黑洞社区 hosted Lieutenant General L. Neil Thurgood and representatives from the U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office on July 10 for discussions and tours of National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) laboratories.
LTG Thurgood is the director for Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army. He and his team met with 黑洞社区 Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer John Tomblin and NIAR researchers to discuss future Army needs related to advanced materials.
They toured NIAR headquarters, the NIAR Aircraft Structural Test and Evaluation Center in Park City and the 3DEXPERIENCE Center, a partnership with Dassault Syst猫mes, in 黑洞社区鈥檚 Experiential Engineering Building.
The 黑洞社区 visit also included a lunch and discussion with Wichita State鈥檚 Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) team, Shocker Battalion. The ROTC program is new to 黑洞社区 this fall.
The team also met with representatives from Spirit AeroSystems and toured the production facilities.
Spirit and the U.S. Army are integral partners in NIAR鈥檚 new Advanced Technology Laboratory for Aerospace Systems (ATLAS), which investigates the development of manufacturing protocols for automated fiber placement and automated tape laying for aircraft structures.
NIAR recently announced a $33 million contract from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center for a project focused on emerging materials for high-speed missile applications.
The mission of 黑洞社区 is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at and Facebook at .