Campus Connection: Tuesday, April 5, 2022

News

WSU’s engineering grad program top 60 in nation, best in Kansas

In the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings of universities offering a Ph.D. in engineering, the College of Engineering at Wichita State University once again was ranked in the top 100 engineering graduate programs in the country and the only institution in Kansas to make it in the top 100.

The 2023 report by US News and World Report — released today — ranks Wichita State’s graduate program in engineering as No. 59 in the United States. That’s up from No. 77 last year and No. 94 the year before.

$Vivian Nguyen and Jian Wang with Wichita State University use the single crystal X-ray diffractometer to visualize atoms. An atom is about the size of 1/100,000 of our hair.$

Published Wichita State chemists discover laser materials

What do you picture when you think of lasers? Laser pointers? Perhaps laser eye surgery or barcode scanners? Turns out there’s more to lasers than most people realize, and a Wichita State University chemistry team recently discovered a new series of laser material with potential commercial use.

Vivian Nguyen, a recent graduate of WSU, and Dr. Jian Wang Nguyen, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, discovered new laser materials (KX)P2S6(X=Sb, Bi, Ba) made up of many important elements. That discovery has landed their research in Chemical Science, the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Events

Artist talk features sound artist Annabel Daou

Lebanese American artist Annabel Daou will give an artist talk at the Ulrich Museum of Art at 6 p.m. today, April 5. There will be a reception before at 5:30 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

Daou is known for her poetic conceptual pieces that often mine history and use language across multiple media to empower viewers in the present moment. Her talk, titled “Being Numerous,” will address her works which feature multiple voices and responses. The Ulrich recently acquired Daou’s sound installation “DECLARATION,” which is currently on exhibit at Wichita State’s Grace Memorial Chapel. Daou will discuss this installation during the event.

Shocker Women’s Tennis to host a free post-match kids’ clinic

Shocker Women’s Tennis is hosting Emporia State at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 6 at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex. After the match (around 5 p.m.), players and coaches will host a free tennis clinic for all kids in attendance, with free pizza being provided by the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation of Kansas. Bring your own rackets, or we will have rackets available to borrow. For more info contact Colin Foster at cfoster@goshockers.com.

InterFest planned for April 13

Every semester, the International Student Union, in collaboration with several other student groups and Wichita State organizations, organizes an international food festival called InterFest. During this festival, international students prepare dishes from their home regions, countries, and cultures.

The 2022 InterFest will be celebrated between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 13 at the Neff Hall courtyard. Everyone is invited.

The festival showcases ethnic cuisine, and for a small price, allows the WSU community and visitors to share and taste diverse food and delicacies. The InterFest has become a very popular tradition. It has also emerged as a fundraiser for participating student organizations.

Reach out to our team if you have any questions by sending an email to m923a942@wichita.edu.

PPMC invites campus to Women in Public Service Conference

Wichita State’s Public Policy and Management Center has scheduled its Women in Public Service (WPS) Conference beginning at 9:15 a.m. April 28 at the Marcus Welcome Center. Cost for the conference is $50 for members and $75 for nonmembers. The registration deadline is 5 p.m. April 22.

Conference breakouts:

“Overcoming Strategic Communication Challenges” — Shelly Coleman-Martins, Wichita State University’s vice president of strategic communications and marketing
“The Person You Mean to Be” — Alicia Sanchez, Wichita State’s assistant dean of students and director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
“How to Be Innovative Within Confinement” — Sally Stang from the City of Wichita
“Telling Stories and Sharing Space” — Claudia Amaro, community journalist

The lunch keynote will be “Activating Your Network” with Christina Long, from the CML Collective, and the closing session will be “Peer Coaching: What Will We Take Forward” with Teresa Schwab.