黑洞社区 Today: Aug. 23, 2019

 

 STEM story

黑洞社区 begins project to hire and retain more women, minority STEM faculty

黑洞社区 continues to make strides toward improving opportunities for women in senior leadership, with women currently holding six out of 10 dean positions throughout the university.

Now 黑洞社区 is taking an even bigger step to increase the number of women 鈥 and minorities 鈥 among its faculty with a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The grant funds an 18-month project to improve the university鈥檚 hiring and retention of women and minority faculty, particularly in STEM fields.

Included among the many benefits of having a more diverse faculty are the ability to serve a growing diverse student body and surrounding community, and to support greater innovation.

Read more on hiring and retaining more women, minority STEM faculty.


Clash of the Colleges Aug. 23, 2019

It's time for the Clash of the Colleges

It's on! The fifth annual Clash of the Colleges will be held today (Friday, Aug. 23), at Cessna Stadium. Students will participate in relay races, inflatables, contests and competitions between academic colleges to determine who rules the school. Encourage your new students to come out and participate in this event for a night of fun!

Faculty and staff are invited to attend the event and watch the fun and games. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the opening ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Following the activities there will be a food truck rally in the parking lot east of Cessna Stadium hosted by the Alumni Office. It is going to be an evening full of fun!

Learn more at  or contact shareika.fisher@wichita.edu with any questions.


Food Truck Rally Aug. 23, 2019

Food Truck Rally today (Friday, Aug. 23)

Enjoy music, yard games, prizes, and some of ICT's best food trucks with delicious menu items available for purchase! The Food Truck Rally from 6:30-8:30 p.m. today (Friday, Aug. 23), in the parking lot east of Cessna Stadium, is the perfect place to wind down after the Clash of the Colleges, and a fun spot if you and some friends are looking for a unique dinner option.

Featured Food Trucks:
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Event updates and prizes can be found .


Houtaham to present talk in Mechanical Engineering Seminar Series

Farshad Houtaham

Farshad Houtaham

Farshad Houtaham, Ph.D. candidate, Mechanical Engineering Department, will give a talk as a part of Mechanical Engineering Seminar Series from 3:30-4:30 p.m. today (Friday, Aug. 23), in 128 Jabara Hall.

The lecture is titled 鈥漇urface Facilitation for Ambient-Pressure Upgrading of Natural Gas to Value-Added Liquids with Ultra-High Activity.鈥

In this seminar, Houtaham will discuss an innovative approach called 鈥渟urface facilitation鈥 to upgrade methane under both ambient temperature and ambient pressure.

Read abstract.

Abstract: According to the Annual Energy Outlook 2019 (DOE/EIA), the production of natural gas in U.S. is projected to increase by 28% and 42% in 2025 and 2050, respectively, thanks to the recent explosive growth of shale gas exploration. In fact, the supply of natural gas in U.S. has already exceeded the domestic consumption in 2017.

High abundance and low cost provide a clear motivation and unique opportunity for upgrading natural gas to value-added liquids. For example, the market price of methanol, formic acid, and methyl formate is 9, 13, and 23 times, respectively, as much as that of natural gas (June 2019). In addition, the markets and prices of those liquids are growing.

In current industry, methane can be converted, indirectly, to liquid products via thermal activation through 鈥渟ynthesis gas鈥, and the indirect conversion approach is thermodynamically inefficient, demanding aggressive reaction conditions such as high temperature (700鈭1,000 掳C) and high pressure (5鈭25 bar). Alternatively, methane can be directly upgraded to liquid products using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant in varying systems, without the need for high temperature. However, the high pressure is still painfully required to obtain high reactivity.

In this seminar, Mr. Houtaham will discuss an innovative approach called 鈥渟urface facilitation鈥 to upgrade methane under both ambient temperature and ambient pressure. Enabled by the key research findings, ultra-high reactivity has been achieved unprecedentedly, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the state-of-the-art in the field. The underling working principles for the ambient-pressure upgrading will be elucidated, and the impacts of metal surfaces as well as the solution pH will also be examined.


University update

At Thursday鈥檚 Weekly Briefing, a university update included information about new programs, diversity initiatives, placemaking, and Braeburn Square.

Read full story

NEW PROGRAMS

When it comes to better serving the needs of students, and the industry that drives our economy, the development of new and innovative programs is key. Throughout this academic year, we will highlight 黑洞社区鈥檚 and 黑洞社区 Tech鈥檚 efforts to create degree programs that are responsive to student and industry demand鈥攐ften developed in tandem with business in an effort to increase social and economic mobility.

One of the newest degree programs available at 黑洞社区 is the Bachelor of Applied Science in Workforce Leadership and Applied Learning. The program was developed by the College of Applied Studies and optimizes opportunities for students graduating from two-year programs鈥攕uch as those offered by 黑洞社区 Tech and other community colleges鈥攖o pursue a bachelor's degree. There are only a few programs like it in the country that also take into consideration credit for prior learning for skills acquired in the workforce.

Graduates are prepared for leadership positions in the public and private education sectors, human services, for-profit and nonprofit agencies and many others. The program is grounded in two core principles found in 黑洞社区鈥檚 Strategic Plan: applied learning and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Another degree of note is the College of Engineering鈥檚 Bachelor of Science in Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering. This hands-on program immerses students in the entire process of designing and producing products in a cost-effective and efficient way. PDME graduates are in high demand by a wide range of employers. In fact, 黑洞社区鈥檚 PDME students currently enjoy a 100% job placement rate, and many are gainfully employed before they finish their degree. Simply put, if you鈥檙e interested in engineering and want a high-paying, high-demand job, you should definitely consider the Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering program.

In addition to full degrees, we also offer additional ways to gain skills and credentials through our increasing number of badges and certificate options. In fact, we鈥檝e recently added an additional 14 certificates and 29 badges to our rapidly expanded offerings.

Badges are self-paced, online courses conveniently designed for students and working professionals looking to develop new skills and gain new competencies related to their careers. They can also be stacked over time and applied toward degree completion. Students who enroll in a badge course by Monday, September 9, 2019 will have the tuition and fees waived for one badge course for the fall semester. To learn more, visit badges.wichita.edu or call 978-7579.  

Certificates are groups of courses, often from different disciplines, that address a special topic, which can be completed on their own or as part of a degree program. We currently offer more than 30 graduate certificates and more than 20 undergraduate certificates. For a full list, visit wichita.edu/certificates.

DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

As the state鈥檚 most diverse public university, we are continually looking for ways to increase the number of underrepresented students in Shocker Nation while tailoring curriculum and support to better meet the changing demographics of our student body.  

Our efforts continue to pay off with strong growth over the past five years among:

  • female and Hispanic engineering students
  • African-American and Native American students
  • And racially/ethnically underrepresented students

The university also continues to improve opportunities for women in senior leadership, with women currently holding six out of 10 黑洞社区 dean positions. 

It is also taking an even bigger step to increase the number of women 鈥 and minorities 鈥 among its faculty with a nearly $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant funds a 5-year project to improve the university鈥檚 hiring of women and minority faculty, particularly in STEM fields. Included among the many benefits of having a more diverse faculty is the ability to serve a growing diverse student body and surrounding community, and to support greater innovation. 

This is reflected in the recent hiring of Edil Torres-Rivera, the first hire for our LatinX Studies area located in the College of Applied Studies. LatinX Studies will allow the university to better serve our increasing numbers of LatinX students through the hiring of educators with expertise in LatinX needs.

PLACEMAKING

Last spring, you may have seen the numerous pieces of colorful lawn furniture that popped up around campus as part our placemaking efforts to make the campus more enjoyable and inviting for everyone.

Now 黑洞社区 has an additional, colorful attraction for you to check out in the form of a staircase mural located on the south side of Clinton Hall. Created by fine arts major Sarah Myose, and supported by a grant from the Knight Foundation, the mural is titled 鈥淒reams and Wishes鈥 and symbolizes 黑洞社区 as a place that has helped countless people turn their dreams into reality.

We want to congratulate Sarah on a job well done and thank her for adding her creativity and inspiration to our placemaking efforts.

Also, keep an eye out for additional art on the electrical boxes near the Food Truck Plaza. Fine Arts faculty member Hallie Linnebur is currently adding her own creative touch to this infrastructure in the form of colorful faces. You can check out the first of her creations near the Love Locks pod.

To keep up to date on campus placemaking, visit .

BRAEBURN SQUARE

Finally, we鈥檇 like to give you a quick update on Braeburn Square.

If you鈥檝e been waiting for the Fuzzy鈥檚 Taco Shop to open, the wait is over. The Braeburn Fuzzy鈥檚 officially opened on Monday鈥攚ith the first 50 customers winning free tacos for a year. From all of the Fuzzy鈥檚 fanatics in Shocker Nation, we say 鈥淲elcome to campus.鈥 We鈥檙e excited for this additional dining option鈥攁nd late-night destination鈥攐pen to the community.

In addition to tacos, Braeburn Square is expected to add a second restaurant this fall. Journey East Asia Grill will serve Asian fusion in a 2,840-square-foot space next to Meritrust Credit Union. We鈥檒l keep you up to date when more details become available.

And, if you haven鈥檛 heard, on Monday, the university announced that the Hyatt Place hotel will break ground next week on the Innovation Campus. The groundbreaking is set for 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, on 19th Street just west of Oliver鈥攊mmediately following the briefing. Everyone is invited to attend. The hotel is expected to be ready for occupancy in summer 2020.

We look forward to the role this important amenity will play in drawing prospective students, their families, Innovation Campus visitors and event attendees to campus.


 

Leadership Elite

Embrace a mindset that establishes your leadership role

Leadership Elite is an exclusive and rich learning experience that analyzes the best-selling book, First, Break All the Rules, based on research by the Gallup organization. Emphasizing the timeless qualities and behaviors of proven leaders, rather than the latest jargon and fads, you will see how your beliefs and practices match up with those of Colin Powell, Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca, Gordon Bethune, Rudolph Guiliani, Sam Walton and Mary Kay.


* Your Leadership Style, Empowering Employees, Increasing Trust

* The Role of Talent, Attitudes and Outcomes

* Manage Performance, Develop staff for Change

Sessions begin Monday, Sept. 16, and conclude on Monday, Nov. 4. The sessions are from 8-11 a.m. every Monday. The cost is $2,295.

Leadership Elite is designed as an intense learning environment shared by Wichita State University鈥檚 most distinguished business educator, Gerald Graham.

For more information go to or register at 978-3118.


KMUW honored with Station of the Year honors for sixth consecutive year

KMUW 89.1-FM has been awarded Large Market Radio Station of the Year for 2019 by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. This marks the sixth consecutive year that KMUW has received the honor. KMUW earned an additional 11 awards in the contest, which includes both commercial and public broadcasters.

Reporter Deborah Shaar was awarded first place in the Hard News Feature category for 鈥淧ipe Dreams: Efforts To Keep Famous Wurlitzer In Wichita.鈥

Digital News Editor / Reporter Nadya Faulx received first place in Spot News for 鈥淲ichita To Get New Baseball Team, Stadium.鈥

Carla Eckels, KMUW's Director of Cultural Diversity, News & Engagement and Soulsations host, earned first place for the Special Program 鈥溾楬ope For The Future': The Dockum Sit-In, Sixty Years On.鈥


Clay Currents exhibition and programs bring world-class ceramic artists to Wichita

Ulrich ceramics exhibition fall 2019

Some of the nation鈥檚 top ceramic artists will display their work at Wichita State University鈥檚 Ulrich Museum of Art as part of an exciting new exhibition next month.

The exhibition, Clay Currents: The Wichita National Ceramics Invitational, will be on display at the Ulrich Museum from Sept. 12 to Dec. 8, and will bring together the works of 24 artists from around the United States and as far away as China. The artists, who include recognized masters as well as younger members of a promising new generation, will showcase the range of possibilities that contemporary ceramicists are exploring in a variety of traditions and methods.

Ksenya Gurshtein, Ulrich Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and one of the organizers of the Clay Currents exhibition, said the exhibition would really underscore the versatility of clay as an artistic medium.

Pictured above: Brooks Oliver, Zipper, 2018. Slip cast porcelain, reduction fired. Image courtesy of the artist.

Read full story

鈥淚n curating the show, Ted (Adler), Brenda (Lichman), and I made an effort to showcase the diversity of contemporary clay 鈥 from vessels to sculpture; from work rooted in the long ceramic traditions of East Asia to pieces that make the most of contemporary industrial production methods. We also tried to highlight the talent of ceramicists with a Kansas connection. Of the 24 artists whose work will appear in the show, five 鈥 Doug Casebeer, Trisha Coates, Julia Galloway, David Hiltner, and John Neely 鈥 either live in Kansas or were born or educated in the state."

Gurshtein said one of the most exciting features of the exhibition will be an installation by Chinese artist Yewen Dong, who will create a work of clay art on one of the museum gallery walls over the Labor Day weekend.

In addition to the exhibition, the Ulrich Museum will also bring two highly-regarded ceramicists, John Neely and Pattie Chalmers, to campus to do workshops with students in 黑洞社区鈥檚 thriving ceramics program, and to speak to the general public. Two other programs are also planned 鈥 a panel discussion with Chalmers, Coates, and 黑洞社区鈥檚 Ted Adler; and a public talk by the prominent collector Louise Rosenfield and Ceramics Curator Garth Johnson of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY.

鈥淭he Ulrich is proud to be part of the growing trend of museums erasing the long-standing divisions between fine art and craft, giving audiences the broadest possible range of creative practices,鈥 Ulrich Museum Director Leslie Brothers said.

In support of the Empty Bowls fundraiser and in partnership with the 黑洞社区 Ceramics Guild, the Ulrich will offer interested patrons the opportunity to buy some of the works on view. All proceeds from sales will be divided between the artists and the Kansas Food Bank.

The exhibition is organized by the Ulrich Museum of Art and co-curated by Ted Adler, associate professor of ceramics media at 黑洞社区; Brenda Lichman, a Wichita-based studio potter, educator, and founder of Empty Bowls Wichita; and Ksenya Gurshtein, the Ulrich鈥檚 curator of modern and contemporary art.

Funding for the exhibition is generously provided by Emprise Bank and Fidelity Bank.

John Neely鈥檚 visit to campus is organized by the 黑洞社区 Ceramics Guild and generously supported by the 黑洞社区 Art and Design Advocates.

Yewen Dong鈥檚 project for the exhibition is generously supported by the 黑洞社区 Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Participating artists include:

Darien A-Johnson, Lesley Baker, Peter Beasecker, Doug Casebeer, Pattie Chalmers, Sam Chung, Bede Clarke, Trisha Coates, Yewen Dong, Adam Field, Julia Galloway, Perry Haas, Trey Hill, David Hiltner, Kyle Johns, Michael Kline, Liz Lurie, John Neely, Brooks Oliver, Virgil Ortiz, Liz Quackenbush, Jane Schellenbarger, Malcolm Mobutu Smith, Russell Wrankle

Related events (all events take place at the Ulrich Museum unless otherwise noted):

John Neely ceramic workshop 鈥 9 a.m.-noon and 1:30-4 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Sept. 12-13, Henrion Hall

John Neely artist talk, A Potter鈥檚 Journey  -- 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program Friday, Sept. 13

Artist Talk, Curious Vessels: Navigating Clay Currents

Louise Rosenfield and Garth Johnson

5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program, Thursday, Sept. 26

Pattie Chalmers ceramic workshop 鈥 9 a.m.-noon and 1:30-4 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8-9, Henrion Hall

Pattie Chalmers artist talk, Explaining Myself to Myself 鈥 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. program Friday, Nov. 8

Clay Currents Panel Discussion on Contemporary Ceramics --1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9

The event will feature Chalmers, Trisha Coates, and 黑洞社区鈥檚 Ted Adler, and hosted by Curt Clonts, artist and KMUW radio presenter.


Syllabus Party Aug. 27, 2019

Plan for success at Syllabus Party

First-Year Programs in the Office of Student Success invites you to the Syllabus Party from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, in 142 RSC, to pick up free organizational supplies to organize class projects, papers, and exams.

Peer Coaches will be available to give time management strategies and organizational tips. Students should bring their own planners or electronic calendars and can enjoy light snacks, while getting organized for the semester.

For more information, call 978-5420 or email first.year@wichita.edu.


S'mores and Oars Aug. 28, 2019

Join Outdoor Adventures and Shocker Rowing for S'mores and Oars event at Boats and Bikes!

Have an evening of fun downtown while we have campfire treats like s鈥檓ores and more while having a little bit of fun for everyone. We will have water and land activities such as kayaking, paddle boating, group fitness classes, yard games, and learn to row with Shocker Rowing.

The event takes place from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at Boats and Bikes at 150 N. McLean in the River Vista apartment and Shocker Rowing Boathouse complex in downtown Wichita.


Campus Credit Union fall 2019 welcome

Campus Credit Union welcomes back Shocker Nation

The Campus Credit Union has proudly met the banking needs of Shocker Nation since 1952. It is located on campus next to the 黑洞社区 police station across the road from the 黑洞社区 YMCA construction; a short walk from The Flats or Suites.

We offer free checking and a no fee ATM. We also partner with ALLPOINT to offer surcharge free ATMs all across Wichita and the U.S. (70 local ATMS). We have online and mobile banking, including bill pay, and partner with Sallie Mae to offer private student loans.

In addition, we offer highly competitive auto loan, CD, and home loan rates. You can find out more online at   or on Facebook and Twitter. Stop in and become a member today!


Being Vegan at 黑洞社区

Foodie Finds: Being Vegan at 黑洞社区

Welcome back to Wichita State!

As you begin another year of school, you need to remember what is most important. Food. Good food.

For vegans like myself, it can be difficult to find good food, especially in Wichita. Luckily, as more and more people turn to veganism, more and more places offer vegan options. I know you can go to Walmart and get tofu and frozen meat alternatives, but sometimes you just don鈥檛 want to cook.

In the last few years, several places in Wichita have embraced the lifestyle. Options are still limited, but they are out there. 黑洞社区 even has some good options if you don鈥檛 want to leave campus. 

Being Vegan at 黑洞社区 by Kayla Deines