WSU's Innovation Campus took shape literally in 2015, as workers competed the superstructures for the Partnership 1 building (left) and Experiential Engineering Building.
Innovation Campus makes headway in 2015
Wichita State’s massive Innovation Campus development picked up significant momentum during 2015.
On the heels of an $11.25 million pledge from Koch Industries in December 2014, the university announced it would move forward on preliminary consideration of a 400- to 600-bed residence hall for the campus.
Soon after, the Wichita State Innovation Alliance, the nonprofit that oversees public/private relationships for the Innovation Campus, began the process of securing a developer for a planned 18.5-acre mixed-use development near the corner of 21st Street and Oliver.
In March, aerospace giant Airbus Americas announced it would move its 400-employee Wichita design and engineering center to the Innovation Campus.
In July, WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research and Dassault Systemes announced they would partner on an advanced manufacturing center in the planned Experiential Engineering Building called The 3DExperience Center.
And in October, a state-of-the-art makerspace in the Experiential Engineering Building took shape. That facility, buoyed by a previously announced $3.75 million pledge from Koch Industries and the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation, gained a new name: GoCreate, a Koch Collaborative.
Meanwhile, construction on the Airbus Americas Building (also known as Partnership 1) and Experiential Engineering Building reached a milestone as workers completed the superstructures for both buildings. The new facilities are expected to open in 2016.