No contract yet for latest company at Wichita State innovation campus

French company Dassault Systemes says it will be several months before it has a written agreement with Wichita State University to be the second company with a presence at the new innovation campus.

WSU President John Bardo announced the deal at a Kansas Board of Regents meeting earlier this month. He said the university had an agreement with Dassault Systemes to create a 3-D additive manufacturing research center using software that includes six robots. Those robots will be able to complete a 9-by-4-by-4-foot machine, including all wiring, Bardo said.

The university later said that nothing has been put in writing and no estimates have been released on the financial arrangement between WSU and the French company.

John Tomblin of WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research said last week the university is not in a rush to have a written agreement or contract with Dassault Systemes, primarily because the Experiential Building at the new campus has not yet been built.

“They’ve got nowhere to occupy for another year and a half, but we wanted to go ahead and announce we have this partnership because the partnership we have with Dassault actually could get other partnerships into this area and grow our economy more,” Tomblin said.

He said they hope to have negotiations completed in the next three or four months, but “it may even be Christmastime,” Tomblin said.

Dirtwork has started on the new Experiential Building, and it’s slated to be completed in fall 2016, Tomblin said. The innovation campus is being built at the former Braeburn Golf Course at the university.

Tomblin said he does not yet have an idea for the number of full-time jobs that will be created through the partnership, but students will get hands-on learning at the center, he said.

“I need to grow a new crop of students that will maintain all the future aircraft that I hope we design in this town,” he said.

Michel Tellier, vice president of aerospace and defense for Dassault Systemes, said in an e-mail that the company will bring about a dozen jobs to the innovation campus.

Additionally, the partnership could lead to “significant job growth opportunities,” along with increased WSU enrollment, when paired with the partnership with Airbus, he said.

University officials said a $1.9 million federal grant the university received from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to develop jobs was key to landing the deal with Dassault Systemes.

Last fall when the grant was announced, Bardo said it could help draw as many as 500 jobs.

At the time, WSU administrators said they would find $2 million in matching money from university funds and multiple business partners to shop for high-tech lab parts and software.

“Wichita is known as the ‘Air Capital of the World’ and is home to many of our customers,” Tellier said. “Wichita State University and the National Institute of Aviation Research are key players in the future of aviation both as one of President Obama’s manufacturing centers through IMCP (Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership) initiative and as their connections to the FAA.

“The relationship between WSU/NIAR and Dassault Systemes began in the early ‘90s when WSU/NIAR became users of CATIA which has continued to grow with other solutions over the years. Extending this partnership is a perfect fit based on our rich history together.”

CATIA, which stands for Computer-Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Applications, is software often used in the design and manufacture of aircraft.

Tellier said that what they can accomplish with the partnership, in combination with customers, FAA, research and academia, is “unparalleled.”

A few months ago, the university announced that Airbus will leave its current office in downtown Wichita to move to the innovation campus.

However, Dassault would be a new presence in the community.

While Dassault Systemes partners with universities around the world, Tellier said this would be the first 3-D Experience Center to fully integrate both product development and manufacturing. People will be able to use the system to virtually create products and processes before they create them physically. The system will be able to reverse-engineer products and use polymer, composites and metals.

The center also will be used for research, design research and production certification, Tellier said.

“Educating the employees of tomorrow as well as an incubator for start-ups are likewise key elements of the business model,” Tellier said. “We believe it will be a showcase for innovation in the A&D industry as well as other industries like Life Sciences.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2015 at 7:23 AM with the headline "No contract yet for latest company at Wichita State innovation campus."