Category: Kudos

Office of Student Accommodations and Testing (OSAT) would like to thank this semester’s note-takers and recognizes Laura Bisterfeldt, Megan Castillo, Dave Del Mar and Beau Dykes for their work as note-takers during fall 2023.

Among the many accommodations OSAT provides, one is the accommodation of peer note-taking. A note-taker is required to take a short training and then share their class notes, via a shared drive/folder, with an OSAT client.

On Friday, Nov. 17, participating College of Engineering students presented their research during the annual Engineering Research Symposium in the John Bardo Center lobby. On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the winners were announced, including three first-place winners:

• Novice category: Saket Chand Mathur (mechanical engineering doctorate student) with the research title, “Additive Manufacturing of Thermally Stable Parts for Aerospace Applications Using Polymer Derived Ceramics”
• Emerging category: Sarangan Rajendran (electrical and computer engineering doctorate student) with the research title, “Locational Value of Distributed Energy Resources for Mitigating High Impact Events”
• Proficient category: Anoop Krishnan Upendran Nair (School of Computing doctorate student) with the research title, “Mitigating Gender Classification Bias With Consistent Regularization”

Melissa Vagts, associate clinical professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD), was an invited presenter on the “Making Sense of Myo: Using Orofacial Myology To Support Differential Diagnosis” episode of the SLP Learning Series podcast on SpeechTherapyPD.com.

The episode explored how knowledge of orofacial myology allows speech pathologists to effectively use differential diagnosis to determine the best plan of care for patients. Melissa explained when a myofunctional approach would not be appropriate and the qualifications a patient needs to effectively participate in a myofunctional program. She also shared ways knowledge of typical oromyofunction can allow speech pathologists to modify treatment approaches and include myofunctional concepts to support speech and swallowing skills.

Vagts has worked in outpatient clinical settings, public schools and university clinics. She currently teaches and supervises speech-language pathology graduate students. She developed the Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD) graduate course and co-developed a Pediatric Feeding Group to provide students with applied learning opportunities.

Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) students recently placed eighth in Cell Bowl 2023, an interactive competition between more than 65 Medical Laboratory Sciences programs nationwide. The program tests students’ knowledge of blood cell morphology through the app CellAtlas and challenges students to correctly identify 30 cells in one minute or less (while also preparing them for lecture tests, laboratory practicals and the board certification exam).

The competition culminated with Wichita State MLS students winning the Second Chance Showdown for the Junior Varsity league and placing eighth in the nation. Special congratulations to Mackenzie Monteith who won the number eight spot by perfectly identifying 30 cells in 30 seconds.

We are proud of our MLS students.

Dr. Michael Rogers, professor in the Department of Human Performance Studies and director of the Center for Physical Activity and Aging, was featured in a Next Avenue article about exercise prescriptions for grandparents.

Rogers was interviewed for his expertise on the subject. He was previously featured in the Washington Post.

Students, faculty and staff from Wichita State’s physical education program attended the Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (KAHPERD) convention Nov. 9-10 at Century II in Wichita, where they won the KAHPERD College Bowl, an event with three rounds (two activity and one quiz) in which all the attending physical education programs compete for a prestigious traveling trophy. The last time WSU won the trophy was in 2018.

In addition to winning the College Bowl, Sarah Schaar, senior, physical education major, was voted in as president-elect for the Future Professionals Committee, and Olivia Butler, program coordinator, earned an event management position on the executive board during the KAHPERD convention.

In recognition of her accomplishments and commitment to raising continuing generations of teachers, Provost Shirley Lefever, executive vice president, has been selected as the 2024 Hans C. Olsen Award for the Distinguished Teacher Educator from the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE).

The award was established by ATE to select and honor individuals whose contributions to the preparation of teachers are worthy of special recognition, and it will be presented in-person at the ATE 2024 annual meeting in March during the awards gala.

The College of Health Professions was honored to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Structural Heart Program at Ascension Via Christi, along with its new partnership that will transform the future healthcare.

The celebration was held at Wichita’s Mark Arts and was attended by more than 200 guests, including Ascension leadership and medical staff, Wichita State leadership, senior leaders from two global structural heart device manufacturers and their teams; local, state and national governmental officials; and community leaders.

Four College of Engineering students traveled to Tampa, Florida, to attend the Collegiate Entrepreneur’s Organization (CEO) national conference and global pitch competition Nov. 2-4. The students had previously won the 2023 Koch Innovation Challenge, and their team, ViBracelet, was selected out of about 300 teams to advance with about 100 other teams to the conference and competition.

At the competition, the students presented a working prototype of their big idea venture, the ViBracelet, which is a wearable vibration alarm that gives members of the deaf community a safe and reliable way to wake up from sleep. The team is comprised of JC Wright (aerospace engineering), Trinity Madden (formerly engineering technology, now applied engineering), Will Panakos (product design and manufacturing engineering) and Loralei McClure (product design and manufacturing engineering).

Although the team did not advance to the top 25 in the competition, they performed well and made connections with potential partners and investors. Prior to the competition, Nancy Kersenbrock, assistant director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, and Doug Stucky, the manager of program and development for the College of Innovation and Design, provided mentorship related to developing a business model and pitching their big idea venture.

Every year, Times Higher Education posts its university rankings across all subjects. This year, Times Higher Education reached out to Usha Haley, Barton Distinguished Chair in International Business, to explain the change in the top 50 in the sciences and business.