For WSU News and WSU Today content older than July 2018, search the WSU News Archive.

WSU News Archive   Return to WSU News Home

Image of Sarah Laffen at NIAR

June 20, 2022 -- Sarah Laffen is a aerospace engineering sophomore who utilizing her skills outside the classroom this summer as a student assistant at National Institute for Aviation Research.

Cameron Holston

June 8, 2022 - Cameron Holston works with a variety of aircraft at the Aircraft Structural Test and Evaluation Center, part of the National Institute for Aviation Research. The experience prepares him for a career in the field of aerospace.

A DHL plane gets loaded with cargo.

May 25, 2022 — The WERX program at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) and Erickson Precision Ventures have reached an agreement to work cooperatively on modification, maintenance and engineering for various Boeing and Airbus aircraft.  

2022 Women for Women Innovation Award Winners: Sierra Bonn, Carly Overacker, and Brittany Wojciechowski, Amulya Lomte, and Maria Jose Carrillo Munoz

May 9, 2022 — Five Wichita State University women were honored with the Women for Women Innovation Award for spring 2022. The Women for Women's Innovation Fund is awarded to Wichita State University students to support innovative ideas that show promise of commercialization.

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.

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.

Matchmaking graphic

March 28, 2022 — The Office of Tech Transfer and Commercialization at Wichita State University has launched a program designed to connect experienced entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with cutting-edge technologies and the opportunity to commercialize them.

Cohen Ayers and Grace Simon

Feb. 24, 2022 — The W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University has chosen two recipients to receive the 2022 Professor Fran Jabara Scholarship in Entrepreneurship. This year’s winners are Cohen Ayres from Garden Plains and Grace Simon of Wichita. They will each receive $32,700 over four years to attend WSU and major in entrepreneurship.

Margaret Dechant

Feb. 22, 2022 - The Dean’s Advisory Board for the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University is excited to announce Margaret Dechant as its new leader. Dechant, CEO and partner at 6 Meridian, will take over for Clark Bastian. Dechant currently serves as a member of the board and looks to bring her knowledge and passion for the Barton School and WSU to her appointment. Bastian chairman of Fidelity Bank, will remain on the board after his term as chair comes to an end in June.

Jon Rolph

Feb. 14, 2022 - The W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University has named Jon Rolph, president and CEO of Thrive Restaurant Group and a member of the Kansas Board of Regents, its Executive-in-Residence for the spring 2022 semester.

John Bardo Center

Jan. 24, 2022 — Six Wichita State University teams were selected as semi-finalists in the university’s sixth annual Koch Innovation Challenge Angel Round on December 3. Those six teams of Wichita State students advance to the Grand Champion competition in May.

Campus aerial

Jan. 7, 2022 -- The Wichita Entrepreneurial Coalition has received a nationally competitive Build to Scale Venture Challenge award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The grant, one of only 50 awarded across the country, is designed to fuel a national movement promoting high-growth enterprises and unique startups.

Shirley LeFever and President Muma hand Khalid Raza an honorary degree at the WSU fall 2021 Commencement.

Dec. 9, 2021 -- Khalid Raza has never forgotten his Shocker roots. Now the chief executive officer of Graphiant, a next-generation networking technology company based in San Francisco, Raza’s first independent start-up began in 1992 when he was working as a graduate assistant at Wichita State University.

A Blackhawk helicopter arrives at Wichita State University.

Dec. 7, 2021 — Since its inception, the National Institute for Aviation Research’s digital twin program has been rife with opportunities to progress research, digital transformation, engineering technology and sustainability efforts. It’s also been an important career steppingstone and training ground for more than 250 Wichita State University students, who have gained valuable applied learning experiences while working on the project.