Wichita State: A new university |
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Several months ago, my son — who’s working on a doctorate in higher education at the University of Georgia, Institute of Higher Education— introduced me to the book “Broke” by Laura T. Hamilton and Kelly Nielsen.
One particularly interesting concept peppered throughout the book is the model of a “new” type of university, which was originally coined by Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University and defined in “Broke” as universities that “organize around inclusion, rather than exclusion, and focus on offering social mobility to students.”
The book resonated with me as it was the first time I’ve read a book that describes universities like Wichita State that are committed to serving students in our community, and in our case, where nearly one-half of our undergraduate student body identify as first-generation, one out of four of our freshmen identify as an underrepresented minority, and one in five of all students who are eligible for a Pell grant in Kansas public universities are enrolled at Wichita State University.
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In the News at Wichita State |
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Wichita State names new College of Engineering dean |
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Dr. Anthony Muscat has been named dean of Wichita State University’s College of Engineering, effective July 25. Muscat is a professor and chair of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Arizona, where he has been since 1998.
His career includes administrative appointments as Department Chair of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Acting Department Head of the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, both at the University of Arizona. He received a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of California-Davis and a master’s and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford University.
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Air Force to develop F-16 digital twin with NIAR's help |
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The U.S. Air Force is launching a new program with Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to make a digital replica of the F-16 Fighting Falcon in an effort to improve the sustainment and modernization of F-16s operating around the world.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s F-16 Program Office is sponsoring the project through a new contract with Wichita State, which will involve the disassembly and scanning of two F-16s – located at 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base – to create a “digital twin.”
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Center for Entrepreneurship announces new reporting structure |
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With the goal of furthering its mission to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among the campus and community, Wichita State’s Center for Entrepreneurship has changed its reporting structure.
Formerly part of WSU’s Barton School of Business, the center is now under the operation of the College of Innovation and Design, led by Dean Jeremy Patterson.
This new reporting structure will continue to move the Center for Entrepreneurship forward as it seeks to grow WSU’s legacy as an entrepreneurship leader in our community. The entrepreneurship major and the associated private academic scholarships will remain with the Barton School.
Additional key decisions will be announced in the coming months.
“The Center for Entrepreneurship’s value to the university and our business community is immeasurable and will remain as we moved forward,” Patterson says.
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Sanchez earns Kansas Human Rights Commission appointment |
Alicia Sanchez views equity and inclusion as goals needed to help Kansas thrive economically and culturally. “When the quality of life and opportunities are good for all people, regardless of ethnicity and gender . . . we can grow the state and grow the economy,” she said. “It’s quality of life for all Kansans.”
Sanchez works toward those goals as assistant dean of students and director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Wichita State University. In May, she added to her commitment to public service with her Senate-confirmed appointment to the Kansas Human Rights Commission as an at-large member.
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Wichita State freshman targets Paralympics in rowing time trials |
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Rower Gianluca Gabriele loves the moments past the finish line when he looks at his teammates and savors their cohesion and spirit. “The thing that sets you apart is how you worked together,” he said. “There’s that gratification of, after a race, looking back and forward at everybody and knowing you raced.”
Gabriele, 17, is an incoming freshman who plans to major in biomedical engineering at Wichita State University. Rowing is his passion, and he will spend the summer under consideration for both the 2024 summer Paralympic and Olympic training teams for the United States.
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Shocker alum helps engineer NASA's return to the Moon and more |
In 1977, a Wichitan watched Star Wars at the Wichita Mall theater on East Harry. He returned, again and again, that summer to watch the lightsaber battles, Jedi Knights, and X-wing starfighters.
“I’m an original Star Wars guy,” Tim Fisher said. “I was just mesmerized. It sparked that ‘What is possible? What can we do?’”
Decades later, Fisher is one of the people helping answer those questions for the United States and the world in space. He is chief engineer for NASA’s Gateway program, part of the agency’s quest to return to the Moon and explore Mars.
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Shocker students' innovation represented at Make48 |
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When the Make48 invention and maker challenge comes to Wichita State University on June 24, two of the eight Wichita teams are comprised entirely of Wichita State University students.
Team Baby Cactus consists of Juan Blasetti, junior in computer science; Jerome Teoh, a recent aerospace engineering grad; Grant Johnson, a freshman in computer engineering; and Katie Hefner, a senior in engineering technology and general business.
The second team — Veni, Vidi, Vici — is comprised of Felipe Lima de Oliveira, a junior in mechanical engineering; and Rafael Leite, a graduate student in mechanical engineering. Both Felipe and Rafael are from Brazil.
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Wichita State named No. 1 most affordable, LGBTQifriendly school in Kansas |
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Adding to its myriad points of pride, Wichita State University has been named the most affordable, LGBTQ-friendly college in the state.
Student Loan Hero, a company that helps student loan borrowers make well-informed repayment decisions, took its statistics on the most affordable colleges and universities and paired it with information from Campus Pride, which developed an Index to examine LGBTQ acceptance on college campuses based on policies, administrative support, campus community involvement, and other factors.
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CONNECT WITH WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY |
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