Five students were named the first Wichita State University Innovation Fellows by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter) earlier this month. Bearing the new title, they are considered to be at the forefront of student-led innovation.

Wesley Alexis, Austin Crane, Hannah Hund, Kevin Kraus and Saad Syed form what the University Innovation Fellows (UIF) organization refers to as a “leadership circle,” that spurs progress for innovative initiatives at WSU. Leadership circles are not common, as other universities may only have one or two fellows.

To be designated as Innovation Fellows, the five students had to complete a three-stage process that included an application, interviews and a six-week online training program.

“It felt like a five-credit hour course,” Crane said.

Although, all five Fellows recognize it as a beneficial period of time. Various faculty and staff members encouraged the five students to apply.

“The training helps us find gaps in the university, so it wasn’t just basic team building,” Alexis said.

Alexis and the other four students looked at how innovative programs would best serve the WSU community in the training. As a result, they each took responsibility of developing an innovative program to fill in the gaps.

“The other thing that was useful was the training required interviews with faculty and staff that were interested in the programs,” Hund said.

The five programs are:

1. Shocker Startup (Hund)

2. TEDx (Syed)

3. Startup HQ (Crane)

4. Innovative Curriculum (Kraus)

5. Intellectual Policy (Alexis)

Hund and Alexis founded Shocker Startup in May to provide a community for innovators such as entrepreneurs and inventors.

Syed is working on TEDx, a program that involves bringing TED Talks to WSU. TED Talks host motivational speakers to inform and inspire audiences and create positive action.

Startup HQ is a “low-cost marketplace for startups,” Crane said.

If a student wants to make a product or start a program, he or she could use the services of Startup HQ to find resources and services that could be acquired to help start it. Crane said it can be thought of like an “Angie’s List” service for startups.

Crane and his team worked on a beta signup website for Startup HQ, which was recently published. He said people can sign up at thestartuphq.com.

Kraus is working toward diversifying the university curriculum. This means implementing the curriculum with innovative structure at earlier stages.

Kraus suggests offering similar opportunities at lower class levels.

“You can do entrepreneurial things without the crazy climate of upper classes,” he said.

Alexis wants to equip innovators with aptitude in “intellectual policy.” Alexis’ Intellectual Policy project can help innovators effectively navigate the legal world of intellectual properties.

Hund said the next step is to complete their projects. This is a continual process and it keeps all five Fellows working hard. Hund appreciates being able to participate in the Innovation Fellows activities and being named an Innovation Fellow.

“Training and hard work was the benefit,” Hund said.

Networking was also beneficial to the Fellows. Hund, Syed and Alexis said the networking involved in the Innovation Fellows process was helpful.

As an added bonus, all five students have the opportunity to travel to Stanford University and Google in March. The trip will supplement their endeavors with more networking. “If we’re being materialistic, the trip to Stanford and Google is a benefit,” Syed said.

There are still opportunities for more students to become Innovation Fellows.

“People are already applying for next year,” Hund said.

If another WSU student is named an Innovation Fellow next year, the leadership circle from this year will come alongside that student for support and help.

UIF is sponsored and developed by Epicenter, Stanford University and funded by the National Science Foundation.