Author: Caelin Bragg

As night falls, an unsuspecting gray mouse chitters under a tree while nibbling on a seed she scavenged in the grass. Then — swoosh! — in less than an instant, the space where she stood is empty, and an owl swoops soundlessly away with the mouse in her talons.

That level of silent stealth is something a group of Wichita State students is attempting to replicate as part of a project to use owl-feather technology to create silent drones for NASA’s University Student Research Challenge.

Kansas NASA EPSCoR Program has named Wichita State’s College of Innovation and Design faculty member Maggie Schoonover as a recipient of its 2023 Partnership Development Grant for her proposal, “Familiarization Training Game for Extended Reality Spacesuit User Interface.”

Schoonover’s Open XR Lab offers hands-on tech development with collaborative design and integration of non-STEM majors into STEM activities to enhance team effectiveness and employability. Her area of research focuses on product management processes in emerging technologies.

The second of four candidates for the College of Fine Arts dean, Amy Johnson, assistant dean at the School of Architecture and Design, University of Kansas, will be on campus on Wednesday, April 26 and April 27.

Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend a public forum at 3:30 p.m. April 26 in 265 Rhatigan Student Center.

Faculty and staff can visit the Faculty/Staff Acute Care Clinic for minor and acute medical issues only. Appointments are required for the clinic.

The clinic is located in the Student Wellness Center within the Steve Clark YMCA. Most appointments are $30 to $50 for an office visit evaluation by a Student Health Services medical provider, dependent on insurance. The office visit cost does not include the costs for laboratory services, medications or radiology services. Call 316-978-4792 to schedule an appointment.

Co-pays or deductibles are the employee’s responsibility and depend on personal health insurance benefits.

Examples of minor/acute illness/injury acceptable for treatment:

• Cough, cold, fever and flu
• Sore throats and sinus infections
• Bronchitis and pneumonia
• Allergies and asthma
• Sprains and strains that are non-work related
• Headaches and acute migraine
• Urinary tract infections
• Ear and eye infections
• Rashes and skin infections
• Minor procedures, such as ear lavages
• In-house laboratory services – rapid strep, UAs, mono, etc.
• Radiology X-ray services – not ultrasound
• Pharmacy services — with prescriptions written by SHS providers
• Immunizations
• Tuberculosis testing
• Blood pressure checks
• Sexually transmitted infections with symptoms

Injuries and illnesses occurring while on the job at WSU must be reported to your supervisor and follow Human Resources procedures. Student Health Services cannot treat potential workers’ compensation injuries or illnesses.

WSU Student Health employees will provide medical services as licensed medical providers. They are nurse practitioners, physician assistants and registered nurses. The clinic is a Student Health Services clinic.

Six teams emerged as victors from the Shocker New Venture Competition Trade Show that was held April 21. The trade show featured the top 16 teams showcasing their innovative business ideas to judges and attendees. The judges, composed of successful entrepreneurs and industry leaders, evaluated each team’s pitch and product demonstrations to determine which teams had the best chance of succeeding in the marketplace. 

Congratulations to the six teams that are advancing to the final round of the Shocker New Venture Competition, presented by the WSU Center for Entrepreneurship. 

The six advancing teams:

• Female Engineering Matters:
  • Triple B Support is a medical device that targets the back, belly and breasts that will alleviate pain and discomfort to help pregnant people continue with their daily tasks.
• Optimum Wellness:
  • An improved psychiatric restraint system for stretcher cot use
• Player Card:
  • Player Card is a business in the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) industry that connects college athletes with local companies for deals to remove friction from the NIL deal process.
• TARAM:
  • Unlock new possibilities in global trade with the secure, digital platform. Say hello to hassle-free logistics and finance.
• Testkey:
  • Portable, user-friendly medical diagnostic testing made simple. Unlock the power to digitize the health testing experience for rapid, accurate results anytime, anywhere.
• Vision Vest:
  • Vision Vest is a tool that replaces sight with touch, allowing blind people to avoid objects, navigate hallways and identify what they are facing.

The public is invited to attend the final round, which will include a in-depth presentations of each team’s business model followed by a Q&A session with the judges. This will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, April 28 in Devlin Hall. A reception will be held following the presentations from 4 to 5 p.m., with the awards being presented at 5 p.m. 

WSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship thanks all the sponsors of this year’s Shocker New Venture Competition, including Erin Cummings, IMA Financial Group, INTRUST Bank, Moral Holdings, NetWork Kansas and UBS.

To complement this spring’s Commencement Toast, all colleges’ faculty, staff and their graduates are invited to participate in the 2023 Commencement Cruise.

The deadline to register is May 10. Any questions can be directed to the Academics Affairs Office at 316-978-3010.

While a new basketball coach is a statement about the future of a team, Terry Nooner emphasized the importance of the present on Thursday at Charles Koch Arena.

During his public introduction as Wichita State University’s women’s basketball coach, he spoke to the current Shockers seated in the front row. That group, he said, is part of what comes next.

“I’m your head coach, and you guys are my team,” he said. “You’re my players now. We’re about to be in for a great ride.”

The Department of Human Performance Studies in the College of Applied Studies was granted the maximum period of 10 year continuing accreditation to the Athletic Training Program by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). The university was officially informed of the vote on April 10. Compliance with CAATE accreditation standards facilitates quality outcomes, continuous improvement, innovation and diversity to enhance athletic training education.

The CAATE accreditation standards have recently evolved to require all athletic training degrees to be master’s level. WSU has taken the steps to develop a Master of Science in athletic training (MSAT) in anticipation of the revised standards and guidelines.

The MSAT degree was approved during the fall 2021 semester and will launch in June 2023. It will replace the currently offered undergraduate degree in athletic training—the first year will overlap with the final year of the undergraduate program as it is phased out.

The 62 credit-hour degree plan consists of athletic training education, applied learning clinical experience, research/statistics and board certification. Students will rotate through various clinical settings including college and high school athletics, general and family medicine, physical therapy, industrial and occupational workplace, and emergency care.

Putting a live sports event on camera is an experience like no other for students thinking about a career in video. Sports are unpredictable and create imagery that tells the story through action and emotion.

Rowing produces all that against the backdrop of the river and the weather.

That is the story Coach Calvin Cupp wants to tell about his Wichita State team and the Plains Regional Regatta. It takes place Sunday on the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita over a mile-and-a-half of water between the Lincoln Street and First Street bridges.

The Media Resources Center (MRC) will livestream the regatta for the third year, using MRC staff and students for all aspects of the production.

The National Cyber League competition is a biannual cybersecurity competition for high school and college students throughout the nation. More than 6,000 students competed in the spring 2023 event.

The Wichita State students below who competed are all computer science majors:

• Garret Wahlstedt, ranked 29th
• Hyacinthe Howell, ranked 31st
• Khang Tran, ranked 107th
• Quentin Nelson, ranked 141st
• Tung Wai Yip, ranked 153th
• Don Alfaro, ranked 179th
• Prem Kumar Reddy Muvva, ranked 45th in the graduate division

Additionally, WSU had six other students place in the top 500 and two place in the top 1,000.