Faculty and Staff Virtual Town Hall today!
A live YouTube virtual staff and faculty town hall will be held from 9-10 a.m. today (Thursday, July 30). This is an opportunity to hear and interact with President Jay Golden and Provost Rick Muma. The event will be moderated by presidents of the UP, USS and Faculty Senates.
Faculty and staff wanting to participate are encouraged to do so during the live YouTube stream. If you don’t currently have a YouTube account, click here for more information on how to create one. Creating an account will help facilitate questions in the live chat section of the Virtual Town Hall.
The town hall is an opportunity to hear university updates and ask questions.
Meeting needs of industry leads to new patents for university
If necessity is the mother of invention, it may also be the source of new patents: The story of how Dr. Ali Eslami became the holder of US Patent 10,689,898 – his first – begins with a local company asking for an invention to save it money.
The company, a licensee of a bigger company that manufactures and installs industrial lift doors, was paying another company $300 to $450 to buy remotes for each door. The company, which asked not to be identified, approached Eslami about creating an app that could control the doors remotely by smartphone instead.
“My field is wireless and mobile communications and this project was fitting my area very well,” said Eslami, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical engineering and Computer Science.
Working with colleagues Dr. Abu Asaduzzaman and Mohammad H. Erjaei, his former graduate student, Eslami developed a solution to meet the company’s needs: an app combined with remote cameras, sensors and lift controls connected to Wi-Fi, which allow someone to remotely observe, open and close a commercial lift door.
Pictured above: Dr. Ali Eslami demonstrates a prototype of his invention.
“The invention provides means for enabling a user to control a large industrial/commercial door unit (of a warehouse, machine shed, barn, or airplane hangar) without using a mounted door panel or dedicated remote control devices,” Eslami explained.
“The user can monitor the door status by looking at live streaming video of the door in the mobile application. This is particularly useful for giant commercial "lift" doors… to prevent the door from hitting and damaging objects in the door’s path, ie. cattle or expensive machinery.” Users can manage multiple doors from one app loaded on a mobile device, which also provides a log history of each door's status.
Eslami worked with Wichita State’s Office of Tech Transfer and Commercialization to file the paperwork to patent his team’s invention. He received word the patent for “Internet-Based Remote Control and Monitoring System for Commercial Doors Using Mobile Devices” was granted on June 23.
“We have been in touch with a couple of companies for licensing the patent while it was pending. I think we have a good shot at getting a licensing deal now that it is granted,” said Eslami.
“What Dr. Eslami and his team were able to accomplish for this local company goes to the heart of what we mean when we say we are an economic driver for the state of Kansas,” said Dennis Livesay, dean of the College of Engineering. “We have the will and talent to provide innovative cost-saving solutions for companies, big and small.”
Now, in addition to saving the local company money by eliminating the need to buy dedicated remotes, Dr. Eslami stands to make money for himself as well as Wichita State. Under university policy, faculty and the university each receive 50% of revenue generated by faculty patents.
According to Robert D. Gerlach, executive director of the Office of Tech Transfer and Commercialization, licensing revenue for the university is a modest but growing source of income. “The good news is it’s a positive upward trend,” Gerlach said.
Getting a patent is a significant accomplishment. Nearly a dozen have been granted to College of Engineering faculty in the past three years. Those awarded patents include, but are not limited to: Dr. Vinod Namboodiri for a beacon-based indoor wayfinding system; Dr. Viswanathan Madhavan for an apparatus and method for simulating machining and other forming operations; Dr. Shuang Gu for a method to convert of natural gas into clean liquid fuels; Dr. Hyuck M. Kwon for a system and method for generating exact symbol error rates of frequency-hopped signals; and Dr. Ramazan Asmatulu for a composite magnetic nanoparticle drug delivery system.
Faculty sabbaticals approved for 2020-21 academic year
The following faculty sabbaticals were approved for the 2020-21 academic year:
Rebecca Bechtold, Associate Professor, English
Daniel Bergman, Professor, Curriculum & Instruction
Chase Billingham, Associate Professor, Sociology
Michael Birzer, Professor, Criminal Justice
Susan Castro, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Mary Jameson, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Charles Koeber, Associate Professor, Sociology
Chunsheng Ma, Professor, Mathematics & Statistics
Robert Manske, Professor, Physical Therapy
Catherine Searle, Professor, Mathematics & Statistics
Trisha Self, Associate Professor, Communication Sciences & Disorders
Wichita State student 'breaks things' as software tester to help customers
- Wichita State student Kristen Bruce works as a software tester for Flint Hills Group, a software development and data company.
- Bruce, an electrical engineering major, played an important role on a team that helped a client fix software issues and move to a new system.
- She returned to school at Wichita State to major in engineering because she wants to work in a field where critical thinking is valued.
Pictured above: Members of the Flint Hills Group and McAlister teams that worked together on a software fix (from left): Kristen Bruce (FHG), Dave Cunningham (FHG), Brian Buller (FHG), Monte Evans (FHG), Larry Walker (McAlister), Daniel Rymph (FHG), Duane Loewen (FHG), Heather Shank (McAlister), Scott Shank (McAlister).
Annual Report 2019-20: Transfer, Military & Adult Recruitment
Each summer, the admissions team takes time to reflect on the previous academic year - noting successes and areas for improvement. A full annual report will be released in August, but over the next several weeks the newsletter will include information on each area of the Admissions office. Below is information related to transfer, military, and adult recruitment efforts.
- Named the #1 transfer destination for community college transfers for nine years in a row
- Placed nine ads in three different community college publications
- Hosted five community college advisor luncheons
- Named to the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Roll for three years in a row
- Coordinated Transfer Game Day - a new event that was transfer student specific and held in conjunction with a Shocker men's basketball game
- 53 community college visits and events
- Cancelled 10 due to COVID-19
- 811 unique profiles created in the Transfer Gateway
- Attended four adult and career fairs at T-Mobile, WSU Tech, and Army National Guard Base in Wichita
- Several fairs were cancelled due to COVID-19
- Organized three adult learner virtual information sessions
- Staffed an information table at the military job/education recruitment event at Koch Industries
- Offered virtual Transfer Tuesday campus visits starting in April
University Libraries lists fall 2020 intersession hours
Ablah Library has new intersession hours up until the start of the fall 2020 semester. Keep up-to-date with hours, access to facilities / materials, and guidelines on our website libraries.wichita.edu/covid19.
Join the Community Engagement Institute (CEI) in our Rising to the Challenge Virtual Workshop Series
In recent months, everyone has been challenged to approach work and life with new priorities, tools, and energy.
CEI invites you to join us for a series of interactive, virtual workshops centered on navigating challenges with resilience and intention. These complimentary, 60-minute sessions are open to everyone. Join us over the lunch hour (noon-1 p.m.) to discover practical frameworks and techniques to help you rise to the challenges you are facing today!
Register for next week's workshop.
Ulrich Virtual program today takes you inside the studio of Wichita artist Patrick Duegaw
The Ulrich Museum of Art on the Wichita State University campus continues its Ulrich Virtual series Thursday with "In the Studio with Patrick Duegaw." The talk by the Wichita-based artist starts at 6 p.m. today (Thursday, July 30) and is free and open to the public. However, registration is required in order to get the Zoom link.
In 1990, Duegaw co-founded Fisch Haus, a multi-disciplinary art facility and the cornerstone of Wichita's Commerce Arts District. His billboard in the Ulrich + Artists + You Community Billboard Project is currently on view at 1219 E. Douglas.
Join the Ulrich Museum and artist Patrick Duegaw for what promises to be an exciting program--and all from the comfort of your own home!
Submit your WelcomeFest events
Welcomefest takes place during the beginning of classes each semester and features dozens of activities. You can submit your department or organization events to be included in the Welcomefest marketing, including an online guidebook, web listing and more. The deadline to submit events for inclusion in all Welcomefest marketing is noon Monday, Aug. 3.
Please note, Student Involvement reserves the right to deny or terminate any events that are not planned completely or are deemed inappropriate for Welcomefest and/or the people in attendance.
To register your event, go to www.wichita.edu/welcomefest. If you have questions, contact Student Involvement at 316-978-3022 or getinvolved@wichita.edu.
American delays start of fall Olympic sports until Sept. 1
The American Athletic Conference announced that it will delay the start of 2020 fall
Olympic sports competition until at least September 1.
The decision allows member institutions additional time to implement protocols for
a safe return to competition for student-athletes, coaches, and staff members.
The delay in competition includes exhibition and non-conference competition in the
sports of men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer and volleyball.
The rescheduling of nonconference contests due to these adjustments will be determined
by each member institution.
Required fire drills to be held on campus the week of Aug. 3-7
State fire regulations require that fire drills be held annually for all campus buildings. The 2020 fire drills will be conducted the week of Aug. 3-7.
Fire Safety personnel will conduct the drill some time during each scheduled day. When the alarm sounds in your building, evacuate the building in an orderly fashion to your designated assembly point(s), at least 50 feet from the building. Emergency Building Coordinators will assist with the evacuation. Environmental, Health and Safety staff will evaluate each drill.
Monday, Aug. 3:
Brennan 1, Brennan 2, Brennan 3, Garvey International, Intensive English, Henrion Hall, Fiske Hall, McKnight Hall, Wilner Hall, Ahlberg Hall, Elliott Hall
Tuesday, Aug. 4:
McKinley Hall, Jardine Hall, HR Building, Rhatigan Student Center, Morrison Hall, Wiedemann Hall, Duerksen Fine Arts Center, Jabara Hall, Clinton Hall, Neff Hall
Geology Building, Engineering Building
Wednesday, Aug. 5:
Koch Arena, Hubbard Hall, Devlin Hall, Corbin Hall, Eck office, AEGD, Metro Complex, Marcus Welcome Center, Woodman Alumni Center, LETC
Thursday, Aug. 6:
Heskett Center, Lindquist Hall, Grace Wilkie/Annex, Ablah Library, Media Resources Center, Wallace Hall, Beggs Hall, Aviation Testing Lab, NIAR building, NIAR Atlas,
John Bardo Center, NIAR Crash Lab
Friday, Aug. 7:
213 N. Mead, 238 N. Mead, West Campus, Central Power Plant