School:Wichita State University

Overview

Wichita State University is a public research university of 15,000 students located in Wichita, Kansas, United States. In April of 2014, the university established its commitment towards Innovation Campus with the purpose to transform the world through innovation, applied learning, entrepreneurship and economic impact. In line with the school’s vision and its multi-disciplinary concept, Wichita State University is starting to offer new avenues to encourage students and faculty to be innovative while attracting industry partners.

Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Promoting student innovation and entrepreneurship is a foundation of Wichita State University’s curriculum and strategic plan. Wichita State holds Kansas’ only entrepreneurship major as well as an entrepreneurship minor for both business and non-business majors, a graduate certificate in entrepreneurship and innovation and an MBA with focus on entrepreneurship. WSU is expanding its degree opportunities by offering an Innovation Design Masters degree beginning Spring 2016. The schools of Fine Arts, Health Sciences, Business, and Engineering are offering courses that incorporate entrepreneurship into the foundations of their curricula.

The Wichita State campus is expanding to reflect the innovation and entrepreneurship demands of the economy. In fall of 2016, a new Makerspace will open to cater to innovative Wichita State students from all majors and backgrounds.

Beyond academics, there are several programs encouraging entrepreneurship on campus. Every year students compete in the Shocker New Venture Competition, where winning student groups are awarded startup capital to aid in the launch of their new venture. Students also attend inspirational and informational speaker series focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and design, such as Business Booster Series, Shocker Startup Impact, and Lunch and Learn.

Encouraging faculty innovation and entrepreneurship

Many faculty at Wichita State University identify that the university is encouraging them to pursue innovation in and out of the classroom.  However, there is a clear sentiment that the incentive system of the university is not in line with promoting innovation.  Faculty members recognize that the money on campus is in traditional research rather than innovation and entrepreneurship.

An exciting new development is the Brenton Myers Innovation in Engineering Education Award.  The purpose of this award is to provide funds for College of Engineering faculty to introduce new curriculum that is designed to implement innovative and entrepreneurial methods in the classroom.  Although only engineering faculty will have access to these funds, effective strategies that are created by the faculty will be shared with other colleges in the university.

Actively supporting the university technology transfer function

Many faculty and admin feel that the university’s current IP policy generally favors students and promotes innovation. However, a significant portion of the student body and faculty view the IP policy negatively. Wichita State University’s Technology Transfer has been trying to rectify this. For example, they have begun to question the intellectual property agreement and have opened the discussion to students. Some design-based classes lead students to produce academic creations that could easily be patentable. Technology Transfer has made it a point to speak at some of these classes (Senior Design for Engineering). There are even workshops that help students and faculty understand intellectual property and patent law.

Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration

With the creation and building of the new Innovation Campus, WSU is partnering up with some big industry names to bring collaboration and innovation to its new campus. The goal of such partnerships will be to encourage and improve collaboration and innovation between students and professionals in the industry.  The new innovation campus will boast multiple Partnership Buildings where companies will be able to lease space and work with WSU students and faculty. These Partnership Buildings will open up a new line of networking between students and industry to provide internship and job opportunities. At the same time, the companies will be able to provide and fund new research and experimental facilities. As a benefit to them, they will be able to recruit and new talent continuously.

Some of the companies and organizations that have already partnered with WSU include Airbus, NetApp, Applied Technology Acceleration Institute, National Institute of Aviation Research, Tech Mahindra, iTalent Corp, Youth Entrepreneurs, ABI Group, Koch Industries, and others. Airbus, for example, will relocate their engineering center in downtown Wichita to the new Innovation campus. Airbus’ presence on campus will allow them to access research, testing labs, student employees, and faculty expertise quickly and easily. With NIAR already present on the campus, Airbus relocating to the new WSU campus will add to the research centers provided to students. 

Wichita State is working to facilitate university-industry collaboration at a much aggressive pace than in past year due to the need to bring advance research and experimental facilities for students and faculty. The goal is to turn Wichita State into an innovation focused university that is partnered with some of the biggest names in the industry.

Engaging With Regional & Local Economic Development Efforts

Campus outreach with specific industries is very strong, some of the industries represented more than others are aerospace, manufacturing, and education. In aerospace the university engages in a mass amount of research for advanced materials, coatings, and general controls design. Wichita hosts the number one industry funded Aerospace research firm in the nation named NIAR (National Institute For Aviation Research). In manufacturing the university has many researchers who specialize in advanced manufacturing and prototyping, most of these resources are being used for Aerospace research. In education the department reaches out to the schools in our community to create better teachers and facilities. Unfortunately not all of the industries are represented in the university's outreach but there is room for improvement.

Related Links

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