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The Past:The Science Of Computing, News And Communications Services

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The computers of today are vastly different from the first-generation computers that filled a room. Kansas State University’s first computer, built by engineering professors W.R. Ford and J.E. Wolfe from 1954-1956, helped researchers solve complex calculations in minutes instead of months. In the top photo from 1975, Linda Shapiro, assistant professor of computer science, and Earl Harris, hardware analyst, work on computers in the department’s hardware room. The bottom photo from the 1980s shows the Nichols Hall computer machine room, which held large computers that connected to terminals in a nearby computer lab. See page 28 to learn how K-State …

2022 Spring- Seek - Full Issue (Pdf), News And Communications Services

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Spring 2022 issue of Seek

Graduate Scholar: A Pesky Pest, Pat Melgares

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Ivan Grijalva considers the sugarcane aphid a big headache. Strange, perhaps, since it would take about 16 of the pear-shaped, soft-bodied, leaf-sucking insects — lined up end to end — to measure 1 inch. In a farm field, aphids are rarely visible at first glance, even though hundreds or thousands may be present. Trivial? Not to Grijalva, Kansas State University doctoral student in entomology, who is using machine learning to detect and classify sugarcane aphid populations on sorghum leaves without the use of manual labor.

Explain It: Triple Bottom Line, News And Communications Services

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Hansin Bilgili, assistant professor of management in the Kansas State University College of Business Administration, explains, in fewer than 100 words, what triple bottom line is and why it is important for sustainability.

Undergraduate Scholar: Making Good Foods Better, Beth Bohn

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Jill Broxterman is hungry to take on the challenge of feeding a growing world, whether by ensuring food products are safe to consume or by making foods more nutritious. Originally an engineering major when she entered Kansas State University in fall 2019, Broxterman soon switched to food science and industry, offered through the College of Agriculture. The college is home to the Food Science Institute, which facilitates the university’s food science programs and provides research and technical assistance to the food industries.

Udp Focus: Music And The Write Stuff, Beth Bohn

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Wayne Goins brings music to life, whether playing, composing or writing about it. “My passion for performing and writing about music is what keeps me moving forward, looking for the next magic moment — both on the stage and on the page,” said Goins, university distinguished professor of jazz in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Faculty Focus: A Passion For Parks, Taylor Provine

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The iconic Gordon Parks was more than a prominent photographer: He was also a writer, filmmaker and musician. Several Kansas State University researchers are highlighting some of his multimedia material in a digital archive.

Engagement: A Big Bang, Jennifer Tidball

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It’s a research success story that starts with an explosion and continues with the formation of a company based on Kansas State University research. Or, as physicist Chris Sorensen calls it: serendipity. “We discovered graphene serendipitously in the lab when we were using controlled explosions to make an aerosol gel,” said Sorensen, Cortelyou-Rust university distinguished professor of physics and university distinguished teaching scholar. “I wasn’t expecting to make graphene.” But make graphene they did. And that’s just the first chapter of the story.

Behind The Code: Researchers Tackle The New World Of Cybersecurity, Jennifer Tidball

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k-state.edu/seek 29 Kansas State University cybersecurity researchers want you to know the difference between the stereotype of cybersecurity and the reality of it. The stereotype: Cyberattacks are committed by hooded hackers cracking code to infiltrate our security systems. The reality: Cyberattacks certainly can happen that way, but it’s much more likely to come in the form of vulnerable and outdated hardware and software, social engineering, phishing scams and ransomware. That reality can be a pretty scary place. An outdated piece of software can make an autonomous vehicle susceptible to cyberattacks. Clever social engineering can cause an unknowing employee to provide …

Angles Of Attack: Fighting Cancer With Interdisciplinary Science, Marcia Locke

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How do tumors develop despite the body’s defenses? Why can the body stop some tumors from forming but not others? What makes cancerous cells live longer than normal cells and wreak havoc on the body? And how can we fight these processes? Kansas State University researchers are searching for answers to these questions and more through the interdisciplinary Johnson Cancer Research Center in the College of Arts and Sciences. The center’s faculty members span 20 departments in five colleges. They work to better understand cancer and find ways to prevent it, detect it earlier and treat it more successfully, while …

Balancing Act: Sustaining Our Future Across Disciplines, Michelle Geering

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A farmer in western Kansas worries his well will be dry in 30 years. More than 9 million tons of clothing — some items only worn once — go to U.S. landfills each year. Globally, 79% of all consumer plastics end up in landfills or as litter and can take hundreds of years to decompose. These are a fraction of the sustainability challenges the world faces. If current behaviors and practices are left unchanged, experts say the consequences to our livelihoods and for the environment are bleak. But all is not lost: A variety of measures and practices can help …

Rural Research & Communinity Collaboration, Malorie Sougéy

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The Chapman Center for Rural Studies aims to preserve and promote the stories and culture of Kansas with a specific focus on rurality. It is a center of excellence in the Kansas State University College of Arts and Sciences. Mary Kohn, director of the Chapman Center since August 2020 and associate professor of English, outlines three major responsibilities of the center: Give students high-quality, hands-on learning experiences; Serve local — especially rural — communities; Equip faculty to productively work with students and communities.

The New Normal, Courtney Roszak-Moore

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Flip the calendar back to March 2020. Economic activity went to zero and the country experienced a shutdown. Unemployment rose and people stayed home and didn’t go about their normal routine of buying things. To try and rebound the economy, the Federal Reserve issued several rounds of stimulus checks. “The economic decisions that we saw in March 2020 were driven completely by the fact that we were shut down,” said Eric Higgins, research director and the von Waaden Chair of Investment Management in the College of Business Administration. “Once the country opened back up, those issues began to go away …

Shorts, News And Communications Services

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Shorts

• A plan for economic prosperity in Kansas
• Researcher develops a model market CHAMP
• Telling the story of Black westward settlement
• From plastic sticker to laser printer
• The Fight Continues: Updates on COVID-19 research from K-State

Seek: Research Magazine For Kansas State University. [Introductory Matter] Spring 2022, David Rosowsky

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Introductory material for the Spring 2022 issue of Seek, including the table of contents and a letter from Vice President for Research David Rosowsky.

Shorts, News And Communications Services

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Shorts

• An eye for cattle facial recognition technology
• Engaging the nonprofit workforce
• Designing a new studio experience
• Konza Prairie continues decades of research success
• The nose knows
• Big support for a big idea

Seek: Research Magazine For Kansas State University. [Introductory Matter] Fall 2021, Dr. David Rosowsky

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Introductory material for the Fall 2021 issue of Seek, including the table of contents and a letter from Vice President for Research David Rosowsky.

Engagement: Engaging Success, Livy Seirer

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A Kansas State University software development team that created the nationally used PEARS software program is now putting down roots in Manhattan.

Greater Spaces, Better Places, Beth Bohn

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The long, dusty road snakes through a windswept prairie where cattle graze and wheat and corn grow. It’s a familiar sight in western Kansas until the road ends and the earth opens, revealing the effects of more than 80 million years of wind and erosion on land that was once a seabed. Sedimentary outcroppings, some towering more than 100 feet, stretch for a mile, resembling ruins from an ancient walled city such as Jerusalem.

Cause Or Effect: How Researchers Are Analyzing Misinformation, Michelle Geering

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It is easier than ever to produce and consume information — it just requires a scroll, swipe or click. Information is at our fingertips every hour of every day.

Riding The Wave, Taylor Provine

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Kansas State University researchers are diving in to find solutions to some of our biggest water problems.

Udp Focus: Mathematical Maps, Jennifer Tidball

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In the mathematical research frontier, David Yetter considers himself a fur trapper of sorts.

Undergraduate Scholar: Passionate About Policy, Malorie Sougéy

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Bradley Richards knows a thing or two about policy and the effect it can have on a country and its citizens.

Faculty Focus: The Isolation Of Selling, Courtney Roszak

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When Edward Nowlin and Doug Walker sat down with a whiteboard in 2016 to explore social isolation and its effects on sales representatives’ work performance, a worldwide pandemic was not on their radar. Nor did the Kansas State University College of Business Administration researchers expect the phrase “social isolation” to be mainstream or know how it would affect the direction of their research.

Explain It: Precipitation Use Efficiency, Charles Rice

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Precipitation use efficiency involves designing cropping systems to use precipitation effectively. The first strategy prevents runoff. Increasing soil health with better soil structure helps intense rainfalls infiltrate the soil rather than run off the field and not be captured by the crop. The second strategy reduces surface evaporation. Keeping residue on the soil surface through no-till reduces wasteful evaporation. The third strategy eliminates nonproductive uptake of soil water by eliminating weeds. Continuous no-till cropping keeps the soil covered, reduces weeds and increases infiltration. Thus, precipitation is used for growing crops for forage or grain rather than for nonproductive uses.

The Past: Information Age, News And Communications Services

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Kansas State University first introduced printing techniques as part of its curriculum in 1874. The Industrialist began publication the following year to provide students with hands-on printing.

Graduate Scholar: Cellular Communication, Katie Messerla

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Tshegofatso Ngwaga likes to communicate with cells. Cells in the immune system, to be more specific.

Breaking A Bottleneck In Bee Research, Pat Melgares

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K-State entomologist Brian Spiesman is leading the project, called BeeMachine, which uses computer vision to identify North American bumblebee species with images submitted from public databases and ordinary citizens.

2021 Fall - Seek - Full Issue (Pdf), News And Communications Services

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Fall 2021 issue of Seek

The Hidden Crisis, Chelsi Medved

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As the COVID-19 pandemic has affected communities across the world, it also has amplified long-existing problems in communities at home. A shortage of health care providers. A lack of mental health resources. The need for strong community and public health research initiatives.