Members of Congress impressed with new WSU engineering building

Robots. 3-D printers. Virtual Reality.

Two members of Congress saw it all when they toured Wichita State University’s Experiential Engineering Building, a structure on 17th Street that houses laboratories and an open-to-the-public space full of wood, metal and textile crafting machines. The building is part of the university’s Innovation Campus.

“We’re combining education with actual workforce,” said Rep. Ron Estes, the 4th District congressman. “We really have something unique here that kind of combines different types of products, different types of tools.”

“We’re going to be able to get some hands-on training for the next generation of aerospace workers or other manufacturing individuals that they have learning tied to practical experience,” Estes said. “So it’s critical for them being able to jump-start their career.”

They also toured the Go Create space, a part of the building filled with machines to cut and shape metal, wood, plastics and foam for a serious hobby or a side business, led by state Sen. Ty Masterson, R-Andover.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, said she was impressed with her visit to WSU. She said the House Committee on Education and the Workforce she chairs wants to make education more relevant.

“All of us, on both sides of the aisle, are focused on … how can we get our education focused on helping people be able to go into the workforce,” Foxx said.

“To see this all housed together and to hear the concepts discussed by a wide-range of people is so good,” she added. “I doubt that there is anything in the country that is doing what’s going on here.”

WSU President John Bardo and Vice President for Research and Technology John Tomblin touted the broader Innovation Campus to boost applied learning and the university’s role as an economic driver for the region and state.

“It really hurt my heart to get rid of it,” Bardo said, referring to the former Braeburn Golf Course, where the Innovation Campus is located. “But it was time.”

This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Members of Congress impressed with new WSU engineering building."