The Wichita State University College of Engineering is hosting an Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED) event, commonly known as Girl Day, for high school girls from Wichita Public Schools. The event is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23 in the Shirley Beggs Ballroom on the third floor of the Rhatigan Student Center.

WSU expects 100-150 participants for the IGED event. The students will participate in hands-on STEM activities, listen to inspirational female speakers, and meet women from the engineering and computing industries, including professionals, WSU faculty, and students. There will also be an industry fair featuring companies from STEM fields. Breakfast pastries and lunch will be provided.

A consortium of four local institutions (Wichita State, WSU Tech, Newman University and Friends University) is bringing Dr. Gina Ann Garcia to Wichita for the talk “Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions,” at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in Newman’s DeMattias Performance Hall. Her talk includes a 30-minute question and answer session.

What exactly is a Hispanic-Serving Institution? Dr. Sara Mata, WSU executive director of Hispanic-Serving Initiatives, is a member of the Hispanic-Serving Institution Task Force at WSU, and she explains what it all means and how it can positively impact students at Wichita State and beyond.

Photo of Maley Hansen in front of a WSU poster that says "This is Shocker Nation"

The Barton School recently spoke with Maley Hansen, senior at Wichita North High School and future Barton School of Business student, who was named one of three 2023 Gore Scholars. She plans to double major in business administration and statistics.

More than 480 high school seniors from all over the country competed in this year’s Distinguished Scholarship Invitational to become Gore Scholars. Maley will receive a $64,000 scholarship to attend Wichita State University in August 2023. She is only the fourth North High student to receive the scholarship, which was established in 1954.

A recent PBS “News Hour” story highlights the role Wichita State University plays in the arts community of Wichita.

Among the Wichita State connections featured are Kristin Beal, a lecturer in the Masters of Arts Administration program for the WSU College of Fine Arts and special projects manager for Strategic Communications; and Mina Estrada a lecturer for the dance department. Dr. Timothy Jones, assistant professor of violin, is shown performing for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra.

For Music Theatre Wichita, assistant professor of musical theatre Richard Biever, and student Sophia Hillman are pictured during rehearsals.

A photo of Sethuraman Panchanathan, National Science Foundation director, with President Rick Muma, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, Waruna Seneviratne, ATLAS direct, and John Tomblin, senior vice president for Industry and Defense Programs and NIAR executive director.

The director of the National Science Foundation visited Wichita State University in January.

The Honorable Sethuraman Panchanathan toured Wichita State’s National Institute for Aviation Research, WSU Tech and the National Center for Aviation Training as a guest of U.S. Senator Jerry Moran.

The tours focused on demonstrating how Wichita State partners with industry to educate and train students for the workforce through applied learning.

Photos of the recipients of the 2023 Harry Gore Memorial Scholarship, Maley Hansen, Lesly Hernandez and Jayden Island.

Wichita State University has selected the 2023 recipients of the Harry Gore Memorial Scholarships. Each student will receive a $64,000 scholarship to attend Wichita State University in August 2023.  

The 2023 Gore Scholars are:

  • Maley Hansen, Wichita North High School
  • Lesly Hernandez, Maize High School
  • Jayden Island, Derby High School
Photo of the finalists in the Wichita State Distinguished Scholarship Invitational.

Wichita State University has selected the top 14 finalists in the annual Distinguished Scholarship Invitational:

  • Kyra Bergman, Centralia High School (Centralia, KS)
  • Maisy Blanton, Andover High School
  • Evander Davis, Washburn Rural High School
  • Grace Fisher, Liberty High School (Missouri)
  • Payton Hamilton, McPherson High School
  • Maley Hansen, Wichita North High School
  • Lesly Hernandez, Maize High School
  • Tamara Ibrahim, Wichita East High School
  • Jayden Island, Derby High School
  • Katelyn Janzen, Oklahoma Bible Academy (Oklahoma)
  • Carson McCachern, Deer Creek High School (Oklahoma)
  • Laura Pham, Wichita East High School
  • Ronish Rasaily, Wichita East High School
  • Anna Richardson, Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School

Navigating an unfamiliar building can be discouraging and difficult to persons with disabilities. A team of Wichita State University researchers is in the early stages of developing digital maps to help accessibility indoors, where GPS or satellite systems often don’t work.

In December, the National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator Track awarded a Wichita State-led team a $750,000 grant to gather information and create digital maps of indoor spaces that could be used by persons with disabilities.

A person using a wheelchair often doesn’t know the accessible route,” said Vinod Namboodiri, professor and associate director for research engagement in the College of Engineering. “It leads to lesser participation by people with disabilities in employment or maybe other aspects of life. What we’re trying to do is improve quality of life, improve employment opportunities out of this, hopefully which leads to broader societal gains.”

The creation of maps (MABLE – Mapping for Accessibility in Built Environments) through crowdsourcing, experiences, observations and robots will help persons with disabilities assess, plan and navigate indoor environments with audio and visual information. Envisioned users include those with visual or mobility impairments (blind, low vision, wheelchair users, cane users, etc.).

The project, Namboodiri said, can appeal to a wider population by helping anyone entering an unfamiliar building, such as freshmen on the first day of class.

“Maps allow you to study a space, weighing your comfort as in, ‘Do I even want to go to that building?” Namboodiri said. “You want to live independently and learn things.”

The NSF selected 16 multidisciplinary teams with projects that enhance opportunities for persons with disabilities. Namboodiri is proud that the Wichita State-led project is in a group with projects from schools such as Stanford, Cornell, Northwestern and Harvard.

Wichita State’s previous work in this area strengthened its credentials for the grants.

“It’s a very prestigious award and very selective,” Namboodiri said. “We got it because of our history. They felt we could make contributions. We made a good case from the middle of the country that we can do stuff, too.”

In 2020, the NSF awarded more than $1.1 million to Namboodiri and a team to create a community-wide wayfinding system for people with disabilities. That project focused on filling in the gaps of traditional GPS systems to help with emergency evacuation, remote assistance, and travel within transit system by using an app. 

In 2021, NSF invited Wichita State to hold a workshop that highlighted the school’s emphasis on accessibility and inclusion.

“We are very much invested as a university in promoting solutions for people with disabilities,” Namboodiri said. “That workshop led to the National Science Foundation creating a funding opportunity for everyone to apply around the country. That’s where this project came from.”

The first phase of the NSF grants is designed to develop new technologies and tools to enhance the quality of life and employment access and opportunities for persons with disabilities. In the second phase, teams submit a formal proposal and compete for up to $5 million of additional support over 24 months to develop their solutions and sustainability development plans.

“It’s essentially a competition among these 16 teams,” Namboodiri said. “Academics typically work at a very slow, methodical fashion that takes many years. They are essentially turning us into start-ups in some sense. They are training us to pitch a product, create the right marketing message, so that we can reach, not just end users, but people who could fund projects.”

The research team includes Wichita State Associate Professor Nils Hakansson (College of Engineering), Georgia Tech Associate Professor Patricio Vela (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering), Kansas State Associate Professor Siny Joseph (Department of Agricultural Economics) and Florida Institute of Technology Professor Ted Conway (Department of Biomedical Engineering). Wichita State students will help with the research.

Join President Rick Muma and his team as they prepare future Shockers for a lifetime of success. The President’s Team is raising money for the United Way’s Coaching for Literacy initiative, which puts books and supplies into the hands of USD 259 students.

Reading helps children build cognitive skills, gain a deeper understanding of the world, improve their concentration, and fuel their imagination. As an educational driver for the state of Kansas, Wichita State is committed to helping students of all ages achieve success and become the leaders of tomorrow.

Tune in to KMUW 89.1 from 7 to 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 16, to hear President Rick Muma and First Gentleman Rick Case as they take part in the radio station’s year-end fundraiser.

Listeners who donate $75 or more will receive a fun pair of KMUW socks as a thank-you gift; and for every donation, McClelland Sound will donate a pair of warm socks to neighbors in need.

Catch the action on 89.1 FM or online at www.kmuw.org.