RESEARCH & INNOVATION NEWS
Wichita State University
September 2022
September 2022
Latest News
WSU awarded $51 million to advance smart manufacturing in South Kansas
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced Sept. 2 that it will award $51.4 million to Wichita State University to aid in the rapid development and adoption of emerging smart manufacturing technologies for South Kansas.

The funding, provided through the American Rescue Plan Build Back Better Regional Challenge, is the largest single award the university has received from the EDA.
NIAR and 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 conversion program of an Airbus 321. 

There will be as many as 24 conversions per year beginning in 2023, including modification, maintenance and engineering of the aircraft.

The agreement allows NIAR to continue to train and prepare Wichita State and WSU Tech students for careers in aviation maintenance and engineering, while expanding the expertise and capability of the Wichita and Kansas workforce.
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.
COVID research expands through acquisition of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer
Wichita State’s Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentations program for a 500 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer. 

The NMR will help to expand COVID research by informing the design of antiviral drugs for the virus.

The NMR is expected to arrive on campus in six to eight months.
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.

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.

The program will speed up the Army's transition to 3D digital engineering methods and will reduce operation and sustainment costs for enduring fleet models.
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 in supporting law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. It will serve as a home for the National Crime Gun Intelligence Governing Board.  
WSU receives grant from Library of Congress to research LatinX communities in western Kansas
The Library of Congress American Folklife Center recently selected a Wichita State project focusing on the social, cultural and food-based LatinX celebrations in Dodge City, Liberal and Garden City, Kansas to receive up to $60,000 to fund its research.

The goal of the project is to highlight the traditions, contributions to Kansas and the American economy, and the sacrifices these populations have made, not only during the pandemic, but to support the economy of the state and the country.
WSU NASA program launches first-generation student’s future
Wichita State has a storied history of working with NASA to provide research opportunities to its students. David Nevarez-Saenz, an aerospace engineering senior and first-generation student, has been working with WSU’s NASA Jump Start Program for the past two years.

In the future, David hopes to engage Wichita high school students in engineering programs at WSU by having them visit the lab to expose them to the programs available at WSU.
In the News
Research at Wichita State
With yearly funding topping $180 million, research at Wichita State ranges from bioscience, chemistry and engineering to mathematics, physics and ancient civilization. 
 
Learn more at wichita.edu/research.
Innovation at Wichita State
Innovation is more than just talk at WSU. It permeates everything we do, all we aspire to become and reaches far beyond our campus boundaries.
 
Learn more at wichita.edu/innovation.
Student centered. Innovation driven.
About Wichita State University

Wichita State University serves as Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 16,000 students on its main campus and 9,000 students on WSU Tech Campuses from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.
 
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.
 
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing more than 120 acres, and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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