Category: Applied Learning

In May 2024, Ananda Smith graduated from Wichita State with a bachelor’s degree that included a strong emphasis on studying and practicing public policy. She is now pursuing her master’s degree in communication at the Elliott School of Communication. Throughout her academic journey, Smith has gained extensive experience in multimedia journalism and has recently added a copywriter role to her growing resume. In this position, she connects with Shockers and the greater Wichita community through her media work. 

In her first year as a graduate student, Smith worked as a reporter for The Sunflower, as a broadcast assistant for CBS Sports and as a multimedia journalist summer intern for KSNW-TV. 

In August 2025, she began her final graduate year and her new role. 

Andrew Gibson is a College of Engineering senior and will receive his bachelor’s degree in computer science in May 2026. In his applied learning experience, Gibson is a research assistant at Envision Research Institute. Envision is a Wichita nonprofit that provides services for people who are blind or visually impaired, including employment opportunities, clinical rehabilitation services, childcare and an art program.

As a research institute, Envision employs a research team that works together to aid the blind and visually impaired community. Gibson uses his computer science knowledge as a research assistant to advance Envision’s mission.

Wichita State fine arts senior Samantha Bunce is one step closer to becoming a full-time art educator. In fall 2025, she began student teaching at Wichita Brooks Middle School. Under the guidance of art educator Lauren Gilmore, Bunce crafted a creative learning environment for students at this STEM and arts magnet middle school.

That fall semester, throughout the school week, Bunce spent an hour a day learning how to be a successful teacher. In the classroom, she assisted Gilmore with art projects, preparation, organization and classroom management. Bunce stepped into her role by planning, teaching and grading her own lessons as a student-teacher.

Wichita State has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to create the Wichita HIREs program: Humanities Internships Reward Employers, an initiative designed to expand applied learning opportunities for students pursuing humanities degrees. This transformative grant includes a $1 million matching funds requirement to build a long-term endowment to sustain the program beyond the five-year grant period.

Beginning in the 2026 spring semester, Wichita HIREs will leverage WSU’s established leadership in applied learning to create increased opportunities for humanities students. While Wichita State students collectively work in more than 12,000 paid positions per academic year, humanities majors account for only 0.5% of those opportunities. This program will directly address this gap by creating paid internships for approximately 300 humanities students over the life of the grant.

“We are proud to receive this grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand paid applied learning in ways that advance WSU’s mission and directly benefit our community,” said Wichita State President Richard Muma. “This program will showcase to employers across Kansas the tremendous value humanities students can offer.”

In May 2019, Gonzalo Neira Maquilon graduated from Wichita State with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and another in anthropology. Driven to serve his community, he earned certificates in community psychology and human factors while attaining his bachelor’s degrees at Wichita State. Later that year, he began his master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology and graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Since graduating from Meredith College in 2021, Maquilon has poured his heart into human resources through various post-graduate roles. In his current role as a human resources specialist for the City of Wichita, he reflects on human resources’ influence on his work and his own “… impact on the life of others at work.”

Meet Vivian Salazar, a mechanical engineering student who turned her passion for problem-solving into a meaningful internship at Amazon Robotics. In this student spotlight, Vivian discusses her work with Amazon’s fulfillment systems, her role at The Smart Factory by Deloitte and how hands-on experiences like GoBabyGo shaped her engineering career.

Explore how Wichita State’s applied learning approach helps students bridge the gap between classroom theory and real-world innovation in manufacturing, robotics and sustainability.

Dr. Kathryn “Kat” Fishwick has spent the past five years at Wichita State researching teen dating violence education programming, a primary prevention technique used to combat the public health crisis of intimate partner violence. Fishwick earned her doctoral degree in community psychology in May 2025.

During her time at WSU, Fishwick applied her knowledge and expertise while working for the Health, Outreach, Prevention and Education (HOPE) Services department. HOPE Services advocates for prevention of suicide, sexual violence and substance misuse, along with mental health and wellness promotion through outreach and education. Fishwick’s years at Shocker Nation encompassed research dedication, community outreach and professional development.

As a prevention and outreach staff member at HOPE Services, since its inception, Fishwick’s background in sexual violence prevention laid out the foundation of the department’s outreach and prevention efforts.

In August 2025, Santiago Carbajal began his sophomore year as a software engineering student contractor at NetApp through Ennovar. Working with NetApp’s Performance and Benchmarking Team, Carbajal actively shapes his future through hands-on experience in this applied learning experience. Carbajal advances in his own future and in future technology by coding, testing and learning new technologies like machine learning and AI development at NetApp.

As a computer engineering freshman, Carbajal first explored career possibilities in aerospace engineering.

At the National Institute for Aviation Research, from December 2024 to August 2025, Carbajal worked as a quality assurance and engineering student assistant at NIAR’s Research Advanced Machining and Prototyping Laboratory. At NIAR, he perfected his eye for detail.

In May 2025, Michael Rivas graduated from Wichita State with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Before graduating, he shared his educational journey and its challenges with Wichita Public Schools (USD 259) high school students.

Working with Wichita State Undergraduate Admissions’ lead admissions representative, Baylee Almos, Rivas became a college access coach his senior year. He became integral in enhancing college accessibility and providing post-secondary planning to high school upperclassmen. Rivas connected with students about his honest experience as a first-generation, transfer and nontraditional student.

Nidhi Shenoy is a graduate student pursuing her master’s degree in quantitative analysis and economics at Wichita State University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and economics from Mount Carmel College in May 2024. Since then, Shenoy has embraced every opportunity to bridge data analysis with storytelling.  

In the summer of 2025, Shenoy became an essential part of internal communication at The Smart Factory by Deloitte. As an internal marketing intern, she played a key role in streamlining communication for thousands of employees. Drawing on her background in journalism and economics, Shenoy analyzed data and produced content for the experience team.