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Masks

Nov. 1, 2021 - Helped by six grants from Kansas Leadership Center, Wichita State University’s HEALTH Student Association is working to end the pandemic and support students with information and resources to keep them healthy. HEALTH distributed more than 6,000 free and reusable masks, some with “Shockers United” branding, some plain black and sequined masks for the inauguration of president Rick Muma. It assembled gift boxes for quarantining students with information on COVID-19 vaccines and testing and gifts such as Wichita State water bottles, stickers and lanyards.

The American Athletic Conference logo

Oct. 29, 2021 - The American Athletic Conference is investing in big cities and the state of Texas with its addition of six new members recently. The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Florida Atlantic University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of North Texas, Rice University and University of Texas at San Antonio had their applications for membership approved last week.

City of Wichita

Oct. 13, 2021— Wichita State University's Center for Economic Development and Business Research has released an updated Kansas, Wichita, Kansas City and Topeka Employment Forecast.

Louisa Brunt

Oct. 11, 2021 - Louisa Brunt, from Manchester, England, transferred to Wichita State from Texas Tech University to golf and to earn her master’s degree in criminal justice. Brunt graduated from Texas Tech, where she earned Academic All-Big 12 honors three times, with a major in criminology and a minor in forensic science. Brunt expects her career path to take her into police work or the FBI.

additive manufacturing image

Oct. 7, 2021 — The Federal Aviation Administration recently awarded $7.3 million to Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research for advanced materials research, providing significant funding for additive and other advanced manufacturing research programs, ranging from qualification and characterization to specialized programs that address specific technical challenges.

NIAR MRO

Oct, 1, 2021 - The 777 conversion program will provide unique applied learning opportunities for WSU engineering and WSU Tech students. NIAR’s ability to provide applied learning experience for students will expand with a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the purchase and installation of equipment for the institute’s Flight Test Research Center and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility on South Oliver near Spirit AeroSystems.

MDL

Sept. 24, 2021 — Wichita State University’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex has switched to drive-thru testing – a move that will allow the Wichita community to spend less time in line and get test results faster. The Metroplex Testing Site (5015 East 29th St. North) is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Results of the PCR test are available within 24-36 hours after testing. No appointment is needed.

Dr. Bill Groutas

Sept. 23, 2021 — A Wichita State University scientist is part of a team that has recently been awarded a five-year, $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further research a treatment for COVID-19.

Prisca Barnes (right) reads to a student at Storytime Village.

Sept. 22, 2021 — What started as one woman’s passion project has flourished into a literacy empire that serves thousands of children in schools across the Wichita area — helped along the way by the people and services of Wichita State University.

John Lee, director of Campus Recreation

Oct. 16, 2021 - Later this fall, pickleball becomes permanent on campus at the Heskett Center’s Outdoor Sports Complex.  When it became necessary to resurface six tennis courts, John Lee, director of Campus Recreation, decided to do something different. The complex will feature four pickleball courts, two courts for tennis and two existing courts for half-court basketball and one for futsal. 

The Boeing 777 aircraft rests at NIAR facilities.

Sept. 8, 2021 — WERX at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) has received its first Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft. As part of its rapidly growing Maintenance Repair and Overhaul program, WSU-NIAR WERX, in conjunction with Kansas Modification Center, will convert the passenger aircraft into a freighter that will be transferred to an external client to meet the growing needs of the e-commerce and express cargo market.

An animation of someone using the Vizling app

Aug. 26, 2021 — The National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) has awarded a Wichita State University researcher $100,000 for his work on developing an app that allows visually impaired people to read comic books and graphic novels.

Casey Ratzlaff

Aug. 23, 2021 - Casey Ratzlaff, a Wichita State University senior majoring in sport management, will compete in the Tokyo Paralympics Games beginning Aug. 27, at Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo. 

The ATLAS lab at NIAR

Aug. 18, 2021 — The Department of Defense (DoD) has designated South Kansas as a Defense Manufacturing Community (DCM), making the region eligible for $5 million through the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation’s Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program. The initiative is led by Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR).

3-D printed device

Aug. 12, 2021 — WSU’s Office of Tech Transfer and Commercialization has aligned with Innosphere Ventures, a Colorado-based incubator and commercialization program that accelerates business success of science and technology-based start-up companies, to commercialize faculty inventors.