

John Tomblin is a fan of Patterson's lab. He says that perhaps the best invention Patterson's lab came up with in the past year is not a webcam app but a new way to do business at a university.

Tomblin has been filling in for several months as WSU'"s acting vice president for research and technology transfer. He said that what Patterson did in recent months, with approval from Tomblin and WSU president John Bardo, is create a new business, with partners including He, another faculty member, a student -- and WSU.

Tomblin's regular job is to run the National Institute for Aviation Research, one of the world's premiere aerospace testing institutes. He's seen many inventions. He's excited about the Heart R8 app but is more intrigued about the partnership.

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WSU grad recognized by White House

Mon, 3 Jun 2013 16:22:00 CST

Alex Cavgalar came to the United States in 1993 to study at Wichita State University.

Now, the Turkish-born engineer is building a local high-tech business, and he was recognized at a White House event this week for those efforts.

Cavgalar, who has a doctorate in electrical engineering from WSU and is founder and chief technology officer of Ulterius Technologies, was an Obama administration Champions of Change nominee.

The Champions of Change program is aimed at showcasing groups of Americans -- individuals, businesses and organizations — who the White House said in a news release "are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities."

Cavgalar was nominated by Joni Cobb, CEO of the Pipeline entrepreneurial fellowship program. Cavgalar was one of three Pipeline fellows who were invited to attend the Immigrant Innovators Champions of Change event Wednesday at the White House.

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NIAR engineer a pioneer in virtual crash testing

Tue, 28 May 2013 15:45:00 CST

Gerardo Olivares likes to crash-test dummies on a crash-test sled at the National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita.

He cranks them back, shoots them forward. Heads, arms and legs snap forward, and their waistlines collapse, crushed in painful-looking imitations of what happens when a body folds around a seat belt at high velocity.

He uses dummies, he said with a grin, "because it's really hard to get live volunteers to ride the crash-test dummy sled."

Dummies do valuable work, as his boss, John Tomblin, said. But it is not the work that Olivares will be known for, Tomblin said.

Instead it is possible, Tomblin said, that Olivares will go down in aerospace history as the guy who showed how to do aerospace safety tests in 3D virtual models on a computer screen -- making dummies much less important than they are now and making costly physical tests less important.

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WSU grad Super Bowl bound as PR manager for 49ers

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:00:00 CST

Among the chaos that is New Orleans days before Super Bowl XLVII could be found Dan Beckler sporting the black and gold of Wichita State, iPad in hand as he caught parts of the Shockers' men's basketball game against Indiana State on Tuesday.

"I absolutely loved going to Wichita State. Definitely spread the Shocker pride," Beckler said. "Was disappointed we lost. We'll bounce back."

Beckler graduated from WSU in 2009 with a master's in sport management, where he also spent time in the athletic department working in media relations for basketball and baseball.

Now he finds himself in the Big Easy with his current employer, the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League, where he serves as the team's coordinator of public relations.

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Higgs boson discovery opens new doors

Thu, 5 Jul 2012 08:13:00 CST

In the pursuit of seemingly infinite questions, there can only be more understanding.

That was the prevailing sentiment of physicist Nickolas Solomey on Wednesday after the European Center for Nuclear Research – better known as CERN – announced the likely discovery of the Higgs boson, a particle that scientists at the Geneva, Switzerland-based research facility believe could unlock some of the answers to our universe's origin.

The Higgs, which until now had been purely theoretical, is regarded as key to understanding why matter has mass, which combines with gravity to give all objects weight. The particle's existence is considered fundamental to the creation of the universe.

"One question is that now that we know there is this all-permeating Higgs field … where did it come from?" asked Solomey, the director of physics at Wichita State University since 2007. "How does it act? Maybe once we know that we can start to use it."

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Tornadoes pick economic winners and losers

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:26:00 CST

Homeowners who have seen their property reduced to rubble by the tornado that moved through south Wichita on Saturday are clear early losers, while the lagging construction industry is likely to get a boost, as are retailers who sell items such as cars, clothes and bedding that will need to be replaced.

The negative effects of a tornado come from damage to property and replacement costs for that property, as well as from lost wages of workers, such as those at aircraft companies, who are temporarily idled by halts in production, said Jeremy Hill, director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University.

Both those effects could create tax variables, as well, Hill said.

"If you have less income, you would be spending less during that time," he said.

The positive effect comes from a boost in new construction to rebuild ravaged structures, which will be particularly helpful for a construction sector that has been very weak, Hill said.

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WSU music professor has high expectations

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:45:00 CST

Alla Aranovskaya is out to shake up music education in the United States, and she's starting in Wichita.

The Russian emigre and first violinist for the St. Petersburg String Quartet doesn't hold back when discussing what she sees as the failure of this country to adequately prepare youngsters for careers in music.

"They come to study music, but they have no tools to play," Aranovskaya, a member of the Wichita State University faculty, says of music majors in American colleges.

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Boeing to move all work from Wichita plant

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 11:05:00 CST

Boeing said it will move all remaining work from its Wichita facility to other sites, officials told employees this morning.

The move will affect 2,100 workers in Wichita, and provide a huge economic blow to the city, surrounding communities and the state. Boeing has been part of the community for more than 80 years.

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How technology is turning us into faster talkers

Tue, 1 Nov 2011 16:03:00 CST

From Strombo to Jon Stewart, let's agree that some broadcast hosts can talk at the speed of lightning. They're smart and satirical even if they do sometimes trip over their own brilliance.

Indeed, the media are full of fast talkers from talk shows to sitcoms and newscasts.

But it's not just media types who motor along.

Texts, tweets, and technological gizmos are making communication ever faster and it's causing many of us to speak more quickly in our everyday lives to keep up with it all.

Ray Hull is a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Wichita State University in Kansas and he has done considerable research in the area of human neuroscience and speech.

"A decade ago," he says, "I measured the speed of speech of teachers, family members and those out in society at a rate of about 145 words per minute, the average rate of human speech.

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Infrared gun finds 179.9 degree surface temperatures

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:14:00 CST

It's hot! How hot is it? We took the temperature of several surfaces around Wichita one scorching midafternoon this week and found things — and people — to be way above the 104 heat.

So we decided to point an infrared temperature gun at the objects to see just how hot they got.

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WSU director's original career goal wasn't teaching

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:40:00 CST

Tim Pett loves the strategy of starting a business. So even though geography isn't his strong suit, the 47-year-old director of Wichita State University's Center for Entrepreneurship has no regrets about his 15 years here.

"What I love about entrepreneurship is your game plan," the Syracuse, N.Y., native said. "You have a game plan, but you darn well better modify it if you intend to stay successful. There is no boilerplate in business. Your plans cannot be set in stone.

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WSU's Marcussen organ featured on TV show

Tue, 7 Jun 2011 11:05:00 CST

Wichita State University Associate Professor of Organ, Lynne Davis, and the Marcussen organ at Wiedemann Hall were featured on an episode of "It's All Good w/ Sierra Scott" on KPTS-TV.

Leaders converge to grow aviation

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:11:00 CST

Gov. Sam Brownback held his first economic summit in Wichita on Monday, focusing on the aviation industry and what Kansas can do to maintain and grow the sector.

The summit —"Kansas Aviation: Soaring into the Future" — was attended by about 160 leaders from large and small aviation companies, the state's colleges and universities, unions, and local and state government.

More also should be done to help foreign engineering students take jobs with Wichita companies after graduation, leaders said.

A large portion of engineering graduates are ethnically diverse, but companies have to battle bureaucratic obstacles to hire them.

"There has to be an effort to increase the number of visas to international professionals, Brownback said. "That's where the bottleneck lies."

Eighty percent of Wichita State University engineering undergraduates are domestic students, said WSU College of Engineering dean Zulma Toro-Ramos. However, 75 percent of the engineering master's degree students are international students, while 80 percent of doctorate-level students are international.

They come here for their education, but take that training back home with them, leaders said.

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Where's the wealth effect?

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:00:00 CST

Before the collapse of the housing market in 2008, homeowners, particularly younger ones, commonly borrowed against their houses and spent the extra cash. But the idea of homeownership as an investment vehicle has been eroding, as millions find themselves stuck with mortgages worth more than the value of their homes.

"There's a question going forward if people are going to treat houses like piggy banks again," says William Miles, economics professor at Wichita State University, who studied the wealth effect. "It is perhaps questionable we will see as large a housing effect than in the past."

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