Teams from the awarded Convergence Sciences Initiative proposals will give 10-minute presentations featuring their projects at 3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23.

The presentations, which will be held via Zoom, will allow each team to further explain the intended outcomes of the projects, including plans for external funding.

“All four projects have the potential to be gamechangers in the direction and intensity of research at Wichita State, and in social and economic impact in the region,” said Dr. Andrew Hippisley, dean of Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “The projects showcase the power of partnerships, the value of combining expertise, and the courage to take risks in pursuing ambitious problems that can only be solved by converging disciplines.”

The four awarded proposals include:

• Sustainability Theme: The Smart Fusion Material Research Institute will be developing novel computational, material and digital manufacturing approaches to unlock the complex interactions among material, microstructure, processing and mechanical properties involved in additive manufacturing.
• Digital Transformations Theme: The Disaster Resilience Analytics Center will leverage the university’s expertise in artificial intelligence, deep learning and multiple modes of big data to better predict natural and human-made disasters and improve preparedness by creating a new generation of digital platforms and support services.
• Health Disparities Theme: The Institute for Health Disparities will generate new methods to reduce obesity among vulnerable populations and improve health literacy as a mechanism among health care providers for behavior change.
• Wildcard Theme: The Center for Educational Technologies to Assist Refugee Learners will focus on designing innovative solutions to meet the educational needs to the children of the more than 70 million forcibly displaced refugees worldwide. As a result, it will also create innovative pathways and software for educational access to those in our state and nation.

Faculty involved with each center or institute will also work to develop new academic programs. The projects pay close attention to our educational mission, carefully assigning roles for undergraduate and graduate students as collaborators and beneficiaries of educational opportunities. Applied research and applied learning are built into the plans and the deliverables.

To register for the event and to receive Zoom meeting information, visit https://www.wichita.edu/convergencetownhall.

For more information, contact: Andrew Hippisley, dean of Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at (316) 978-6659 or andrew.hippisley@wichita.edu.