$2 million grant will fund advanced composites technology at WSU
鶹ƽ State University has received a $2 million grant contract from the U.S. Economic Development Association to develop and demonstrate advanced composite material manufacturing technology.
The grant, secured by WSU Strategic Initiatives, will provide funding for essential equipment needed for the Advanced Technology Laboratory for Aerospace Systems (ATLAS) within WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research. ATLAS investigates the development of manufacturing protocols for automated fiber placement (AFP) and automated tape laying (ATL) for aircraft systems.
WSU Team creates robotic 3D printed hand for local boy
Chase Rawlings, a 3rd grader at Ewalt Elementary in Augusta, was born without a fully developed left hand. When his mother heard about the technology and talent available at 鶹ƽ State in the area of 3D printing, she reached out.
Engineering major Chelsea Sewell and Brian Brown, director of the Robotics and Automation Lab at WSU, got together to think about what they could do for Chase.
The result: A 3D-printed robotic hand created right here at 鶹ƽ State. The first hand will be used as a prototype for Sewell to improve on in the future. In the meantime, she says, Chase gets to be "the cool one in the classroom."
WSU earns national ranking for its efforts to support low-income students
鶹ƽ State University has been named to CollegeNET Inc.’s list of Social Mobility Innovators for 2019. Making the list means WSU has a proven track record of successfully enrolling students from low-income backgrounds and graduating them into promising careers.
The Social Mobility Index ranks nearly 1,400 four-year U.S. colleges and universities. The goal of the SMI -- now in its fifth year -- is to help redirect the attribution of "prestige" in the higher education system toward colleges and universities that are advancing economic mobility -- the most pressing civic issue of our time.
Over the past five years, 鶹ƽ State, which enrolls approximately 15,000 students, has consistently ranked among the top 3-6 percent of all schools on the SMI.
鶹ƽ Space Initiative to feature WSU graduate student Caleb Gimar
Join the 鶹ƽ Space Initiative as we welcome Caleb Gimar, a graduate student in the WSU Physics Department, who will present a talk "Looking into the Heart of the Sun: A Space Mission Concept,” at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, in 233 RSC.
Gimar’s talk will discuss design studies conducted at WSU for a novel approach to observing the solar neutrino flux. As always, talks in the WSI's Space Exploration Lecture Series are free and open to the public.
For more information about the WSI and the Space Exploration Lecture Series, go to .
鶹ƽ State students benefit from applied learning at Help Hangar
Textron Aviation’s Help Hangar is where more than 60 鶹ƽ State students work side by side with Textron employees to solve their information technology problems.
World Trade Council of 鶹ƽ invites you to dinner talk featuring Cargill
The World Trade Council of 鶹ƽ invites you to a dinner talk featuring Cargill on Thursday, March 28, on "Helping the World Thrive." The World Trade Council is part of the Center for International Business Advancement (CIBA) at the Barton School of Business. There is a reduced attendance price of $10 for students.
For more information on the dinner and to make reservations, please contact Sherryl Hubble at sherryl.hubble@wichita.edu or call 978-3176.
An agenda and other details are available through this attachment.
Legislative update from Zach Gearhart
Read the current legislative update from Zach Gearhart, director of Government Relations at WSU.
Go to .
Innovation Campus update
At Thursday’s Weekly Briefing, there was Innovation Campus update. As you may know, the University’s newest Partnership Building, P2, is close to full occupancy.
Spirit AeroSystems moved into a large space on the second floor last month. WSU’s NIAR Advance Research Program, is also expected to move into P2 later this month—sharing the second floor with Spirit.
WSU’s Digital Twin Lab opened up this month and will focus on an extensive multi-year project to perform digital or virtual modeling of parts and products for the U.S. Government.
WSU’s Machine Learning Lab also moved into P2 earlier this year. There, students, faculty and other researchers work on sustainment of aging parts of military aircraft.
Based on the success of P2 we recently broke ground on P3 to accommodate the growing number of companies and organizations looking to partner with us, hire our students and harness the technology, research and expertise found on our campus.
Celebration of life for John Bardo planned for Thursday, May 9
An event celebrating the life of President John Bardo will be held on Thursday, May 9. We will let you know more details when they become available.
We want to thank everyone for the outpouring of sympathy and support since the passing of President Bardo on March 12.
To quote the Kansas Board of Regents KBOR Chair, Dennis Mullin, “We will miss him as a leader and a person and are thankful for the opportunity to have worked with him. 鶹ƽ State University, the city of 鶹ƽ, and the state of Kansas are better places because of John Bardo.”
These sentiments were echoed by Provost Rick Muma, who wrote “President Bardo had a profound positive impact on 鶹ƽ State and the community. Future generations of students will benefit from his foresight and leadership.”
Everyone wanting to honor President Bardo may do so by supporting a scholarship named for his wife, which the Bardos created in 2012. The Deborah J. Bardo Scholarship is given annually to an incoming freshman with financial need, with children of WSU faculty and staff as the preferred recipients.
Donations to the scholarship can be made online through the WSU Foundation. Just visit and click on the “memorials & tributes” tab.
Women in Public Service to host conference April 4 at WSU
Join Women in Public Service for the “Year of Yes Conference” with keynote speaker Opal Mauldin-Jones, city manager in Lancaster, Texas - Winner of League of Woman in Government Trailblazer Award on Thursday, April 4, at the Marcus Welcome Center. Mauldin-Jones will present the keynote address “Say Yes to Now and Learn How to Thrive,” at 9:30 a.m.
Women in Public Service (WPS) is an association of public service professionals created to inspire past, current and future generations by addressing topics relevant to women in public service, while instilling knowledge through education, networking and professional development that strengthens the leadership in our local government and communities.
The one-day conference will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. April 4.
The lunch speaker, Charlene Stevens of GovHR USA, will present "Defining my YES-What I've learned along the way"
The closing general session, “Moving Forward, Because it's the Right Thing To Do,” will be presented by Mary Sweet, hospital administrator from Greensburg, Kansas.
Breakout sessions include Striving for Perfection, Workplace Wellness, Salary Negotiation, Ways we Sabotage Our Career, Are you Exhausted?, and Are you an Ideal Team Player?
Learn more about Women in Public Service.
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Do you love some friendly March competition? Bounce on over to Meritrust Madness!
Visit Meritrust’s Braeburn Square branch now through Friday, March 29, and have some fun with the Meritrust team.
🏀 Prove your skills with piggy basketball.
🏀 Test your luck by filling out a bracket.
🏀 Enter to win a $50 Tad’s Locker Room gift card. Contest rules available onsite.
Wait, there’s more! If you’re a 鶹ƽ State University faculty and staff member or student, you could earn some extra cash by opening up a checking account with Meritrust.
To learn how you could earn $50 today and an additional $50 later on, stop by the Braeburn branch during Meritrust Madness or visit for promotional details.
Questions? Please contact Chi Bolander at chi.bolander@meritrustcu.org.
Happy Meritrust Madness!
Federally insured by NCUA.
Donate now: Professional clothing items
The WSU Student Government Association, Airbus and the Career Development Center are gearing up for our Professional Dress Clothing Closet event and we need your help! Donate your professional dress items now through Tuesday, April 2, to 219 Rhatigan Student Center. Professional dress items include suits, dress pants, professional shirts or blouses, professional skirts, belts, neckties, briefcases, shoes, cuff links, tie clips and more. For questions, contact Kim Kufahl at 978-6981 or kim.kufahl@wichita.edu.
Faculty Artist Series presents the Orfeo Trio
The Orfeo Trio – Julie Bees, piano; Leonid Shukaev, cello; and Evgeny Zvonnikov, violin (guest) – will present a Faculty Artist Series concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 31, in Wiedemann Hall. The trio will perform works by Mozart, Turina and Beethoven.
Tickets are $7 for adults, $3 for students, and free for students with a current WSU ID.
For tickets, go to or call 978-3233.
The bulls are back
The toughest sport on dirt is back to 鶹ƽ at the Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday, April 13. Don’t miss the rankest bulls and redeem WSU20 for ticket discounts for all 鶹ƽ State University students, faculty and staff. Go to and use the code WSU20 and save 20 percent on all ticket prices, excluding the $15 price level.
Sign up for Outdoor Adventures baseball game at the K
Spring is here which means it’s baseball season! Join Campus Recreation as we take a group to watch the Kansas City Royals take on the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium on 鶹ƽ State Night at the K. We will have a small breakfast on the ride to Kansas City, and should arrive at the stadium by 12:30 p.m. After the game, we will stop at Misky’s Pizza around 5 p.m. for an awesome meal before heading back to 鶹ƽ. Registration is $45. before Friday, April 12.
Sale on shorts for spring in RSC’s Shocker Store
This week in the Shocker Store, take 20 percent off shorts to make sure you are geared up for spring! Sale is in RSC only.
Mix 6ix for $7
Mix and match 6 20oz bottled beverages - soda, tea, or Aquafina water - for just $7 - limited time only. Valid at Groundhouse, Pizza Hut, Panda Express, Chick-Fil-A and Freddy’s.
Registration open for WSU engineering ‘Design, Build, Code’ summer camps
Registration is now open for 鶹ƽ State’s “Design, Build, Code” engineering summer camps. This year, the College of Engineering is hosting 21 camps, a record number, with new offerings for younger children and new camps that allow campers to design, build and code their own inventions, drones, robots and mini-computers.
Fees range from $100 for the single, half-day camps to $375 for the four, full-day camps. However, more than 100 camp scholarships are available to qualifying applicants. Scholarship recipients pay only a $10 administrative fee.