Category: Applied Learning

In May 2025, Rory Mata graduated from Wichita State with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and another in chemistry. She also earned a Spanish for the Professions undergraduate certificate. Mata fully explored professional pathways in both fields during her internships. She explored a career as a chemistry researcher at NASA in Kansas and as a Spanish translator at the Exploration Place, through an internship funded by Wichita State’s Applied Learning Fund. 

Golam Morshed Khan, a recent graduate, received his master’s degree in management science in supply chain management in May 2025. Before attending Wichita State, he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in Bangladesh. While completing his master’s, he worked at Wichita State’s Student Outreach and Support as a front desk student assistant, where he developed soft and technical skills. 

As part of Wichita State’s CARE Team, Student Outreach and Support’s mission is to support Shockers by providing resources and care. As a student assistant, Khan was the first connection between Shockers in need and the CARE Team, honing his soft skills in every interaction. With a mix of responsibilities, he was discreet when handling students’ private information. 

After earning her bachelor’s degree in physical education, PreK–12, in fall 2023, Trajata Colbert returned to Wichita State in spring 2025 to complete her student teaching and earn her teaching license. During this final step in her preparation, she gained hands-on experience through an applied learning placement that took her to multiple schools. These rotations provided a variety of professional experiences and meaningful connections with students — solidifying her path as a fully licensed teacher after spring 2025.

Amrutha Dasyam is a Wichita State Ph.D. candidate majoring in aerospace engineering. Her research focuses on spacecraft trajectory design and planning using artificial intelligence at Wichita State’s Astronautics Laboratory. In 2021, she earned her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Wichita State and stayed to pursue her doctorate through the postbaccalaureate plan of study. Now as a doctoral student, she focuses on her research in her graduate research assistant role.  

Already familiar with the Aerospace Engineering department, working at the Astronautics Lab was a welcoming environment. There, Dasyam’s research centers on aero-assist maneuvers such as aerobraking and aerocapture — techniques that help spacecraft enter the final science orbit more efficiently. She uses machine learning to estimate atmospheric density and to develop adaptive guidance and control systems that respond to changing flight conditions. To support trajectory planning, Dasyam designs algorithms, runs simulations and analyzes data to evaluate performance and accuracy. 

Zayden Tomson, a graphic design senior, currently interns with the Shocker Career Accelerator, where he creates promotional materials for student career resources and events. His professional design journey with the Shocker Career Accelerator began in summer 2025, and since then, he’s been refining his skills while making a visible impact across campus.

Before joining Shocker Career Accelerator, Zayden interned with No Choice But Action, a local business that celebrates Kansas’ 90s punk rock scene. There, he began developing a strategic design mindset — creating posters and merchandise that authentically reflected the era’s aesthetic.

“This internship helped me to put myself in a more consumer-oriented mindset,” Zayden said. “My designs had been for practice up until that point, so having an audience that would be promoted towards was a great change of pace and a useful learning curve.”

Wichita State students earned a record-breaking $39.2 million through applied learning in the 2025 academic year — a powerful testament to WSU’s hands-on approach to career readiness and its role in strengthening the Kansas workforce.

That marks an 11% increase from the previous year’s $35.3 million. And more students than ever are receiving these opportunities, with 12,328 applied learning experiences — a 31% jump over last year’s 9,397 — through paid, resume-building work with area businesses, organizations, on-campus positions and Innovation Campus companies, all while still pursuing their degrees.

The record gains come as Wichita State’s celebrates its fifth straight year of enrollment growth, with more than 18,458 students enrolled at its main campus this fall. University leaders say the growth reflects the appeal of applied learning, which has become central to WSU’s mission of providing affordable education with real-world value.

“This work changes lives,” Wichita State President Rick Muma said. “Applied learning equips our students with the skills and competence to make immediate and meaningful contributions to their employers immediately after graduation.”

Janett Lerma-Reyes, a mechanical engineering sophomore, was an operations summer 2025 intern at Shuttlewagon. She taught herself SolidWorks, a 3D modeling software, through her LinkedIn Learning student access, which all Wichita State students have access to. Steps that prepared her for her operations intern role.

Shuttlewagon, a mobile railcar mover manufacturer, designs railcar movers for rail yards, industrial facilities and ports. At the Kansas City location, Lerma-Reyes’ work centers around Shuttlewagon’s assembly line processes, improving its efficiency, accuracy and safety for workers. Before starting her role, she took advantage of her First-Year Seminar class, Intro to Tech and Design, learning the basics of continuous improvement.

Niki Noland is a spring 2025 Wichita State graduate who majored in studio art, concentrating in print media. Before leaving Wichita State and the College of Fine Arts, Noland directly impacted Wichita’s art scene, interning for the City of Wichita’s Arts and Cultural Services Department and public art manager, Jana Erwin.

As a student, Noland was active on campus and in the art, design and creative industries program. They were a mentor for the College of Fine Arts You Belong Here: Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program. As a mentor, they developed leadership qualities by assisting mentees with academic and professional work. Noland, true to their major, was also a member of the printmaking club. Additionally, they were involved in the Shocker Sound Machine and the Model UN Board. Active within Shocker Nation’s arts and clubs, Noland’s internship for City of Wichita’s Arts and Cultural Services Department was a perfect match.

Anthropology sophomore Lucy Walters has been interested in anthropology since her dad introduced her to Indiana Jones when she was little. Now, much like Indiana Jones, Walters has contributed to the unearthing of a lost city ー only instead of being a fictional character in Egypt, she did so as a Wichita State University freshman in Kansas.

Emily Rueda is an integrated marketing communication senior at Wichita State. In the spring 2025 semester, she experienced the behind-the-scenes aspects of social media marketing through an internship with the College of Fine Arts. Funded through WSU’s Applied Learning Fund, which provides paid, hands-on experiences in students’ majors and future career fields.

With experience from previous roles involving social media and marketing, Rueda welcomed a chance to explore this interest fully. She had previously served as a general marketing intern for a nonprofit and was concurrently working as a graphic design intern at HOPE Services, a role she still has today.

“This experience has helped me understand what social media marketing really is. It’s a fun job, but there are also more technical skills and strategic elements involved than I expected,” Rueda said.