Author: Tessa Karbowski

What do you picture when you think of lasers? Laser pointers? Perhaps laser eye surgery or barcode scanners? Turns out there’s more to lasers than most people realize, and a Wichita State University chemistry team recently discovered a new series of laser material with potential commercial use.

Vivian Nguyen, a recent graduate of WSU, and Dr. Jian Wang Nguyen, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, discovered new laser materials (KX)P2S6(X=Sb, Bi, Ba) made up of many important elements. That discovery has landed their research in Chemical Science, the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Ever wonder what other people are looking at during Zoom or WebEx meetings? Turns out so do several researchers.

Dr. Akmal Mirsadikov, who specializes in deception detection and eye tracking at Wichita State University’s W. Frank Barton School of Business, recently ran an exploratory study about how people interact on Zoom. As virtual meetings are likely here to stay, the study may reveal the differences between in-person and online environments.

Four years ago, Juan Aguilar made a decision that is about to make his last two years in college a whole lot more affordable.

In 2019, Aguilar — a first-generation student from Garden City, KS — applied for the Doris and Ralph Klose Scholarship, which covers tuition, books and fees for juniors and seniors who are studying math or science education at Wichita State University.

Aguilar, who is studying middle school math education, is currently in his junior year of college in the College of Applied Studies; and he’s grateful he made the decision to apply for the Klose Scholarship years ago.

Wichita State University has selected the 2022 recipients of the Harry Gore Memorial Scholarships. Each student will receive a $64,000 scholarship to attend WSU in fall 2022.

• Caden Carlson, Aurora High School in Aurora, Nebraska
• Brynna Mays, Topeka West High School
• Audrey Menzies, Piper High School in Kansas City, Kansas

The students competed in the Distinguished Scholarship Invitational in November, with more than 400 total students participating. To be invited to compete in the invitational, students had to have a 27 or higher ACT score, or a 3.5 or higher GPA, or rank in the top 10%of their class. Once invited, students completed an application, including essays, and competed in an on-campus leadership competition.

As with Gore Scholars before them, the three recipients this year are involved in their schools and communities and plan to do the same at Wichita State University.

Valeria Paunetto, originally from Puerto Rico, won the Adelante Scholarship in 2021, which has helped her pursue a degree in social work at Wichita State. After a couple of weeks, Valeria received a call. She picked it up and learned that she had won a $20,000 Adelante Scholarship to attend Wichita State University. She is part of the first group at Wichita State University to receive the Adelante scholarship and wants to be an example to future candidates.