Category: News

Multiple opportunities to engage with the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College are available to faculty and staff. Now is a good time to consider proposing a new Honors seminar or inquire about teaching an existing seminar. Interested faculty can submit a course proposal through the Course Information Management (CIM) system that includes information about what makes the course an Honors-level experience. Course proposals are routed to the Honors College Faculty Council for review. Instructors whose courses are approved by the council will be asked to confirm college and chair approval and other details related to course scheduling.

Faculty also may use the separate course proposal form to request to teach an existing Honor seminar course topic such as HNRS 352 Survey of Law and Public Policy or HNRS 486 Collaborative Research. For more information about Honors curriculum, visit the undergraduate catalog.

Departmental honors courses: Departments may offer an honors (H-suffix) section of any existing department course by adding a cross-listed course through the CIM system. These courses are reviewed by Honors then scheduled and supported by the department. Department chairs are welcome to contact Kimberly Engber, dean of the Cohen Honors College, with any questions at kimberly.engber@wichita.edu.

Additional questions? Visit the Resources for Faculty in Honors page or contact your college’s honors faculty council representative at wichita.edu/honorsfacultycouncil.

On Friday, Nov. 15, graduate ambassadors from the College of Engineering hosted the annual Engineering Research Symposium in the Digital Research and Transformation Hub on the Innovation Campus. The symposium was from 2 to 5 p.m. and consisted of a poster competition that enabled students to showcase their research projects, develop their presentation skills and compete for certificates with cash prizes. Following the symposium, there was a presentation of awards and dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. The winners were selected within three categories and are listed below.

Proficient
The Proficient category was for doctoral students with three or more years of advanced study and research experience, with first place earning a $1,000 prize, second place earning a $500 prize and third place earning a $250 prize.

• First place: Ali Asgari, “Physics-Informed Artificial Intelligence For Failure Prediction of Spacecraft”
• Second place: Adrian Arustei, “Spacecraft trajectory optimization using adjoint sensitivities”
• Third place: Sangar Shanthanam, “A Multi Criteria Load Prioritization Framework To Minimize Social, Technical and Economic Losses during Major Power Outages”

Emerging
The Emerging category was for master’s degree students and doctoral students with one and a half to three years of study, with first place earning a $750 prize, second place earning a $400 prize and third place earning a $200 prize.

• First place: Md Raihan Uddin, “Enhancing Scalability of Heterogeneous Systems using Tiny Transformer and Attention Based Multi Agent Proximal Policy Optimization”
• Second place: Adelyn Heuer, “Modeling Electric-Vehicle Infrastructure Impact Using an Agent based Simulation Approach”
• Third place: Reilly Jensen, “Detecting and Classifying Cerebral Hemorrhage Growth Using Radio Frequency Resonance and Deep Learning”

Novice
The Novice category was for bachelor’s degree students and doctoral students in the first year and a half of study, with first place earning a $500 prize, second place earning a $250 prize and third place earning a $150 prize.

• First place: Sachinth Viththarachchige, “Social Equity Based Optimal Power Flow Framework to Hedge Against Price Events”
• Second place: Elmira Salari, “Towards Generalizable ECG Classification with Large Language Models and Domain Adaptation”
• Third place: Mark Angelo Ronaldo Anacin, “Enhancing Noise Robustness in Anti-Spoofing Systems using Speech Enhancement and Multitasking Models”

In addition to the above, there were two Scholarly Presence Awards presented to College of Engineering departments. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering won an award for the highest student representation in the competition, and the Department of Industrial, Systems and Manufacturing Engineering won an award for the highest faculty representation at the competition.

Once again, it is time for Old Saint Nick to make his holiday deliveries. For those who are anxiously awaiting his arrival, you can arrange for Santa to send a letter reminding them to be patient and that he’s planning to visit on Christmas Eve.

Visit the WSU Post Office in Morrison Hall to make sure Santa gets the right letters to the right kids. If there’s a child who needs something a little different than what’s listed on the Post Office webpage, call 316-978-3550 or stop by during office hours from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information about other letters children can get from Santa.

Santa letters will be available at the WSU Post Office for three weeks beginning Monday, Nov. 25 and no later than Dec. 16. Each letter has a fee of $2, cash or check, for postage.

On Friday, Nov. 22, the College of Engineering will host about 200 high school students and an additional 300 or so parents and guests for the Wallace Invitational for Scholarships in Engineering (WISE) competition. The event will be from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second and third floors of the Rhatigan Student Center with optional events from 1:15 to 3 p.m. in the John Bardo Center. Parking lots 24 and 25 will be reserved for competition participants and guests starting at 7 a.m. the day of the event, and signage near the lots will alert drivers accordingly.

Although a private event, staff and faculty are encouraged to have positive interactions with students, parents and event volunteers when in common areas. WISE is a competition held each fall for eligible high school seniors interested in studying engineering or computing at Wichita State. The 10 winners of the 2024 WISE competition will be awarded $30,500 Wallace Scholarships.

The winners of Wichita State’s annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, held Nov. 15, have been announced. The event showcased innovative research by graduate students, who were tasked with presenting their complex work in just three minutes to a general audience.

First place: Mary Peterson, a master’s student in electrical engineering, earned the top award with the presentation, “Equity for Solar Energy Investments.” Advised by Dr. Visvakumar Aravinthan, the research highlights ways to increase accessibility and fairness in solar energy investments. Mary will represent WSU at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools’ 3MT competition in the spring.

First runner-up: Reilly Jensen, a master’s student in biomedical engineering, achieved first runner-up recognition with the presentation, “Beyond CT and MRI: Towards Real-Time Brain Hemorrhage Detection with Radio Frequency Resonators.” This research, advised by Dr. Kim Cluff, focuses on advancing medical diagnostics for faster and more effective brain hemorrhage detection.

Second runner-up: Jenna Ercolani, a master’s student in industrial engineering, received second runner-up honors for the presentation, “Analysis and Modeling of Workload within Emergency Medical Services.” Under the guidance of Dr. Laila Cure, the research provides insights into improving efficiency in emergency medical operations.

This year’s 3MT competition brought together students, faculty, staff and judges to celebrate the creativity, research and communication skills of WSU’s graduate students. Congratulations to all participants for making the event a success.

Wichita State University’s GoCreate, a Koch Collaborative, was named a Literary Legacy Honoree recently at Storytime Village’s 2024 Read and Rise Breakfast Gala. GoCreate, a community makerspace on campus, worked with Storytime Village to build 40 Little Free Libraries. GoCreate technicians, mentors and student assistants then collaborated with various community organizations and advocates to personalize the mini self-serve libraries that operate on the honor system. The libraries have been installed throughout the city. The award was accepted by Kim McCollum, GoCreate assistant director, and Ken Wiseman, facility manager.

“It was a no-brainer for us to work with the Little Free Libraries program,” Wiseman said. “The program gives community members access to a variety of different types of reading materials, empowering the community and allowing us and other community members the opportunity to pay it forward.”

Join SHPEtinas and Society of Women Engineers as they partner to support Harbor House, a shelter for women and children escaping abusive households. Harbor House provides safety and essential resources, including personal care items, cleaning supplies and housing essentials, to help families transition to independent living.

This holiday season, they also need gifts to brighten families’ holidays. Parents can select gifts for their children (babies to teens) and vice versa.

Here’s how to help:

• Bake sale: Visit them from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 19-20 at the RSC to enjoy baked goods. They will accept both supply donations and money contributions in exchange for treats.
• Donation drop box: Drop off supplies and gifts in the Partnership 2 building. Donations will be accepted all week.

Check out Stuff the Box Wishlist for a list of needed items and help make a difference,

November is a month of celebration as it marks National Distance Learning Week and National Non-Traditional Week. Whether online and adult learner students are pursuing their studies from a distance or embracing non-traditional paths, these students are a true testament to the power of dedication, resilience and hard work. The Office of Online and Adult Learning (OAL) invites you to join in honoring their inspiring achievements and continued success.

Throughout the week, the OAL office will share the stories of these remarkable online and adult learner students making waves in their academic journeys:

• Sara Rhodes
• Scott St. Claire
• Steve Curbelo
• Mia Baldassano
• Ben Sauceda

Professional staff from Student Outreach & Support will be out of the office Nov. 17-21 attending the NaBITA annual conference in Palm Beach. The office will remain open for those needing assistance and will be staffed by student workers.

If you reach out to professional staff directly during this time, note that there will be a delay in response. If you have a concern for a student, submit a CARE report at wichita.edu/care.

Need technical help with your computer? Check out the new and improved ITS Desktop Support site (wichita.edu/desktoptickets). By using this resource, you will gain easy access to create tickets for computer repair, as well as useful links and a news section with updates on system status.

A shortcut to this site will be sent to the desktop of your WSU computer on Nov. 19 for easier access. Simply click on the shortcut labeled “Computer Support Ticket” on your desktop, and your default browser will launch the site. Note: You will be asked to sign in if you are using a browser other than Edge.

If you have any questions, contact the helpdesk at 316-978-4357, Option 1.