Author: Cheryl Miller

Interdisciplinary Research Projects leaders will present their highlights beginning at 10 a.m. Sept. 16 at the John Bardo Center lobby.

“These projects intentionally assembled expertise from a range of disciplines to solve problems that are highly challenging, extremely interesting, and whose solution is high impact,” said Andrew Hippisley, dean of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “These are the very problems that a single discipline is not equipped to solve. It will be exciting to hear the highlights and results to date from each of the projects.”

During the vent, lead researchers for Wichita State’s Interdisciplinary Research Projects will provide updates on their efforts to address pressing societal issues with a goal to improve the growth and diversity of Kansas’s economy.

“What has been most rewarding about this initiative was the opportunity for so many researchers from different disciplines across campus to discuss their research and find common interests,” said Coleen Pugh, dean of the graduate school and vice provost for research. “That alone was a success.”

Each project was initially funded in 2020 by a $300,000 grant from the university, distributed over three years. Project groups also have applied for additional external funding.

The projects include:

• The Smart Fusion Material Research Institute has a goal to develop novel computational, material and digital manufacturing approaches to unlock the complex interactions among material, microstructure, processing and mechanical properties involved in additive manufacturing. Lead researcher and presenter will be Gisuk Hwang, associate professor of mechanical engineering.
• The Disaster Resilience Analytics Center has a goal to leverage the university’s expertise in artificial intelligence, deep learning and multiple modes of big data to better predict natural and human- made disasters, and to improve preparedness by creating a new generation of digital platforms and support services. Lead researcher and presenter will be Atri Dutta, associate professor of aerospace engineering.
• The Institute for Health Disparities has a goal to generate new methods to reduce obesity among vulnerable populations and improve health literacy as a mechanism among health care providers for behavior change. Lead researcher and presenter will be Twyla Hill, professor of sociology.
• The Center for Educational Technologies to Assist Refugee Learners has a goal to design innovative solutions to meet the educational needs of the children of the more than 70 million forcibly displaced refugees worldwide. As a result, it will also create innovative pathways and software for educational access to those in our state and nation. Lead researcher and presenter will be Mythili Menon, assistant professor of linguistics.

The research and creative works of faculty in Fairmount College’s 18 departments will be featured at an open house 1-3 p.m. today, April 22 at Ablah Library.

“Research is one of the strengths of our college,” Andrew Hippisley, Fairmount College dean, said. “Last year all 18 departments participated in external grant proposals, and our publication output is high. The showcase provides an opportunity to tell our story and engage with the campus community and beyond.”

Visitors may come and go during the event, which is set up next to the Circulation Desk at the Ablah Library. Poster presentations will include information about research and creative activity, grant procurement, awards and publications. Representatives from each area will answer questions about their department.

For more information, contact David Eichhorn, associate dean for faculty research and development at 316-978-7367 or david.eichhorn@wichita.edu.

More than 780 Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students earned a spot on the fall 2021 Dean’s Honor Roll. The students who completed at least 12 graded credit hours with a 3.500 grade point average were recognized at special ceremony April 15.

“We are extremely proud of our honorees, and are delighted to be able to celebrate them and encourage them to continue to pursue excellence in their program of study,” Andrew Hippisley, dean of Fairmont College of Liberal Arts and Sciences said. “They exemplify persistence and dedication, and we support them in their academic journey to become more.”

Dr. Netta Engelhardt will be presenting “The Black Hole Information Paradox: A Resolution on the Horizon?” at 2 p.m., April 7 via Zoom. Use the Zoom Meeting ID: 4179547349  and Password: Physics.

Dr. Engelhardt is the Biedenharn Career Development assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She works on quantum gravity, primarily within the framework of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Her research focuses on understanding the dynamics of black holes in quantum gravity, leveraging insights from the interplay between gravity and quantum information via holography. Her current primary interests revolve around the black hole information paradox, the thermodynamic behavior of black holes, and the cosmic censorship hypothesis (which conjectures that singularities are always hidden behind event horizons).

The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. This grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State University Foundation’s endowment. For more information about this lecture series, contact Dr. David Eichhorn at (316) 978-6659.

The Department of Women’s, Ethnicity, and Intersectional Studies, formerly the women’s studies department, has reorganized and expanded its curriculum to reflect growing nationwide interest in gender issues and ethnicity.

“We are excited about the new name and the programmatic changes it brings in placing women, gender, and ethnicity at the center of studies, especially in their intersection with race, class, sexuality, disability, and other hierarchies of power and relations of power,” said Chinyere Okafor, professor and chair of women’s, ethnicity, and intersectional studies, said.

Dr. Guy A. Caldwell, university distinguished research professor at the University of Alabama (UA), will present a public lecture, “Some Worm Saved My Life Tonight: Invertebrate-Driven Personalized Medicine,” at 3:30 p.m., today, March 2 at Hubbard Hall (Room 209).

Caldwell is visiting as part of the Watkins Visiting Professorship. The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. This grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State University Foundation’s endowment.

His lab, The Worm Shack, studies C. elegans, a roundworm that lives in soil, and possesses genes that have functional counterparts in humans. Worms of this species are used as models for human disorders and illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, kidney disease and congenital heart disease.

In the hot, humid mugginess of east Texas in August 2021, Crystal Dozier and a group of students made two exciting discoveries at the Box Springs archaeological site. Dozier, WSU assistant professor of anthropology, used magnetometry and ground penetrating radar to discover the precise location of an assumed mound.

Dr. Jenny Pearson, Wichita State professor of sociology, has been elected president of the Midwest Sociological Society. The society is a nonprofit, regional, professional society dedicated to building community among sociologists and to advancing sociological knowledge, teaching and practice for social scientific purposes and social betterment. A number of Wichita State University faculty and students attend the conference and present their research each year.

Pearson will serve a four-year term in April as president elect-elect; followed by president-elect and program chair; president; and immediate past president. She previously served as the Kansas state director and the co-founder and chair of the MSS LGBTQ+ Task Force, collaboratively working toward making the organization and annual conference more inclusive for LGBTQ+ members.

Fairmont College faculty, staff are invited to a town hall with President Rick Muma beginning at 2 p.m. today, Jan. 31 via Zoom. Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Shirley Lefever will also be a featured guest.

Campus and community members who missed Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Perspectives talks can now access them on YouTube. Each of the Perspectives series addressed current topics of interest and featured experts from a variety of fields. Fairmount College Dean Andrew Hippisley hosted each series. All the talks can be viewed on the Fairmount College YouTube channel.

Perspectives on the Pandemic, Part I: Topics include influenza pandemics since the Russian Flu, modeling the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19’s impact on local public health practice and policy and searching for a COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics.

Perspectives on the Pandemic, Part II: Topics include COVID-19’s impact on world democracies, opportunities for city and community changes after the pandemic, COVID-19’s effect on incarcerated people and their families, COVID-19 health disparities and COVID-19’s influence on the performing arts.

Reestablishing Reality: Topics include science and bias, current parallels with The Big Lie, motivation for ignoring facts, African-American narratives and sharing misinformation online.

Legacies of Racism in American Culture: Topics include the Bible and race in American Christian cultures; Jim Crow in the business world, becoming an American citizen and labor representation at the insurrection.