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777 taking off

April 26, 2022 — WERX at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research has completed the first pre-modification baseline test flight for the Kansas Modification Center’s 777-300ERCF passenger-to-freighter conversion program.

A member of the kitchen crew dumps food scraps into a bin at Shocker Hall.

April 21, 2022 —There’s a whole world living inside your food waste — billions and billions of microorganisms — just waiting to make your landscaping bloom brighter and your vegetables grow heartier.

Joan Miro's

April 15, 2022 — Every day is a day to celebrate the art that enriches our lives. And in April – April 15 to be exact – we pay special tribute with World Art Day. Art at Wichita State University can be seen all over campus and is a vital part of WSU’s campus life.

MagicHand

April 15, 2022 - MagicHand, an anthropomorphic robotic hand designed by a Wichita State University engineering team, is participating in the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program. The MagicHand is designed to achieve various dexterous object manipulations including object sorting, arranging and packaging.

A rendering of Fly Your Own Wheels Suites

April 7, 2022 — A team from Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research has received international recognition for a design that would allow WC19 certified manual and power wheelchairs to be used as a seat on board commercial airlines.

Vivian and Jian stand in front of the crystal X-ray diffractometer to visualize the atoms.

April 1, 2022 — What do you picture when you think of lasers? Laser pointers? Perhaps laser eye surgery or barcode scanners? Turns out there’s more to lasers than most people realize, and a Wichita State University chemistry team recently discovered a new series of laser material with potential commercial use.

Engineering student working on machinery

March 29, 2022 — In the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings of universities offering a Ph.D. in engineering, the College of Engineering at Wichita State University once again was ranked in the top 100 engineering graduate programs in the country and the only institution in Kansas to make it in the top 100.

Rapper Wale

March 28, 2022 — Grammy-nominated rap star, actor and advocate Wale will perform in concert at Wichita State University at 8 p.m. Friday, April 15, in Charles Koch Arena.

Wichita State students at Intrust Bank Arena

March 24, 2022 — Around 12-15 Wichita State students are volunteering for the practices and events surrounding the NCAA women's basketball Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games. Their responsibilities range from organizing practice schedules to decorating locker rooms with NCAA and school logos to working with media members on credentialing and seating. Some will run statistics. For those planning on a career in athletics, the applied learning experience adds to their resume and gives them experience working a nationally recognized event with large crowds and a television audience.

Robert Gates graphic

March 23, 2022 — Robert M. Gates, U.S. secretary of defense from 2006-2011 and former director of the CIA, will kick off Wichita State University’s inaugural Craig W. Barton Speaker Series this spring.

Bhisham Sharma, an assistant professor in aerospace engineering, and Shuang Gu, an associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering, two recipients of John A. See Innovation Award.

March 14, 2022—Two Wichita State researchers and a student group have been awarded the John A. See Innovation Award. The award is given each year as a way to recognize novel ideas that have the potential to meet a market need and attract further funding once they have advanced through the early prototyping phase.

Forward Together graphic

March 10, 2022 — Wichita State University President Rick Muma has launched a new podcast, called “Forward Together,” where the president speaks with guests from throughout Shocker Nation to highlight the people and priorities that guide WSU. The podcast drops monthly, with the March edition releasing March 9. Some of the guests so far include Hollywood director Dean Hargrove, WSU basketball coach Isaac Brown and WSU research vice president Coleen Pugh.

B1B in a Wichita State parking lot

On March 9, 2022, the B-1 System Program Office (SPO), Tinker AFB, OK awarded a six-year, $100 million follow-on contract to Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to continue the B-1’s Digital Engineering (DE) transformation. The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) helped form the strategic partnership and created a flexible contract structure, which allows NIAR and the B-1 SPO to adapt requirements real-time to meet critical warfighter needs.

A heat map from the study shows where the participants’ eyes tend to look with the red indicating more gazing in that area and the blue indicating less gazing.

March 8, 2022 — Ever wonder what other people are looking at during Zoom or WebEx meetings? Dr. Akmal Mirsadikov, who specializes in deception detection and eye tracking at Wichita State University’s W. Frank Barton School of Business, recently ran an exploratory study about how people interact on Zoom.

Stephanie and Matt Clark

March 7, 2022 - Wichita State alums Matt and Stephanie Clark taught English to students from fifth grade to high school in Ukraine from 2006-08 as Peace Corps members. Their friends and their warm memories are in turmoil as the Russian invasion wears on in their adopted country. They rely on social media to hear from former students, host families and friends, as they try to sort good information from bad and bring attention to the crisis.