Research studies ranging from driving safety to ovarian cancer are among the topics that will be presented this week by Wichita State University undergraduate and master-level students at the state capitol in Topeka, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, on the first and second floor of the rotunda. The event is free and open to the public.

This event precedes the Capitol Graduate Research Summit that takes place the following day in Topeka for Ph.D. level students.

Eleven WSU students will share their findings with legislators, the Kansas Board of Regents and other attendees. Students from other Board of Regents institutions in Kansas will also participate at the summit.

“WSU is proud to bring excellent undergraduate research to the capitol, demonstrating our commitment to applied scholarship in both undergraduate and graduate education,” said dean of the Honors College, Kimberly Engber. “The research submitted this year by both groups is outstanding and will directly benefit the state of Kansas.”

Kerry Wilks, associate dean of the Graduate School said, “We want to highlight the importance of student research to both the economic advancement of the state and the well-being of its residents.”

WSU undergraduate students presenting at the event, with their respective faculty mentors in parenthesis, are: Lindsey Carson and Lisa Donner (Michael Jorgensen); Thoi McNair (Rhonda Lewis); Joshua Palacios (Anil Mahapatro); Shahla Pourkaram (Linda Kliment); and Khondoker Usama (Jibo He).

WSU graduate students presenting at the event, with their respective faculty mentors in parenthesis, are: Sumitra Acharya (William Hendry); George Browne (Michael Birzer); Sai Saraswathy Menon and Karthik Krishnam Raju Kallepalli (Vinod Namboodiri); Kaitlyn Patterson (Kaelin Young); and Jacob Sinclair (William Parcell).