A monthly update to Shocker Nation: August 2022

Wichita State University

August 2022

Shocker Nation celebrates big changes on campus

There’s nothing like the synergy of the first week of fall semester at Wichita State University. Students return to campus with backpacks full of fresh supplies, minds open to new opportunities, and hearts filled with Shocker pride.

It’s infectious, and I will never tire of the energy that students bring to our campus.

This year, students, faculty and staff will be returning to a brand-new building: Wayne and Kay Woolsey Hall, which is the first new fully academic building on our campus since 1994, and it is the new home for the W. Frank Barton School of Business.

While many might consider Woolsey Hall to be the business building, it’s truly a building for all Shockers across all majors.

Read more of Dr. Muma's message

In the News at Wichita State

NIAR, Erickson Precision Ventures unveil inaugural aircraft conversion program

Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) WERX and Erickson Precision Ventures LLC announced their first collaborative passenger to freighter (P2F) conversion program of an Airbus 321.

In May, the duo announced a collaborative agreement to perform as many as 24 conversions per year beginning in 2023, including modification, maintenance and engineering of the aircraft.

“The NIAR team, resources and facilities offer 321 Precision Conversions a unique opportunity to add an expansive mod center to our portfolio of installation facilities," said Gary Warner, Erickson Precision Ventures president. “The scale of the operations here in Wichita is truly impressive, and seeing the level of support from Wichita State University levels gives us all the confidence in the future of the program.”

Learn more about the P2F project

ATF opening Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence at Wichita State

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced the establishment of its Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence, located on Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus.

The Center of Excellence will be a model for the use of crime gun intelligence (CGI) in supporting law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. It will serve as a home for the National Crime Gun Intelligence Governing Board.

Audio tour features in-depth look at campus history and landmarks

Wichita State University’s 330-acre campus is filled with picturesque buildings and construction projects that will carry the university forward. Works of art, tulips and quiet places to study add to the beauty. Throughout campus, the landmarks carry stories of history and significance.

Who is the pioneering woman who saved one of Wichita State’s enduring scenes from bulldozers? Which educational building on campus has its roots in Baghdad, Iraq?

How did a quiet road through campus turn into “Alumni Walk,” a pedestrian corridor highlighted by interactive stops and art? What is the university's prominent role at the 1936 Berlin Olympics?

Campus visitors can learn these Shocker stories and more with “Explore Wichita State,” a self-guided audio tour of campus.

Learn more about Explore Wichita State

Wichita State receives $1 million in funding to assist local small businesses

The City of Wichita has announced the award of $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to support Wichita State University’s Office of Innovation and New Ventures' formation of the Small Business Digital Transformation (SBDT) Program, which will address technology gaps in the local business ecosystem.

Small businesses were hit hardest during the pandemic. A vast majority of small businesses are in-person businesses with storefronts that sell food or merchandise or are service industries where there is significant face-to-face interaction. Most of these businesses were unable to operate as normal during the pandemic, and many were forced to shut down.

“If these businesses had access to tech talent and resources to shift to a digital platform, they not only could have survived but possibly thrived and competed against large corporations that had the financial means to pivot to digital quickly,” said Dr. Jeremy Patterson, executive director of Office of Innovation and New Ventures.

WSU collaboration will move Army Aviation into the future with Apache modernization

The U.S. Army Aviation enterprise is collaborating with Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to develop an AH-64 Apache Digital Twin in a contract that kicked off with a ribbon-cutting event on campus.

The Apache Digital Twin program follows the UH-60 Black Hawk Digital Twin, which involves the disassembly and scanning of an existing helicopter to create 3D models. It’s a tedious process but one that is necessary to continue moving the aviation enterprise from its current 2D document-driven engineering practices to the institutionalized use of modern 3D digital engineering practices, to supporting the transition to Future Vertical Lift’s entirely digital design, and to sustaining the enduring fleet.

Learn more about the Apache Digital Twin project

Amazon selects Wichita State as an education partner for Career Choice program

More than 1,000 local Amazon employees can now receive tuition assistance at Wichita State University through the Amazon Career Choice program.

Every full-time Amazon employee is now eligible for $5,250 of tuition assistance per calendar year at WSU. Part-time employees are eligible for $2,625 per calendar year. The Amazon Career Choice program is a tuition assistance program for hourly employees who have been employed for 90-plus days

“We’re thrilled to be the only four-year Kansas university partner in Amazon’s Career Choice network,” said Bobby Gandu, Wichita State assistant vice president of strategic enrollment management. “With a vast array of class locations and times — from main campus to satellite campuses to online learning options — we’re excited to meet the needs of the busy schedules of the Amazon team members.”

Shocker alum breaks Guinness world record

Julian Chee has been fascinated with airplanes and flight since he was a child growing up in Malaysia.

“I’ve always been interested in anything that flew as a kid,” he said. “Flying is a very alien concept, so anything that flew captivated me.”

That fascination grew into an adult-sized hobby and eventually earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records this spring for the farthest flight of a paper airplane.