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At K-State

October 2016

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10 years of Iman Award winners

Alumni Association celebrates 10 years of Iman Awards

A decade ago, the K-State Alumni Association and Ron ’62, ’70, ’73 and Rae Iman partnered to find a way to build a deeper connection between the Alumni Association and the faculty at Kansas State University. They created the Iman Awards, and every year since, the Association and the Imans have honored two outstanding K-State faculty members for teaching and research.

 

On Sept. 26, the Association and the Imans celebrated 10 years of Iman Award winners while honoring two new award recipients, P.V. Vara Prasad and Dr. Robert L. Larson ’85, ’87, ’92.

 

“This is always one of my favorite events,” Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86, K-State Alumni Association president and CEO, said during the event. “We’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of this very special program. We’re excited that we have such distinguished faculty members who are recognized.”

 

P.V. Vara PrasadPrasad, who received the Outstanding Faculty Award for Research, is a university distinguished professor and director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sustainable Intensification in the College of Agriculture. He is an internationally recognized researcher who focuses on understanding responses of food grain crops to changing environments, and he is committed to innovative, collaborative research and capacity-building activities that enable families of smallholder farmers to become food and nutritionally secure and improve their livelihoods.

 

College of Agriculture Dean John Floros nominated Prasad for the award and said Prasad has secured more than $60 million in grants and contracts in less than 15 years at K-State. He is helping K-State reach its goal to become a top 50 public research university by 2025.

 

“This is a huge success for us as a university, this is a huge success for us as a college, and this is a huge success for him as a researcher,” Floros said. “Dr. Prasad is an outstanding faculty member.”

 

“It’s been a great pleasure working with K-State, and I hope to contribute more as I go along,” Prasad said.

 

Dr. Robert L. LarsonLarson, who received the Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching, is a professor and Edgar E. and M. Elizabeth Coleman Chair of Food Animal Production Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine. After spending some time in private practice, he decided to try academia before going back to practicing veterinary medicine. However, he loved working with students so much he decided to stay.

 

Dr. Bonnie Rush, executive associate dean and professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, said Larson’s students describe him using words like innovative, gifted, energetic and enthusiastic. He is a critical part of the College of Veterinary Medicine and is board certified by the American College of Theriogenologists, the American College of Animal Nutrition and the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine - Epidemiology specialty.

 

“You have certainly earned this award, and I appreciate all you have done for our students,” Rush told Larson.

 

“I really feel honored to receive this recognition,” Larson said. “I’m just one of many dedicated faculty at this great university.”

 

Learn more about the Iman Awards program. 

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Bob Boozer 1959

K-Staters inducted into athletic halls of fame

Kansas State University has a proud history of athletic excellence, and many Wildcat student-athletes have gone on to distinguished careers. Several of these K-Staters are being recognized this month by the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, along with recognition for K-State basketball great Bob Boozer ’59 by the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in November.

 

The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City is posthumously inducting Bob Boozer, a former K-State forward and two-time All-American. He averaged 25.6 points as a senior, leading the Wildcats to a 14-0 Big Eight record and the final No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll. He also was a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic team.

 

The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2016 includes four inductees with K-State connections: Steve Anson ’76, ’78, former K-State baseball player and Washburn University baseball’s career coaching wins leader (to be honored posthumously); Jaime Mendez III ’94, K-State All-American football player and three-time All-Big Eight selection; Austra Skujytė ’03, four-time K-State All-American and four-time Olympian; and Jerry Kill, three-time national football coach of the year and current K-State associate athletics director for administration.  

 

Steve Anson began his baseball career in Kansas in 1972 when he enrolled at K-State. He lettered for the Wildcats all four years in Manhattan and set career and single season marks that still stand today. Anson was named head coach at Washburn University in Topeka in 1980. He guided the Ichabods to five NAIA National Tournaments and was named the 1994 MIAA Conference Coach of the Year.

 

Jaime Mendez III helped form the foundation of K-State football during the early 1990s. A four-year letterman for the Wildcats, Mendez’s impact was immediate as he led the team in interceptions and interception return yardage as a freshman, both marks setting school records. Mendez was named the Big Eight Newcomer of the Year in 1990 and also earned All-Big Eight Conference honors in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Mendez was inducted into the K-State Football Ring of Honor in 2002.

 

A four-time All-American track star at K-State, Austra Skujytė from Biržai, Lithuania, rewrote the K-State record books on her way to Olympic history. The first woman to win two NCAA National Championships at K-State, Skujytė won back-to-back outdoor heptathlon titles in 2001 and 2002. Following her collegiate career, Skujytė competed for her home country in the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic games, becoming the only woman to compete in the heptathlon in four different Olympic games. Skujytė won the silver medal in the heptathlon in 2004 and finished fifth in the same event in 2012.

 

Now serving as K-State’s new associate athletics director for administration, Jerry Kill boasts a football coaching career spanning parts of three decades and numerous conference and national honors. In 2010, he was named head coach at the University of Minnesota. During his career, Kill won four conference championships while posting a career coaching record of 152-99.

 

Stay up-to-date with other K-State Athletics news at www.k-statesports.com. Learn more about Bob Boozer in the winter 2016 issue of the K-Stater magazine. 

 

Photo courtesy of Royal Purple archives.

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Interim President Gen. Richard Myers

Gen. Myers delivers annual state of the university address

Growth was the dominant theme in Kansas State University interim President Richard Myers’ 2016 state of the university address. Over the past several years, the university has seen growth in the areas of fundraising, research, campus construction and more.

 

“[We have] lots of things to be proud of,” Myers said during his address Sept. 23 at the K-State Alumni Center. “This is my alma mater. I always thought it was a great place to be. The longer I’m here, the more I’m absolutely convinced that it’s better than I ever thought it could be. This is truly a great institution.”

 

In fall 2016, K-State celebrates its most diverse enrollment ever, and this year’s freshman class boasts the highest composite ACT score in the university’s history. Multicultural enrollment continues to increase, with multicultural students now making up more than 15 percent of the K-State student body. The freshman-to-sophomore retention rate of 85.11 percent also is a record this year, up from 83.45 percent in fall 2015. 

 

Although budget uncertainties will continue as state funding remains up in the air, Myers thanked the university’s many generous donors who support the mission of K-State. Fundraising brought in $150.6 million in fiscal year 2016, up from $84.9 million in fiscal year 2010. So far, K-State has raised $894.7 million towards its $1 billion Innovation and Inspiration Campaign.

 

“This is good news for the university,” Myers said. “It helps us achieve our 2025 goal.”

 

In line with the university’s goal to become a top 50 public research university by 2025, research continues to expand at K-State. K-State has seen record increases in the area of research: 2,000 research proposals and a 40 percent jump in grant awards, along with 11 patents.

 

Campus also has been busy with new construction, designed to provide better places for students to learn, collaborate and enjoy the K-State experience. K-State has added or renovated 2.5 million square feet of academic-related space, resulting in a $397 million investment. Recent construction has included the new Berney Family Welcome Center in Memorial Stadium, Engineering Hall, the College of Business Administration building and the K-State Student Union. Wefald Hall also added new housing space for students. 

 

Myers said exciting things aren’t just happening at K-State’s Manhattan campus: the Polytechnic campus, K-State Olathe and Global Campus also have experienced growth. The Polytechnic campus is now ranked as the No. 2 unmanned aircraft systems program in the nation. K-State Olathe has introduced 10 graduate degrees and four graduate certificates. Global Campus is celebrating 50 years of providing education to adult students across the state, the country and the world.  

 

All these factors add up to create a great student experience at K-State. The Princeton Review recently ranked K-State in 13 different categories in the 2017 edition of The Best 381 Colleges. Among the rankings are No. 2 for students love these colleges, No. 3 for best quality of life, No. 4 for best athletic facilities and No. 6 for happiest students.

 

Myers offered his thanks to everyone who helps make K-State a great place to study, work or visit.

 

“It does take a team to get the job done,” he said. “Everybody’s important.”

 

Watch the complete 2016 state of the university address. 

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Don't text while driving

Wildcats encouraged to take Don’t Text #JustDrive pledge

Although it may only take a few seconds to send a text message while driving, those few seconds of distraction could be enough to cause a serious accident. When you’re behind the wheel, you should always keep your eyes on the road — no text message is worth risking your life.

 

To help raise awareness about distracted driving, Kansas State University, the K-State Alumni Association and the K-State Student Union Program Council are joining six other Kansas universities in promoting the Kansas Insurance Department’s Don’t Text #JustDrive campaign. The campaign encourages drivers to make a pledge to not text and drive. A friendly competition is also involved; the university with the highest percent of pledges compared to 2016 enrollment by Nov. 22 will win.

 

“We think this is a great way to promote a worthy goal of saving lives,” said Ken Selzer ’75, CPA, Kansas Commissioner of Insurance. “You pledge to not text and drive, you pick your school, and you cast your vote. Alumni, supporters and students of these Kansas schools show their support for the campaign and participate in a friendly competition at the same time.”

 

Distracted driving is an increasing problem. Seven in 10 people have reported engaging in smartphone activities while driving. Nearly four in 10 smartphone users tap into social media while driving, while almost three in 10 surf the net and one in 10 video chat. Sadly, 3,154 people were killed in distracted driving crashes in the U.S. in 2013; in 2014, 6 percent of all crashes were attributed to texting while driving, up from 1 percent in 2013. In 5 seconds — the average time your eyes are off the road while texting — you could drive the length of a football field while blindfolded at 55 mph. 

 

All K-Staters are encouraged to show Kansas that Wildcats don’t text and drive by taking the following pledge:

 

Don't text and drive campaign“No text message, email, website or video is worth the risk of endangering my life or the lives of others on the road. I pledge to not text and drive and will take action to educate others about the dangers of texting while driving. No text is worth the risk. It can wait.”

 

Take the pledge online or text “Wildcat” to 50555. 

 

“All Kansans can be winners through this campaign,” Commissioner Selzer said. “We can show pride in our universities and make a statement at the same time by using this phrase: ‘Eyes up. Phone Off. Save Lives.’”

 

As part of the campaign, AT&T’s texting and driving simulator will visit K-State’s Manhattan campus Nov. 15. Stay tuned for more information.

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Your Link for Life mobile app

K-State Alumni Association launches free mobile app

The K-State Alumni Association has developed a free mobile application for members and nonmembers of the Alumni Association, called Your Link for Life.

 

The Your Link for Life app connects users to the Alumni Association, bringing a user-friendly and personalized experience to their mobile devices. With the app, users are able to find nearby alumni events and activities through location-based settings, receive the latest Alumni Association news through mobile alerts and social media posts from an easy access portal, and join the Alumni Association or renew their memberships.

 

“We designed this app to make our programs and services easier to access,” said Megan Jurgensmeier ’11, associate director of membership for the Alumni Association. “This app is also a great way to stay current on alumni news and find ways to connect with K-State’s alumni and friends.”

 

Alumni Association members also gain easy access to their membership benefits, including their mobile membership card, the digital version of the K-Stater magazine and various member discounts.

 

The app is available for download on iOS and Android devices through the App Store and Google Play. To find the app, in your device’s store use the search terms “Your Link for Life” or “K-State Alumni Association.” Additional information about the app can be found on the Alumni Association’s website, at www.k-state.com/app.

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Spare Family of the Year

Spare family named K-State’s 2016 Family of the Year

In 139 combined years of attendance at Kansas State University, the Spare family has been involved in academics, campus activities, athletics and overseas learning. Now, they will continue their legacy as the university’s Family of the Year.

 

The Spare family was recognized as the 2016 K-State Family of the Year on Sept. 24. Chimes, the junior honorary, selects the university’s Family of the Year based on three criteria: how the family is affiliated with the university; the way family members show loyalty and pride in the university; and how they define family and fit the description.

 

“A record number of Family of the Year applications was submitted this year, so it was tough for us to decide between all of the applications,” said Bailey Porter, junior in biochemistry and pre-medicine, Overland Park, Kansas, and Chimes co-vice president of event planning. “Chimes selected the Spare family because of their representation of K-State’s family values over the many years they have been a part of the university.”

 

The Spare family represents three generations of K-Staters, beginning with the late Neva Jean Fleener Spare ’47 and Richard Spare ’50, who returned to Kansas after serving overseas in the U.S. Army during World War II. A Spare family member has attended K-State in every decade since the 1940s.

 

The Spares’ eight children and seven of their spouses are K-Staters, as are 13 of their grandchildren and four spouses. Two grandchildren are currently enrolled at the university in the College of Veterinary Medicine and in the College of Engineering.

 

“The Spare family is large, but there has always been room for one more at the table whether it was a neighbor, K-State friend, an international student, a visiting missionary, a hired hand or the new people that just moved in down the road,” said former student Kathie Weigand Spare, who nominated her family for the award.

 

Members of the Spare family have shared their purple pride in 21 countries for research, on mission trips, work and other humanitarian efforts.

 

“I was amazed to read how their family has contributed in spreading K-State values around the globe,” Porter said. “Family members have helped pump water to remote mountain areas in Nepal, served as a veterinary medicine consultant in Russia, worked remotely for a U.S. firm while living in Sydney, Australia — giving back to the community at large just as much as they have given back to the community at home.”

 

“This is a wonderful honor to share with Richard, now age 92, who started the Spare K-State tradition so many years ago,” Weigand Spare said. “The Spare family embraces the K-State tradition and plans to be a part of K-State’s future. Go ’Cats!”

 

Learn more about the Spare family and the Family of the Year award.

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Beach Museum

‘You Gotta Have Art’: Celebrating 20 years of the Beach Museum

In the past, visitors to Kansas State University didn’t have a centralized place to experience and appreciate art. The university’s art collection was scattered across campus public spaces and offices. That changed in the fall of 1996 with the founding of the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, made possible by many generous donors and a lead gift from the late Ross Beach ’40 and Marianna Kistler Beach ’41.

 

This year, the museum is celebrating 20 years of operation, and K-State alumni and friends are invited to help commemorate the occasion by attending several special events.

 

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its opening, the Beach Museum is unveiling a new look for the permanent collection galleries. Drawing on the 20th anniversary celebration theme “You Gotta Have Art,” the galleries will feature works from a range of periods, displayed together to highlight particular themes and stimulate dialogue. The displays will feature gallery favorites and works re-emerging from art storage after a long hiatus, as well as new acquisitions.

 

The Beach Museum will also host several 20th anniversary events that are free and open to the public.

 

20th Anniversary Celebration and Open House

2-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9

Help the museum celebrate its 20th birthday and the theme “You Gotta Have Art.” There will be activities for all ages, party favors and, of course, cake. Cash bar opens and music begins at 4:30 p.m.

 

20th Anniversary K-State Student Night at the Museum

5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27

Everything comes to life during this celebration of the museum’s 20th anniversary. Co-sponsored by 91.9 KSDB, the event includes art activities, snacks and live music.

 

Film Screening: Temple Grandin

5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10

Enjoy this Oscar-winning biopic starring Clare Danes as the famous animal scientist who has worked to make humane practices more prevalent in the handling of animals raised for food. Complimentary snacks provided.

 

Temple Grandin Book Signing and Reception

6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29

Dr. Temple Grandin, groundbreaking animal scientist, advocate for people on the autism spectrum and author, will sign books at a reception in her honor.

 

The Beach Museum’s collection has grown from less than 1,500 pieces of art when it opened in 1996 to over 7,000 objects. The collection continues to focus on the art of Kansas and the region. In addition to free gallery displays and special exhibitions, the museum presents public programs and educational programs for audiences of all ages. Annual attendance exceeds 30,000 visitors. Learn more. 

 

The K-Stater featured additional Beach Museum content in the summer 2016 issue.

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Military and veterans

Foundation news update: Supporting military and veterans programs; developing tomorrow’s leaders 

David Woods Kemper Veterans Foundation supports K-State’s Office of Military and Veterans Affairs

 

The David Woods Kemper Veterans Foundation of Overland Park, Kansas, has given $300,000 to the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs at Kansas State University.

 

With this gift, the foundation partners with K-State to advance military and veterans research and programs that will result in industry best practices for helping former military service personnel reintegrate into the workforce.

 

“The David Woods Kemper Veterans Foundation was founded with the purpose of supporting veterans in Kansas and Missouri. A partnership between our foundation and K-State is a natural choice,” said Caleb Jackson, executive director of the foundation. “The work being done by Art DeGroat ’04 and the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs is crucial for veterans who have recently separated from service. Our hope is that through this partnership, we can create programs, research and education to help ease the transition from soldier to civilian, first here in Kansas and then to the rest of the country.”

 

Read more

 

Faculty Development Initiative takes a new approach to developing tomorrow’s leaders

Working in a labA great education begins with great educators. That is the philosophy behind the College of Engineering’s Faculty Development Initiative, which supports outstanding faculty members through programs like Cornerstone Teaching Scholars.

 

Many years after graduation, alumni often still remember the professors who helped enlighten, motivate and mentor them. That’s one reason Darold Davis ’70 and his wife, Debbie, decided to invest in Cornerstone Teaching Scholars.

 

“Our ultimate goal is that professors are able to utilize the funds to better teach the engineering students at K-State,” he said. “This fund is directed toward sophomore- and junior-level professors because these are both very key levels in trying to retain students in the engineering program.”

 

Read more

 

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Agriculture

Patio tables

Regents approve department name change

One of the oldest departments on the Kansas State University campus has a new name. In April 2016, the Kansas Board of Regents officially approved changing the Department of Horticulture, Forestry and Recreation Resources to the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources.

 

The department was formed in 1871 when the Agriculture Science College was split into the Horticulture Department and the Farm Department. Over the years, the horticulture unit has been merged with a variety of disciplines, including botany, entomology, landscape architecture and forestry.

 

Currently, the department offers three undergraduate programs — horticulture, park management and conservation, and wildlife and outdoor enterprise management — plus Master of Science and doctorate degree programs across all disciplines.

 

“The faculty had discussed a name change for several years and voted in December 2015 to proceed with the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources,” said Candice Shoemaker ’82, department head.

 

Horticultural research involves four core areas: environmental stress and molecular biology, horticulture and human health, sustainable food production, and turf and ornamentals. These areas primarily deal with production, adaptation and improvement of horticultural plants and their impact on people and the environment.

 

Research related specifically to natural resources includes streambank stability and water quality, woodland and range management, prescribed fire and smoke management, wildlife disease ecology, applied restoration ecology, applied wildlife conservation and management, interpretation and visitor management, and parks and protected area management.

 

The department also includes the Kansas Forest Service, the University Gardens, K-State Research and Extension Center for Horticultural Crops, Olathe; John C. Pair Horticulture Center, Haysville; Pecan Experimental Field, Chetopa; and  Rocky Ford Turfgrass  and Tuttle Forestry research centers, Manhattan.

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Sorghum

New program focuses on boosting sorghum yield and expanding markets

Located in the No. 1 sorghum-producing state, Kansas State University recently entered into a cooperative agreement with the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission and the Kansas Department of Agriculture to establish the Collaborative Sorghum Investment Program in the Center for Sorghum Improvement.

 

“The new collaborative program has been a long time coming,” said John Floros, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of K-State Research and Extension. “Featuring collaboration between the university, and national and state entities, this cooperative agreement will make K-State the world's destination for sorghum research and outreach.” 

 

The center will focus on expanding markets for sorghum and increasing the average national sorghum yield from 61.95 bushels per acre to 100 bushels per acre by 2025 by funding research in such areas as plant breeding and field-level management.

 

Sarah Sexton-Bowser ’08 recently was hired as center director. In addition to a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics with a specialty in political science from K-State, she holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas.

 

She brings an extensive background in the grain industry to her new role. She served as a regional director with the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and as vice president of membership services and external affairs for the Kansas Grain and Feed Association, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and Kansas Association of Ethanol Processors.

 

“The sorghum industry is prime for a focused, collaborative vision and vision execution to drive the domestic sorghum industry,” said Sexton-Bowser. “Farmers need enhanced cropping options to meet today’s demands to continually push for farm efficiency and productivity. The center is uniquely positioned to foster collaboration targeted toward enhancing productivity, value and demand for the domestic sorghum farmer.” 

 

In addition to increasing crop yield, the agreement calls for efforts to increase demand for sorghum to 1.25 million bushels by 2025. This includes the expansion of international markets, food use within the U.S., livestock feeding, ethanol production and specialty products.

 

Sorghum typically sells for less than corn. By increasing yield while expanding demand for sorghum, the center will work to decrease the trading discount of sorghum to corn from 4.6 percent to 2 percent by 2025.

 

To support the center, the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission and the Sorghum Checkoff will each provide $2 million, made in annual payments of $200,000 for 10 years. The Kansas Department of Agriculture will provide $200,000 over 10 years at $20,000 per year, and K-State will invest $800,000, for a total of $5 million.  

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Architecture, Planning and Design

Seaton Hall

Interior architecture and product design students to present at international conference

Twenty interior architecture and product design students in Kansas State University’s College of Architecture, Planning and Design had research papers accepted for presentation at the International Conference on Education, Research and Innovation, Nov. 13-16 in Seville, Spain.

 

The K-State students were challenged to investigate how students are utilizing informal learning environments at institutes of higher learning. The students collaborated with Vibhavari Jani, associate professor, and members of the Steelcase research team to investigate issues related to the various informal learning environments on campus.

 

Steelcase, a century-old international leader of furniture design for corporate, health care and education, allowed results to be published through different venues, including the national and international design conferences.

 

“I’m so pleased to know that all the teams were accepted to the international conference,” said Andrew Kim, Steelcase research collaborator. “This is such wonderful news and it’s definitely deserved as the students worked so hard.”

 

Additionally, fifth-year students Caleb Amundson and Alexandra Marshman will attend and present the research results at the Society for College and University Planning conference Oct. 3-5 in Evanston, Illinois, with Jani and Kim. Steelcase is providing funding for the students to attend the conference.

 

The following Kansas students were involved in the research:

 

Chelsea Flickinger, Andover; Alexandra Marschman and Steven Scott, both from Lenexa; Francisco Pergola and Patrick Smith, both from Manhattan; Samuel Jung, Olathe; Kelsey Castinado and Emma Cole, both from Overland Park; Chris Garcia, Salina; Garrett Steinlage, Seneca, Kansas; Caleb Amundson, Shawnee; Nicole Taylor, Sterling; and Nicole Baith, Stilwell.

 

From out of state: Katherine Arndt, Sioux City, Iowa; Jacob Becker, Belton, Missouri; Rachel Marks, Chesterfield, Missouri; Kendall Harvey, Malta Bend, Missouri; Whitney Lawson, Rolla, Missouri; Emily Erbert, Omaha, Nebraska; and Breann Davis, Murphy, Texas.

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Arts and Sciences

Bethany Jochim

Meet Bethany Jochim: Physics doctoral student studies laser-molecule interactions 

Bethany Jochim’s ultimate goal is to exercise control.

 

No, the Kansas State University doctoral student in physics is not trying to take over the world — just tiny pieces of it that are indistinguishable to the naked eye. Jochim, from Pierre, South Dakota, is using intense lasers to fragment molecules. Her research could possibly lead to control of the outcomes of chemical processes one day.

 

“We study dynamics that happen in laser-molecule interactions and then examine whether we can control them by changing laser parameters,” Jochim said. “You can imagine in the future that maybe we could use lasers to control chemical reactions.”

 

More immediately, Jochim hopes her work can contribute to understanding in the field of molecular physics, answer open questions regarding simple molecules, and assist in moving research forward to comprehend more complex molecule behavior.

 

Jochim and her adviser, Itzik Ben-Itzhak, university distinguished professor of physics, present at annual conferences, including internationally, such as Jochim’s 2015 trip to Spain to represent her research group at the International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions.

 

A 2011 winner of the LeRoy Apker Award from the American Physical Society, Jochim is a co-author in several science journal publications. She also was a 2009 Goldwater Scholarship recipient at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota — now Augustana University — where she earned her bachelor’s degree.

 

Nevertheless, Jochim maintains her highest accomplishment is simply continuing to learn.

 

“As an experimentalist, you need to hone plenty of skills, from learning how to operate all the laboratory equipment to understanding how to interpret your data,” she said. “I learn so much from collaborating with theorists, people who do calculations, Dr. Ben-Itzhak and the other graduate students and undergraduate students I’m working with. To me, just learning is the biggest thing."

 

Jochim’s research was funded by the National Science Foundation through the K-State Physics Research Experience for Undergraduates program in 2010 and through the Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Fellowship program from 2012-2015. Her work is currently funded through the J.R. Macdonald Laboratory’s Department of Energy grant.

 

Though the grants and awards are helpful, the motivation that drives Jochim to perform research in the lab is insatiable curiosity.

 

“This idea of controlling molecules at their quantum level is so intriguing for me,” Jochim said. “Also, when you have problems in the lab that you work so hard to fix, it’s sometimes really frustrating, but when you finally have a glimmer of hope and things start working, that’s really exciting. It makes me want to come back the next day.”

 

The physics department is part of the College of Arts and Sciences. Graduate programs at K-State are offered through the Graduate School.

 

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Manduca sexta eggs, larva, pupa and adult moth

A very hungry caterpillar: Researchers sequence genome of ‘gluttonous’ tobacco hornworm 

A Kansas State University-led international team has sequenced the genome of the tobacco hornworm — a caterpillar species used in many research laboratories for studies of insect biology.

 

Michael Kanost, university distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, led the team of 114 researchers from 50 institutions and 11 countries. Gary Blissard of the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University is the co-senior author.

 

The researchers have published their work “Multifaceted biological insights from a draft genome sequence of the tobacco hornworm moth, Manduca sexta” in the journal Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The scientists have made the genome sequence available to the public through the National Agricultural Library.

 

“This project represents years of collaborative research across the world,” said Kanost, who studies insect immune systems. “We wanted to provide these valuable data to scientists, and our hope is that this sequenced genome will stimulate new research in molecular studies of insects.”

 

The tobacco hornworm, or Manduca sexta, develops into the Carolina sphinx moth. The name Manduca comes from the Latin word for glutton because these caterpillars eat so much. Manduca sexta occurs naturally in North, Central and South America and is a known pest to gardeners. It eats the leaves of tomato plants and also can be found on pepper, eggplant and potato plants. Crops and weeds from this plant family, including tobacco, produce chemicals such as nicotine that deter feeding by most insects, but not Manduca sexta, which makes its physiology especially interesting to scientists.

 

The sequenced genome can lead to improved molecular biology, physiology and neurobiology research in insects and also may help in developing future new methods for insect pest management. The tobacco hornworm is a good model species because its large size — the caterpillar can measure up to 4 inches long — makes it easy to gather tissue samples.

 

“Some of the same kind of proteins exist in caterpillar blood and human blood,” Kanost said. “These proteins have similar functions in the immune system. By studying mechanisms and molecules, we can look at the similarities and differences between caterpillars and humans in how immunity functions and evolves.”

 

Kanost has studied the tobacco hornworm for decades, and he and Blissard decided to start the collaborative project to sequence the tobacco hornworm’s genome in 2009. Kanost’s research focuses on proteins in caterpillar blood and how insects protect themselves against infections. Collaboratively, the research team sequenced the DNA that encodes the genes as well as the RNA from the insect at different developmental stages to identify when different genes are expressed and in which tissues and organs.

 

“We’re continuing to study the immune system and the proteins that make the exoskeleton,” Kanost said. “Now it is easier to identify the proteins using the gene sequences, and we can use the gene sequences to make insect proteins in bacteria for biochemical studies.”

 

Learn more about the project and the other K-State researchers involved. 

 

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Business Administration

New business building

View photos of the new Business Building; dedication celebration set for Oct. 7 

A celebration that has been many years in the making will come together on Oct. 7 as the College of Business Administration welcomes Kansas State University administrators, the Kansas Board of Regents, CBA alumni, faculty, staff and students for the dedication ceremony of the new College of Business Administration building.

 

The festivities will get underway at 2:30 p.m. in the atrium of the Business Building with the dedication program that will feature speeches and recognition of key people who worked tirelessly to make the dream of a new building a reality. Immediately following the program will be a reception, with guided tours of the space available from 3:30 to 6 p.m.

 

The building features unique experiential learning spaces for the college’s Entrepreneurship, Investment Management, Management Information Systems and Professional Selling programs. It also houses numerous student study spaces, executive offices for recruiters and a dedicated Student Success Center, creating a welcoming and collaborative environment for Kansas State students, faculty, alumni and friends. 

 

Learn more about the new Business Building in the winter 2016 issue of the K-Stater magazine, and view photos from the new building below. 

 

New business building

 

A stock market ticker features prominently in the new College of Business Administration building. (Photo: K-State Communications and Marketing)

New business building

 

The new College of Business Administration building provides a modern, innovative place for students to network and learn, helping prepare them for the corporate world after they graduate. (Photo: K-State Communications and Marketing)

New business building

 

The new College of Business Administration building offers plenty of quiet spaces for students to study and relax while they are on campus. (Photo: K-State Communications and Marketing)

Student event

 

Students had a chance to grab some Call Hall ice cream and learn about the college’s clubs and organizations at this event in the new College of Business Administration building. (Photo: College of Business Administration) 

 

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Professional MBA program

On-campus orientation welcomes students into online professional MBA program 

One of the first events hosted in the College of Business Administration’s new home was the 2016 Professional MBA orientation, which welcomed 34 new students from around the country for two days of team building, networking and professional development. Two returning students participated in orientation for a second time to help build connections among new and continuing students.

 

“Even though our program is online, we hope to impart some of that ‘K-State Touch’ with our orientation,” said Suzy Auten ’86, ’05, director of the PMBA program. “K-State is a very personal campus. People like that we are welcoming, and we try as best as we can to give our online students that same personalized touch they would get on campus.”

 

The College of Business began offering the PMBA to online students in the fall of 2013. Catering to professionals with at least three to five years of experience, the online students receive the same education as their on-campus counterparts to earn their MBAs. The classes are taught by the same professors in both the online and on-campus formats, and K-State’s College of Business is among the fewer than five percent of institutions worldwide to earn the prestigious AACSB Accreditation.

 

“Not all of our students have a business background,” Auten added. “We have found that professionals who got their undergraduate degrees in areas outside of business, such as engineering, are attracted to the PMBA program because it can make them better managers and provide them the tools to move up the ladder in their organizations.”

 

The K-State PMBA program is made up of 39 credit hours, which is six fewer hours than is required for the on-campus MBA program. With prior business courses, some students may take as few as 30 hours to earn their PMBA. The classes, which are structured as eight-week courses, allow most students to complete six hours per semester and graduate from the program in two to two and a half years.

 

“The flexibility of the program is remarkable,” Auten said. “Some online programs require that you are sitting in front of a camera on your computer at 7 p.m. every Tuesday. That is not what this program is. It is completely self-motivated and set up for student convenience. If you are a night owl and want to start watching a lecture at midnight, you can do that. If you travel a lot, get transferred or change jobs, you can still complete your degree from anywhere there is an internet connection.”

 

One of the most exciting features of the program is the requirement for each student to go on a faculty-led international trip. So far students have gone to Costa Rica and China, with upcoming trips scheduled for Italy, Australia and Ireland, along with return trips to China and Costa Rica.

 

“The international trips happen each semester and allow students to observe the principles that are learned in the courses being applied in an international business setting,” Auten said. “Business is becoming more global, and we as a society are becoming far more connected, so we feel that it is important to have an international component in our program.”

 

New classes are offered every eight weeks, allowing students to jump into the program in January, March, June, August and October. Applications are due at least one month before the desired start date. To learn more about the program or to apply, visit www.k-state.edu/onlinemba.

 

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Education

Student ambassador program

Ambassador program grows in diversity, impact 

The College of Education is announcing the 2016-2017 class of ambassadors, and these 62 impressive future educators hold the distinction of being the largest group of ambassadors in college history.

 

Mac Benavides ’13, recruitment coordinator and ambassador adviser, explained a core change — allowing incoming sophomores to apply to become an ambassador — was made to align with overall recruitment efforts and accounted for the increase in size of this ambassador class.

 

“The ambassador program does an outstanding job of developing leaders, but we saw an opportunity to improve the experience for both the students and the college by opening up the ambassador program to incoming sophomores,” he said. “This extends the future teachers’ professional exposure by 25 percent — a full academic year — and allows the college to benefit from more developed leaders.”

 

Ambassador president Emma A. Miller, senior in elementary education, believes the changes in the program will enhance recruitment efforts.

 

“We have an excellent mix of ambassadors who are male, female, in elementary and secondary as well as all the different areas of concentration,” Miller said. “It will be wonderful to match them with prospective students to really be able to personalize each student’s visit to campus.”

 

The ambassadors are:

 

* Abby Hershenow - Secondary Education, mathematics

Abigail Sweeney - Elementary Education, special education

Addison Howley - Elementary Education, special education

* Allison Sears - Secondary Education, Family and Consumer Science

Alyssa Bisagno - Elementary Education, English

Amy Matlick - Secondary Education, social studies

Anne Roberson - Elementary Education, special education

Baylee Heitschmidt - Secondary Education, English

Brett Kippley - Secondary Education, physics

Brier Fox - Elementary Education, English

Brittany Rouse - Secondary Education, social studies

Brooke Jackson - Elementary Education, mathematics

Brooke Waters - Secondary Education, mathematics

* Clayton Kistner - Secondary Education, English

Dallas Froome -  Elementary Education, modern foreign languages

Dane Janner - Secondary Education, social studies

Dominique Wiedmaier - Elementary Education

Dylan Graves - Elementary Education, social studies

Elizabeth Young - Elementary Education, English

Emilie Liebe - Elementary Education, ESL

Emily Hoffman - Elementary Education, mathematics

Emily Webb - Secondary Education, art

* Emma A. Miller - Elementary Education, special education

* Emma K. Miller - Elementary Education, special education

* Erin Davis - Elementary Education, special education

Grace Lady - Elementary Education, special education

Janeigh Dantzson - Secondary Education, social studies

Janie Bramhall - Elementary Education, mathematics

* Jenna Gilio - Elementary Education, ESL

Jessica Maly - Secondary Education, family and consumer science

Joni Sheets - Elementary Education, mathematics

Jordan Jimerson - Elementary Education, special education

Katherine Wernes - Elementary Education, English

Kori Hopson - Secondary Education, English

Lauren Wilson - Elementary Education, ESL

Levi Jones - Secondary Education, English

* Madison Jewett - Elementary Education, English

Madison Clinton - Elementary Education, English

* Maggie Thomas - Secondary Education, social studies

Mara Kling - Elementary Education, mathematics

Mary Grace Poskin - Elementary Education, English

Melissa Lawrence - Elementary Education, English

Mikala Potts - Elementary Education, mathematics

Miranda Wildeman - Elementary Education, general science

Nicholas Van Pelt - Elementary Education  

Paige Garrity - Secondary Education, social studies

* Paxton Akin - Elementary Education, special education

Perlita Dominguez - Elementary Education, ESL

* Riley Clark - Secondary Education, physics

* Ryan Bird - Secondary Education, chemistry

* Rylan Laudan - Elementary Education, special education

Sally Sweeney - Elementary Education, special education

Samantha Bendrick - Elementary Education, modern foreign languages

Samantha Wright - Elementary Education

Sarah Brekke - Elementary Education, ESL

Sarah Watkins - Elementary Education, mathematics

Scotti Twombly - Elementary Education, general science

Shannon Caffrey - Secondary Education, mathematics

Shannon Nolan - Secondary Education, social studies

Shawn Finch - Secondary Education, family and consumer science

Shelby Carpenter - Elementary Education, social science

Shelby Shearon - Secondary Education, social studies

Taylor Sheffield - Secondary Education, English

 

*Denotes officer or leadership position. 

 

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Education and social justice film

College of Education releases documentary about social justice in education 

Mascots and school funding are just two of the topics addressed in the College of Education’s documentary that premiered on campus earlier this week.

 

“A Walk in My Shoes: Social Justice in Education” premiered Monday. The trailer and the full-length film are both available on the college’s YouTube channel. The documentary featured educators James Teagarden ’84, ’86, ’02 and Amanda Morales ’98, ’11, graduate students Teara Lander and Alex Red Corn, and early-career teacher Eli Schoeman ’16. Each member of this diverse group reveals the moment, observation or event that drew them to the field of education.

 

Debbie Mercer ’84, ’88, ’96, ’99, dean of the College of Education, said this film is a powerful tool for uniting people who are passionate about equity and inclusion and what they mean in the classroom.

 

“I am excited about this documentary because it offers a rare look into the lives of teachers and the deeply personal reasons they chose this profession,” Mercer said. “Every teacher was once a student, and who knows what moment in a classroom may inspire a child to teach.”

 

Rusty Earl, college videographer and film director, echoed Mercer’s sentiments.

 

“Most teachers have a back story that people will likely never know, and I can’t help but think about the many lives that have been changed by teachers and their families,” Earl said. “I used to think making documentaries was just about sharing someone’s story, but now I realize the power lies in opening people’s hearts and minds and bringing focus and clarity to real world situations that many of us may have not encountered or considered.”

 

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Carl R. Ice College of Engineering

Supercomputing

K-State recognized as Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment  

Kansas State University has been recognized as an Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, or XSEDE, level 3 service provider, one of only 10 in the U.S.

 

This honor formally aligns K-State’s local supercomputing efforts, spearheaded by the K-State research computing cluster Beocat, with the network of national-level supercomputers through XSEDE. Service providers are independently funded projects or organizations that provide cyberinfrastructure services to the science and engineering community.

 

In the U.S. academic community, there is a rich diversity of service providers, spanning centers that are funded by the National Science Foundation to operate large-scale resources for the national research community to universities that provide resources and services to their local researchers. Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment is intended to facilitate this ecosystem of service providers, thereby advancing the science and engineering researchers who rely on these cyberinfrastructure services.

 

The K-State research computing cluster Beocat is currently one of the largest academic research clusters in Kansas. Beocat has grown to approximately 3 petabytes of total storage and 3500 processor cores on machines ranging from 24-core Xeons with 128 GB RAM to six 80-core Xeons with 1 TB RAM connected by 40 Gbps QDR Infiniband.

 

Use of Beocat is free for professors and students in the state of Kansas. In addition to many users across the K-State campus, Beocat also is a resource for users from Washburn University, Bethany College, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas and other institutions. Beocat is supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy and university grants.

 

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Disease spread

Research group wins National Science Foundation grant to explore disease spread models 

A Kansas State University research group has been awarded a $504,567 grant from the National Science Foundation to apply network models to the spread of diseases.

 

Nathan Albin and Pietro Poggi-Corradini from the department of math in the College of Arts and Sciences and Caterina Scoglio from the department of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering will work together to develop new mathematical theories and computational algorithms that capture the essential features of networks and apply them to epidemiological models.

 

This interdisciplinary project will enhance both the theoretical understanding of how diseases spread in an interconnected network of individuals or sub-populations and the computational tools available to researchers interested in modeling, simulating and predicting the behavior of epidemics. The title of the project is “p-Modulus on Networks with Applications to the Study of Epidemics.”

 

According to Poggi-Corradini, computing p-modulus on networks is a novel way to understand several classical network metrics.

 

“Because of its versatility, p-modulus is an excellent tool for studying, for instance, the spread of epidemics in various models, such as contact network models,” Poggi-Corradini said.

 

Albin, the principal investigator for the project, is excited about the collaborative nature of the work.

 

“This project lies in the intersection of several exciting research fields, including function theory, graph theory, network analysis, numerical analysis, convex optimization and epidemic modeling and prediction,” Albin said.

 

“I’m delighted to be a part of an enthusiastic interdisciplinary research team of K-State faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students with a diverse array of specialties in mathematics and engineering,” he said.

 

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Human Ecology

Photos from student's trip

Wildcat travels to Lithuania to present research 

Barrett Scroggs ’15, doctoral student in Life Span Human Development and graduate teaching assistant, traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania, this past summer to present his research at the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development conference. Scroggs was a 2015 recipient of the K-State Alumni Association Tony Jurich Community Commitment and Leadership Student Award.

 

Scroggs presented the research he co-authored with Saily Baley and Bronywyn Fees, “The impact of participation in creative drama on empathy levels during Emerging Adulthood,” at the conference’s poster session. He also engaged with other researchers and practitioners in behavioral development and learned from presentations by keynote speakers within the discipline.

 

“The major highlight of the conference was getting the chance to present my research,” Scroggs said. “My poster was presented with other posters related to social cognition on the first full day of the conference. Many people stopped by my poster because they had read the title and were interested in what creative drama was and how it played a part in my research study.”

 

Scroggs’ research interest focuses on emerging adulthood, the stage of life directly after adolescence that encompasses individuals 18 to 29 years old. This poster focused on the ways in which emerging adults can develop empathy skills using creative drama, a form of theater of which the goal is not to perform a scripted play in front of an audience, but, instead, to develop creative and imaginative skills using drama and theater.

 

In addition to spending time at the conference, growing academically and professionally, he explored Vilnius.

 

“The 10 days that I spent in Lithuania were an exciting whirlwind,” he said. “I was able to experience a brand new culture while traveling in Europe for the first time ever. I passed on information about my research to others in the field and made excellent connections with others with similar interests. I have already received emails from others at the conference who want to know more about my poster.”

 

Scroggs’ trip to Vilnius was made possible because of the financial support from the College of Human Ecology and the department of Family Studies Human Services and a travel award from the Graduate Student Council.

 

The Graduate Student Council Travel Awards Program is a competitive program that provides partial funding to graduate students who are presenting their research and scholarly endeavors at the national and international level. Participation in professional meetings and conferences provides graduate students the opportunity to share their research with others in their field and to network with key leaders and scholars, resulting in greater visibility for K-State and enhancing the graduate student experience.

 

“For the past three years, the Graduate Student Council has observed a significant increase in the number of applicants for the GSC Travel Grant program,” said Tucker Jones, current GSC president. “Due to the increase in applications this year, the award amounts ($750 for international and $500 for domestic travel) are insufficient to cover the costs incurred by graduate students to present their work.”

 

With the help of donors, Scroggs and many other graduate students can participate in professional meetings and conferences and grow professionally while they are a student at K-State. If you are interested in providing financial support to the Graduate Student Council, please type in the code C26503 on the Foundation’s giving page. 

 

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Julia Day and Brandon Irwin

Stowe award winners research tiny houses as possible answer to affordable housing 

After attending the same meeting, Julia Day, assistant professor of interior design, and Brandon Irwin, assistant professor of kinesiology, discovered they had common interests. Mainly, to save the world.

 

Day’s research background in energy use, sustainable building design and occupant behaviors, coupled with Irwin’s experience with the interpersonal aspects of health and physical activity will steer the “Tiny Houses, Titan Impact: An ecological approach to impacting public health through affordable housing” project.

 

This collaboration earned Day and Irwin the 2016 Dean Barbara S. Stowe Endowed Faculty Development Fund Award from the College of Human Ecology based on their intent to conduct research, teaching and outreach activities that could lead to an increase in affordable, sustainable and healthy housing. With this grant, Day and Irwin will travel to different sites of tiny house villages to research the creation, functionality and impact of the tiny house movement on affordable housing, public health and sustainability.

 

The duo will use the Stowe award to visit tiny house villages in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Washington and California to collect data and interview those living in the villages. Data collected will inform the viability of the tiny house movement to address the issues of sustainability, affordable housing and impact on the community in which they exist. Day and Irwin hope to answer how these villages impact health, how the design choices impact health and well-being, barriers to creating these villages and most simply — but mostly unanswered in the scant research available — how these villages look, feel and function. 

 

Day and Irwin’s research will inform application possibilities in the Manhattan community and help them develop an interdisciplinary course that will challenge students to utilize a built environment to promote public health and physical activity. This course intends to pull in students from various majors to discuss the pair’s findings, developments and the ecological viability of the tiny house movement.

 

Currently, the team is finishing a tiny house built on a 28-foot trailer for Irwin’s future private residence. In building this new domicile, Day and Irwin have both experienced the process of seeing an initial idea turn into a design — one of Day’s strengths — and a physical reality. During the build, both have had the opportunity to discuss tiny housing with and drum up support from area builders, suppliers, code enforcement, the mayor of Manhattan, city commissioners and many others — utilizing this exemplary personal build as leverage to raise awareness about affordable housing in the Manhattan community.

 

Stowe served as dean of human ecology at K-State from 1983 to 1998. The fund, established in her honor, supports the professional development of outstanding faculty who translate research-based knowledge of human ecology into practice in higher education, business, industry or public policy. This award will provide Day and Irwin funding to support expenses incurred during a professional development experience that advances the college mission.

 

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Technology and Aviation

Outreach Center

New facility dedicated to community outreach, professional development 

The professional education and outreach department on Kansas State University’s Polytechnic Campus is officially home.

 

The Outreach Center, a new facility dedicated to the department’s community and professional development services, opened its doors Sept. 8 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the north corridor of the Polytechnic Campus. Built more than 50 years ago and original to the Air Force base that came before the campus property, the building has been fully renovated to include a training classroom, testing center and multiple office spaces.

 

“The opening of the Outreach Center marks a proud moment in the history of Kansas State Polytechnic because it demonstrates the campus’s continuous advancement toward our strategic goals of growing in both educational offerings and infrastructure,” said Verna Fitzsimmons, dean and CEO of Kansas State Polytechnic. “The center will provide professional education and outreach with the vital resources it needs to serve its clients and the community while acting as inspiration for the rebirth of the north section of campus.”

 

For years, professional education and outreach has been offering a multitude of diverse training programs, professional development resources, K-12 collaborations and civic engagement opportunities. From grade school children in summer aviation camps to Osher lifelong learning classes for people 50 and older, there are programs for a large spectrum of ages, and each offering has a broad audience reach: community members, students and industry professionals. Kansas State Polytechnic’s technology management bachelor’s degree is also offered online through the department.

 

“It has been the vision of professional education and outreach to provide the campus, community and our industry partners with an innovative, collaborative space where learning is accessible and inspired," said Danielle Brown, director of the department. “The Outreach Center has exceeded our expectations and we are excited to utilize this valuable asset, especially the training classroom because it is an essential space for our programs and it holds a variety of necessary technology amenities.”

 

The Outreach Center was designed with multipurpose spaces, which can be adapted and easily reconfigured as programs and staff evolve over the years. Also available is office space for professional education and outreach, an additional tenant, a testing center for students and a training classroom. Significant technology upgrades were added to the classroom area, including enhanced lighting controls, high-definition cameras and microphones, flat-screen televisions, connection with any web-based meeting software and the capacity to video conference another class in a separate location.

 

Originally constructed in 1956 as part of Schilling Air Force Base, now home to the Polytechnic Campus, the Outreach Center has had a variety of uses over the years, including as a computer science building, student union and student activities center. Though the decision to tear it down when starting the renovation may have seemed like a logical one, Kansas State Polytechnic wanted to keep an environmental consciousness about the build.

 

“By repurposing this facility, Kansas State Polytechnic was able to enhance our ability to be resourceful stewards in both the fiscal and environmental realms,” said Joe Harrison, director of facilities for the campus. “By choosing to reuse in lieu of demolition, this allowed us to minimize the environmental impact by negating the need to disturb existing greenfield areas for utilities and foundations. This also enabled us to significantly reduce the amount of construction waste, which would typically have been generated and slated for a local landfill.”

 

The Outreach Center is in the north corridor of the campus, which is an area Kansas State Polytechnic plans on redeveloping, starting with the addition of K-State Research and Extension. Details about building renovations and a timeline are forthcoming. For questions about the Outreach Center or to learn more about the program offerings of professional education and outreach, contact Brown at 785-826-2633 or profed@k-state.edu. 

 

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UAS training

UAS program offers Part 107 short course for remote pilot in command certification 

Kansas State University’s Polytechnic Campus is expanding its unmanned aircraft systems program to now include a weeklong course centered on the Federal Aviation Administration’s new Part 107 regulations.

 

Designed to prepare professionals for remote pilot in command certification, Kansas State Polytechnic has been offering a UAS commercial pilot training course focused on FAA guidelines proficiency, flight safety and development of standard operating procedures. The course — previously held in August and September with future offerings in the works — was created in response to the Part 107 rules instituted for commercial use of small unmanned aircraft, specifically the required written FAA exam for anyone without a manned pilot certificate.

 

“Under the FAA’s Part 107 mandate, anyone who wants to fly for commercial operations without obtaining a manned certification must demonstrate, through a written test, the ability to safely conduct those operations; however, much of the material in the test is complex and covers topics those outside the aviation industry might not understand,” said Kurt Carraway, executive director of Kansas State Polytechnic’s UAS program. “We believe there is validity in offering a personalized experience where interested UAS operators can connect with our program experts and have their questions answered immediately. It is also a tremendous opportunity to answer questions about complex airspace and other subject matters that can be confusing to new aviators.”

 

During the first three days of the commercial pilot training course, students receive in-class instruction specifically on elements covered in the written FAA exam, such as different classes of airspace, meteorology, weather, UAS performance, loading and center of gravity, and Part 107 itself. On the fourth day, students take the required exam in the campus’s FAA testing center. The remaining day and a half is spent conducting flight training in one of the nation’s largest enclosed UAS flight facilities, which is on campus, and creating essential documents for safe operations, like standard operating procedures, a preflight checklist and flight logs. After students successfully complete the FAA exam and the course, they receive a remote pilot in command, or RPIC, certificate from the FAA.

 

Kansas State Polytechnic launched its first commercial pilot training course on Aug. 30, the day Part 107 went into effect. Two employees of Kirkham Michael, a civil engineering firm based in Ellsworth, Kansas, with offices throughout the state and in Nebraska and Iowa, attended the five-day course in preparation of their company using UAS technology for data collection, 3-D modeling and surveying crop health.

 

“This UAS course has prepared us to help Kirkham Michael become the frontrunners in our industry with new technology offerings,” said Wayne Scritchfield ’11, a registered land surveyor with the company. “Along with studying for the exam and then becoming certified, we received valuable assistance with setting up standard operating procedures and flight logs, which the FAA wants to see from professionals utilizing unmanned aircraft in their work. I had also never flown before, so it was very beneficial to have personal instruction where I could work through any learning objectives.”

 

All of the participants expressed that the course is a convenient way to network with other individuals and companies looking to use UAS technology for a variety of applications, which could lead to future collaborations of resources.

 

Kansas State Polytechnic received the country’s first Section 333 exemption for flight training in November 2015, allowing the UAS program to create and conduct an extensive flight training program for students and outside entities before the FAA-agreed upon Part 107. Along with the commercial pilot training course, Kansas State Polytechnic has been providing companies such as SkySkopes, an unmanned flight services company in North Dakota, with multirotor flight training; has been offering a UAS multirotor hobbyist course; and has implemented structured flight training curriculum for students in Kansas State Polytechnic’s UAS bachelor's degree program.

 

To learn more about Kansas State Polytechnic’s UAS training offerings, including customizable courses, contact the campus’s professional education and outreach department at 785-826-2633 or profed@k-state.edu. To inquire about UAS research opportunities, contact Carraway at 785-826-2624 or kcarraway@k-state.edu.

 

Photo: Spencer Schrader, right, a junior in the UAS program on the Polytechnic Campus, instructs Wayne Scritchfield ’11, of Kirkham Michael, how to pilot a multirotor system during the first Part 107 training course offered Aug. 29 through Sept. 2. 

 

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Veterinary Medicine

Research on cat disease

Faculty help develop new treatment for deadly cat disease 

Work by two researchers in the College of Veterinary Medicine is showing promise in stopping a deadly cat disease. Feline infectious peritonitis, also known as FIP, is a viral infection of cats that is nearly 100 percent fatal. But in a study funded in part with a grant from the Morris Animal Foundation, the CVM researchers and researchers at two other universities successfully blocked progression of the disease.

 

Drs. Yunjeong Kim, associate professor, and Kyeong-Ok Chang, professor, both of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, and William Groutas, a distinguished professor of chemistry at Wichita State University, developed the antiviral compounds used in the study. In a collaboration and demonstration with Dr. Niels Pedersen, professor emeritus of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, Davis, one of the research compounds stopped progression of FIP and led to clinical recovery of cats with the disease.

 

“These findings showed that inhibiting growth of the virus is the critical component of treatment for FIP,” Kim said. “This will help us and other researchers find a way to effectively manage or treat FIP in the future. Also, these findings have broader implications for other important coronavirus infections, since no antiviral drugs exist for human or animal coronaviruses.”

 

Coronaviruses are the causative agents of many important diseases in both humans and animals, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome, and can cause diarrhea in dogs and other animals such as cattle, sheep, deer, giraffes and more.

 

“This is an exciting development in FIP research with the potential to have a major impact on feline health worldwide,” said Barbara Wolfe, chief scientific officer at Morris Animal Foundation. “FIP is a significant problem for kittens and cats under 2 years of age, particularly in shelter environments or catteries. If we continue to be successful in this research, it will represent a major breakthrough in treating this terrible disease.”

 

Morris Animal Foundation recently committed $1.2 million to fund research that will advance knowledge of FIP. After a rigorous selection process, Kim and her team received an additional grant to conduct a clinical trial investigating the effect of the newly identified compound in client-owned cats with FIP.

 

The clinical trial currently is underway as a collaborative effort between Kansas State University and the University of California, Davis. The researchers hope to enroll up to 70 cats with FIP in the trial, and anticipate the study will be completed in two years.

 

The first phase of the trial involving 15 cats with various forms of FIP is fully enrolled and no more cats are being accepted for treatment at this time. The researchers will take two to three months to allow time to evaluate preliminary results and decide on what forms of FIP will respond best to treatment and the optimal dosage regimen. Once those determinations are made, the trial will be re-opened for another small group of cats that meet trial guidelines.

 

Photo: Dr. Yunjeong Kim works on an feline infectious peritonitis project with third-year student Amanda Honeyfield. (Courtesy photo)

 

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Frontier program meeting

Cochran Fellowship Program partners with Kansas State’s Frontier program to train agri-food systems workers from Africa 

The Frontier program at Kansas State University recently hosted six visitors from Malawi, Kenya and Uganda, who were sponsored through the USDA’s Cochran Fellowship program. The Frontier team provided training on campus at K-State and then took the fellows on a field trip to the Port of New Orleans to see how coffee and other products are handled for import and export. The group also met with food system leaders, scientists and other industry professionals in Kansas City and at K-State Olathe.

 

Justin Kastner ’98 is co-director of the Frontier program, which focuses on border security, food security and trade policy. Training for the Cochran Fellows was led by principal investigators Kastner, associate professor in diagnostic medicine/pathobiology, and Sara Gragg, assistant professor of food science in the animal sciences and industry department at K-State Olathe. Teaching and logistics support was provided by Danny Unruh ’12, a doctoral student in food science at K-State Olathe, Sarah Jones, senior in food science and industry, and Steve Toburen, Frontier field trip coordinator.

 

Kastner said the training is built on similar Frontier training programs conducted in 2008 and 2009 with Cochran Fellows from Thailand and Egypt.

 

“We consider it a privilege to work with the Cochran program,” Kastner said. “We remain committed to helping other countries build capacity in the important areas of food safety, food security and trade-policy development.”

 

The six fellows who visited Manhattan were: Charles Mukama, senior veterinary inspector for Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries; Betty Namwagala, executive director of the Uganda Coffee Federation; Lucy Ikonya, manager of Trade Affairs for the Kenya Bureau of Standards; Patrick Njeru, an analytical chemist for the Kenya Plant Health Inspection Service; Philis Githaiga, senior inspector for the Kenya Plant Health Inspection Service; and Hastings Ngoma, principal economist for the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture.

 

The Frontier researchers provided instruction from Aug. 22 to Sept. 2 through lectures, workshops and tours related to global training systems, animal health, plant health and food safety. The sessions covered topics such as international regulations, import-export controls, the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and public public-private partnerships.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service administers the Cochran Fellowship Program. It is U.S.-based and provides agricultural training opportunities for senior and mid-level specialists and administrators. Countries must be classified as middle-income, an emerging democracy or an emerging market to be eligible.

 

Photo: Justin Kastner ’98 (right, standing), co-director of Kansas State University’s Frontier program, and Danny Unruh ’12 (standing), doctoral student in food science from K-State Olathe, welcome a visiting group in the USDA’s Cochran Fellowship program to the K-State Alumni Center, where they are learning about global training systems, animal health, plant health and food safety. (Courtesy photo)

 

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