Groover Labs, a partner of Wichita State University’s College of Engineering, has been awarded state funding through the Accelerating Concept to Commercialization in Kansas (ACCEL-KS) program. As part of its grant activities, Groover Labs is directing resources to projects that will expand applied learning and innovation opportunities for Wichita State students.

On July 15, the Kansas Department of Commerce named Groover Labs one of two recipients of the ACCEL-KS grant. Groover Labs and KU Innovation Park in Lawrence will share $800,000 to support at least 32 early-stage commercialization projects across the state.

The ACCEL-KS program aims to speed up the transformation of innovative ideas and technologies into market-ready products—fueling economic growth, workforce development, and entrepreneurial success in Kansas.

Groover Labs, a nonprofit collaborative makerspace and prototyping lab, has partnered with WSU’s College of Engineering since December 2024. The partnership connects students, staff and faculty in WSU’s Project Innovation Hub with local entrepreneurs and startups to support product development, design, machining and research.

“Our partnership with Groover Labs has expanded opportunities for our students and introduced them to an amazing entrepreneurial community based right here in Wichita,” said Nathan Smith, director of the Project Innovation Hub. “Through working with Groover and its partners, students can work to address real-world engineering challenges that are directly relevant to their future careers—building prototypes, analyzing manufacturing processes and solving problems for Kansas entrepreneurs and businesses.”

The Project Innovation Hub, located in the John Bardo Center on Wichita State’s Innovation Campus, is a 17,000-square-foot rapid-prototyping facility staffed by paid WSU students who work closely with professional staff, faculty and local industry partners.

The ACCEL-KS grant will allow WSU and Groover Labs to further extend applied learning into Groover’s 42,000-square-foot downtown makerspace. New initiatives will include a studio course co-taught by WSU faculty and Groover Labs mentors, a micro-grant fund for student prototypes, and K–12 outreach events open to the public.

“By fusing our Project Innovation Hub with Groover Labs’ ACCEL-KS resources, this partnership strengthens WSU’s mission as Kansas’ premier urban public research university,” said Dr. Steven Skinner, interim dean of the College of Engineering. “Together we are scaling applied learning, accelerating Kansas ideas to market, and energizing the regional innovation economy.”

Businesses interested in collaborating with the WSU College of Engineering and Groover Labs on prototyping, product development or innovation initiatives can contact Smith at nathan.smith@wichita.edu or 316-978-7461.

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Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

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