A team of five freshman students, three men and two women, deliver their elevator pitch to an audience at the 2025 Koch Innovation Challenge. They are standing in front of a banner with the words "Koch Innovation Challenge."

Celebrate 10 years of innovation at annual Koch Innovation Challenge

Join the 10th annual Koch Innovation Challenge, sponsored by Koch, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, May 8 in 305/306 Rhatigan Student Center, Beggs Ballroom. For a decade, this event has supported the College of Engineering in fostering a vibrant culture of creativity, innovation and teamwork among students of all majors. This competition serves as the “freshman capstone” of the Shocker Design Experience.

This year, 32 teams of students are participating. The public is invited to watch the finalists as they face the clock in this high-energy elevator pitch competition. The final round is from 11 to 11:45 a.m. and the awards ceremony is from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m.

Five students pose with smiles in front of their open house poster and prototype, an ergonomic dental stool to reduce back pain for dental hygienists.

Judge the next big idea: Stop by the SDX fall open house

You are invited to a fall open house from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Dec. 5 in the John Bardo Center lobby to explore inventions created by students in the industry-sponsored Shocker Design Experience (SDX) program, hosted by the College of Engineering. SDX is a key driver for freshman-to-sophomore retention; participants persist at 80%, a rate 11% higher than non-participants.

Organizers would love for you to swing by to see 95 unique projects from the Intro to Tech & Innovation first year seminar. While you are there, you can hear a quick 90-second elevator pitch from interdisciplinary student teams and offer valuable feedback on their customer research.

A group of four students smiling at the camera and dressed up to give an open house presentation of their alarm clock prototype. Their tri-fold board is red and titled Wakey Wakey Alarm Clock and details their desigin process.

First-year seminar projects showcased at JBC

More than 50 exciting research projects from first-year students will be on display from noon to 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2 in the John Bardo Center lobby for the Shocker Design Experience Fall Showcase. This come-and-go event is free and open to the public.

Students from majors across campus have been learning the design thinking process, a human-centered design method for innovation that focuses on empathy as a way to understand the user and design to meet their needs. Students had to identify a customer in the community and design for their needs. Customers include the Orpheum Theater, Wichita Public Library, and other businesses and organizations.

Many teams will continue on in the spring semester to turn their research into an applied project that they will deliver to customers and pitch at the Koch Innovation Challenge in May.