January 2016
Governor's Water Conference focuses on Kansas' water vision plan Over 600 stakeholders from around the country attended the fourth annual Governor's Water Conference to discuss
implementation of the Kansas water vision plan. The two­day conference, co­sponsored by K­State Research &
Extension Kansas Water Resource Institute and held in Manhattan, brought together scientists, water managers,
state and federal officials and legislators, city and county administrators, environmental organizations, and citizens
who share an interest in Kansas water resources to focus on moving the water vision forward to meet current and
future water supply needs for Kansas. The conference included poster presentations from 21 graduate and undergraduate students from universities
across the state. The posters gave the students an opportunity to discuss their water­related research with the
stakeholders in attendance. Governor Sam Brownback updated the attendees on his Long Term Vision for the Future of Water Supply in
Kansas. "After hundreds of meetings and discussions, it is time to implement the action items found in the Long­Term Vision
for the Future of water Supply in Kansas," said Governor Brownback. "One of our biggest challenges will be to
connect all Kansans to water so they may understand the critical importance of this resource. People must use
water efficiently and effectively to extend the life of our aquifers and reservoirs across the state."
Presentations were given on topics such as Influencing Change Conversations, Watershed Implementation &
Development and Regionalization of Water Supplies in Minnesota. Outstanding Kansas State faculty members earn national recognition Noel Schulz, associate dean for engineering research and graduate programs, has been named an Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) fellow. She is being recognized for leadership in advancing
women in engineering and electric ship technologies. IEEE fellow is the highest grade of membership and is
recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honor and an important career achievement. Stephen Higgs, director of the K­State Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI), was announced as the new
president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the largest international scientific
organization of experts dedicated to reducing the burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving health
worldwide. Higgs, who hails from England, was also recently invited as a member of the London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Director's Circle for lunch with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of
Queen Elizabeth II. Higgs reports that he discussed K­State and the BRI with the Prince. Chuck Rice, university distinguished professor of soil microbiology and incoming chair for the Board on
Agriculture and Natural Resources for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and
university president Kirk Schulz were invited to participate in a meeting on "Raising the Profile of Agriculture"
in Washington, DC. The meeting was hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
in conjunction with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, gathered agricultural and food
researchers, educators, students and other industry experts to share ideas for bolstering agricultural
science and research and for recruiting students interested in science, technology, engineering and math to
tackle the global challenges of sustainable food and energy production. Bryan Pinkall, assistant professor of music in the School of Music, Theater, and Dance, has earned two
Grammy nominations for his solo performance on an album with the Kansas City Chorale for Best Choral
Performance and Best Engineered Album for their album "Rachmaninoff: All­Night Vigil." Pinkall's
achievements also include serving as manager of performance operations and direction for the Emmy­
winning 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony, and managing the production of Pope
Francis' mass in Philadelphia. William Dunn and Terry Beck, both professors of mechanical and nuclear engineering, have been
recognized as two of the 25 top professors of mechanical engineering from onlineengineeringprograms.com.
The site recognizes outstanding educators in specific areas of study, noting their contributions to academia
in general, as well as online education in particular.
Dorhout named interim vice
president for research
K­State named Peter Dorhout as interim vice president
for research, effective January 3, 2016. Video on K­State Geosciences
building receives award A video showing details of Kansas State University's
proposed new 78,000­square foot, state­of­the­art
Geosciences building received the Gold award from
the CASE District VI Institutional Awards Competition. Dorhout has served as dean of K­State's College of
You can view the video HERE.
Arts & Sciences and professor of chemistry since
2012 and will continue to also fill those roles until an
To keep pace with the growing demands and to better
interim dean for the college is selected.
serve the needs of the state of Kansas, K­State aims
to expand its Department of Geology, more than
"Dr. Dorhout's extensive experience leading research
doubling the number of undergraduate majors and
programs and as a researcher will be a tremendous
graduate students over the next five years. To
asset in helping us continue our work to become a
achieve this ambitious target, new investment is
Top 50 public research university by 2025," said
needed to accommodate the expansion, including
University President Kirk Schulz. "The innovative
building facilities and equipment. The new building will
thought he's shown at K­State, as well as with
provide an additional 612 classroom seats, 8 new
previous leadership roles, will help propel our
laboratories and 31 more offices.
university research in areas of national and
international prominence."
Investment in a new teaching and research facility will
complement the state's earlier investments in
Before coming to K­State, Dorhout was the interim
producing scientists and engineers who are prepared
provost at Colorado State University­Pueblo. He also
to work in a global environment with considerable
served as vice provost for graduate studies, assistant
resource limitations. With its focus on the instruction of
vice president for research and professor of
STEM and collaborative research addressing global
chemistry at Colorado State University­Fort Collins. resource challenges, this new investment will continue
to move K­State toward its goal of being a Top 50
He is also recognized as an expert in solid state and
public research university by 2025. nuclear materials science and environmental
chemistry. New avian influenza vaccine has
potential for mass vaccination
of poultry
University research team wins
R&D 100 Award for second year
in a row For the second year in a row, a Kansas State
A team of researchers at Kansas State University, in
University research team has won a prestigious R&D
collaboration with Garcia­Sastre of the Icahn School of
100 Award from R&D magazine for developing one of
Medicine at Mount Sinai, has developed a vaccine that
the year's 100 top technologies.
protects poultry from multiple strains of avian influenza
found in the U.S. The vaccine has the potential to be
The university's group, led by Douglas McGregor,
administered through water or into embryonated eggs,
university distinguished professor of mechanical and
making it easier for poultry producers to vaccinate
nuclear engineering, along with six other organizations
flocks.
from academia, industry and government, developed a
hand­held neutron detector that can locate and identify
The vaccine, called NDV­H5Nx, protects chickens
sources of neutron radiation as well as provide
and likely other poultry against the three recently
radiation dose information. Currently, there are two
introduced U.S. avian influenza strains H5N1, H5N2
commercial versions of the hand­held invention, the
and H5N8, as well as against Newcastle disease virus
Antero and the Shavano. ­ a virus that naturally affects poultry. Avian influenza
killed millions of chickens and turkeys in the U.S. in
The dector is an advancement because it's smaller,
spring and summer 2015, leading to billions in lost
lighter and much less expensive than previous units,
revenue for the U.S. poultry industry.
McGregor said. The invention has garnered one U.S.
patent, with a second patent pending.
The vaccine also has the potential to be administered
to millions of birds at a time through water, said Jurgen
Many groups are in need of devices that detect
Richt, Regents distinguished professor of veterinary
sources of dangerous radiation, such as all branches
medicine, director of the U.S. Department of Homeland
of the military, radiation safety workers and NASA
Security's Center of Excellence for Emerging and
astronauts. Zoonotic Animal Diseases at K­State and one of the
researchers involved in the discovery. H5 vaccines
R&D 100 Awards, sometimes called the "Oscars of
currently on the market require that each chicken be
invention," are given to the top 100 most innovative
injected by hand, which would take many hours for
technologies and services each year. McGregor and
large poultry operations.
colleagues were cited in the analytical test category. Additionally, the NDV­H5Nx vaccine has the ability to
differentiate infected from vaccinated animals. This
compatibility is critical for the U.S. poultry industry
because it provides evidence to trade partners that
poultry have been vaccinated and is free of H5, Richt
said. DID YOU KNOW?
Nearly 13,700 academic scholarships ­ totaling more
than a record $29.8 million ­ have been awarded to
Kansas State University Students for the 2015 ­ 2016
school year? The project was funded through the National Bio and
Agro­defense Facility's research project transitional
funds and Avimex. Facebook
K­State Governmental Relations Staff
Sue Peterson, Director of Governmental Relations Kristin Holt, Assistant to the Director Asher Gilliland, Legislative Assistant
Twitter
Website
Contact Information
Office of Governmental Relations 110 Anderson Hall Manhattan, KS 66506­0112
785­532­6227
www.ksu.edu/govrelations
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