WSU Second among Nation’s Universities in Aeronautical R&D Expenditures
Wichita State has risen to second among U.S. universities in aeronautical research and development expenditures, according to the latest information from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
In fiscal year 2009, WSU had $50 million in aeronautical R&D expenditures, compared to $32.9 million in 2008. Wichita State was fourth in 2008; third in 2007. This $17 million increase puts WSU just over $1 million behind the No. 1-ranked institution, Utah State University, which reported $51.6 million and operates the Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Wichita State’s numbers reflect the efforts of the National Institute for Aviation Research’s mission to support the local aviation industry by providing research, development, testing and certification. “I am pleased for the staff at NIAR and everyone who works with us,” says Don Beggs, WSU president. “We work hard to move the industry forward and our No. 2 ranking is indicative of our continued leadership in aviation.”
“It demonstrates that the industry recognizes that research and development play a key role in the economic recovery phase,” says John Tomblin, NIAR executive director. “Because of this and other innovative new partnerships, the institute has experienced unprecedented growth.”
NIAR funding totaled $39.4 million in 2009, which accounted for 79 percent of the university’s aeronautical R&D expenditures. Funding for 2009 was made up of the following sources: federal contracts, 49 percent; industry contracts, 32 percent; NIAR/industry/ state research program, 13 percent; WSU, 3 percent; and Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp., 2 percent.
Examples of NIAR’s federal contracts include grants from the Federal Aviation Administration for composites research and the Department of Defense for aging aircraft research, specifically life extension of the KC-135
tanker fleet.
Friends of Les Create the Anderson Fund for Students
He’s the kind of professor who takes money out of his own pocket to help a student out, says “Spike” Anderson ’93 about his father, Les Anderson, a professor in Wichita State’s Elliott School of Communication.
Thus the concept behind the Les Anderson Fund for Students, brought to the WSU Foundation by alums and friends of Anderson to honor a journalism professor who has always gone out of his way to support and promote his students. The endowed fund will give the Elliott School a new resource to tap for fueling a student’s attendance to a conference, a luncheon, a field trip, a special seminar class.
Hundreds of Anderson’s students can testify: He’s a relentless supporter who never tires of reminding his students to apply for scholarships or internships. And, as his son discovered, he’ll find a way to cover incidental expenses.
A new Facebook page created by the foundation provides a link to event and donor information for the Anderson Fund. The “Friends of Les” page, at www.facebook.com/friendsofles, is already full of voices that reflect Anderson’s professionalism and trademark humor.
“I like this page so much, I think I ‘liked’ it twice! Mentally crafting my testimonial.” Sara (Dickenson) Quinn ’87, instructor, Poynter Institute for Media Studies, and the 2009 Elliott School Outstanding Alumna. Becky Funke, editor of Active Aging and not an Anderson former student, posted: “Back in the day of working in community journalism, Les and crew set the bar high with the Ark Valley News and inspired those working in the area to improve their own publications.”
Because Anderson is known for his sense of fun, love of bluegrass music and dislike of formal attire, the main fundraising event will address all three passions. Titled “Beyond Casual” (because the honoree won’t let us use “very” in a sentence), it will be a party atmosphere with acoustic music, food, drink and tall tales. The event will be from 6-9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Marcus Welcome Center.
Les Fund executive committee members Tami Bradley ’84, Shannon Littlejohn ’89, Courtney Looney, Molly McMillin ’94 and Kent Meyerhoff ’91 are working on the Anderson Fund with Mike Rishell at the foundation and faculty/staff at the Elliott School.
Getting involved in the fundraising committee was an easy decision for Looney, a graduate student in the Elliott School who has worked with Anderson in class and on special projects, including the Symphony in the Flint Hills magazine. “Because of Les,” she says, “I found a true love for journalism and a passion to ‘pay it forward’ to others, just like he has been doing for years.”
– Shannon Littlejohn ’89
Zippers Unknown
This summer, Wichita’s Fiber Studio exhibited ethnographic textiles and clothing from the collection of Jerry Martin, director of WSU’s Lowell D. Holmes Museum. The special showing featured a wide range of exotic textiles from China, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Mexico and Guatemala.
Among the show’s highlights were a Ching Dynasty imperial robe; an ethnic dress style from Oaxaca, Mexico, worn by 20th-century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo; Indonesian Ikat burial wraps; and intricately woven and embroidered huipils, blouses, from Guatemala. Martin, over a span of almost 50 years now, has made collecting trips both privately and for WSU’s museum of anthropology, trekking to New Guinea, Southeast Asia, China, India, West Africa, South America, Mexico, many of the Melanesian islands and Central America.
WSU College of Education Receives KBOR Grant
In July, the WSU College of Education was awarded a three-year, $163,000 grant from the Kansas Board of Regents in support of teacher education. Specifically, the grant targets three endeavors: a program to increase the number of teachers endorsed to support English Language Learners, efforts to increase enrollment in teacher education and the creation of a new residency program to prepare individuals who currently hold a bachelor’s degree and plan to become middle-level or secondary teachers by gaining field experiences through cooperative education or as school paraprofessionals.
– College of Education News & Notes
$1.4 Million for CIBOR Project
WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to fund the National Center of Innovation for Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Research’s casualty stabilization project.
The DoD grant is CIBOR’s first for a government project. “The receipt of the DoD grant is a milestone for CIBOR,” says David McDonald, associate provost for research at WSU and CIBOR secretary and treasurer. “It verifies the organization is making great strides and utilizing its start-up funding to full advantage. I anticipate this is the first of many significant government and industry-funded projects.”
The DoD-funded project is focused on the development of a fast-setting composite stabilization device for battlefield use. “The research team has been working toward funding for this project since CIBOR’s inception,” explains Richard Sullivan, CIBOR president and CEO. “It has great potential to improve the process of battlefield stabilization, help reduce battlefield casualties and improve recovery time for our military personnel.”
The importance of proper and immediate orthopaedic care for combatants is indicated by a high prevalence and severity of extremity injuries, which account for 71 percent of combat casualties. Of these injuries, 51 percent are open wounds and 19 percent are fractures, according to a 2009 study by researchers at the Science Applications International Corp. and the Naval Health Research Center.
Most of these injuries can be attributed to the use of modern body armor, which protects vital organs, but has resulted in a pattern of battlefield injuries that concentrate trauma to the extremities. Inadequate fixation of unstable fractures can result in further damage to the vasculature and nervous system during transport, which may result in amputation of an injured limb that might have been saved.
The project is slated for a two-year timeline and will include a research phase, prototype testing, functional testing, biomechanical testing and biological evaluation.
– Vol. 11-15, E-News from the National Institute for Aviation Research
The Graduation Partnership
The Kansas Board of Regents has established a set of goals for all of the state’s regents institutions to ultimately achieve a 10 percent point increase in the first-year retention and six-year graduation rates. “These goals,” WSU President Don Beggs has emphasized to the university community, “will be a significant priority for all of us in the years ahead.”
A collaborative reshaping initiative that has been three years in the making, the Gradation Partnership sets out the university’s first steps in meeting these specific goals:
• Increasing the retention-rate of first year, full-time freshman from 70 to 80 percent by 2020.
• Increasing the six-year graduation rate of first time, full-time freshmen from 40 to 50 percent by 2020.
• Developing metrics to measure the graduation rates for transfer students, as well as increasing these rates by 10 percent over the same 10-year period.
