WICHITA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Grand opening events for Airbus and Dassault Systèmes (Paris:DSY) sites at Wichita State University were held Thursday, April 27, commemorating the official residency of the global corporations on Wichita State’s Innovation Campus development.

Wichita State President John Bardo said, “This is the beginning of a new era at Wichita State University – an opportunity for students to work alongside experienced professionals, gaining knowledge about the tools and processes used by industry. We see these partnerships as a model for future partnerships in areas such as business, education, health professions, arts and sciences.”

“Higher education institutions like Wichita State University play an absolutely critical role in economic development,” said Dennis Alvord, deputy assistant secretary for regional affairs for the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). “EDA is proud of our strong partnership with WSU; a partnership that has led to $10 million in EDA investment to help establish the impressive Innovation Campus that today is attracting world-class companies to the region and playing a critical role in training the next generation of workers to compete for advanced manufacturing and other in-demand jobs.”

As WSU Innovation Campus partners, Airbus Engineering and Dassault Systèmes have access to campus support infrastructure, including research labs, meeting facilities, education/training opportunities and boundless collaboration with faculty, staff, students and business entities on campus.

Airbus Americas: Applied Learning & Innovation

These advantages were key to the decision to move the Airbus Americas Wichita Engineering Center to WSU’s Innovation Campus in early 2017. Airbus’ two-story, 90,000-square-foot building houses 300 employees working on all Airbus commercial aircraft products, including significant design work on the next-generation A350 XWB.

Airbus also collaborates with Wichita State to take full advantage of the university's applied learning model, which engages students in real-world engineering projects, helps develop critical engineering skills, and provides students with experience, while also boosting Airbus' competitiveness.

“Wichita’s talent pool of aerospace and aviation experts is among the richest in the world,” said John O’Leary, Vice President-Airbus Americas Engineering. “The aviation expertise here is recognized within Airbus and around the world. The Innovation Campus is only going to help Wichita’s expertise grow.”

Since its inception, Airbus has played a pioneering role in the international air transport industry’s evolution. This trend will continue over the coming decades, as Airbus leverages innovative solutions to accelerate the application of new ideas and technologies to improve the economic efficiency and environmental performance of commercial aviation.

Dassault Systèmes: The Future of Advanced Product Development and Manufacturing

Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, will engage the technology and staff in the new 3DEXPERIENCE Center to advance the use of new technologies such as additive manufacturing that will shape the future of the manufacturing industry.

The 3DEXPERIENCE Center, a unique partnership between Wichita State’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) and Dassault Systèmes, first announced in 2015, brings together students, researchers and industry, using the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform and industry solution experiences to enable 3D advanced product development, virtual simulation, and next generation manufacturing.

“Our partnership with Wichita State University is a model for how public institutions and businesses can work together for the advancement of new technologies,” said Michel Tellier, vice president, aerospace and defense industry, Dassault Systèmes. “Our new 3DEXPERIENCE Center is going to help businesses solve today’s problems while training the workforce of tomorrow. The advanced manufacturing techniques, new materials research and 3D simulation innovations that are unveiled in this new facility will have an immediate impact on the aerospace industry, and will also be applicable to countless other industries across the world.”

Key capabilities of the center include:

• Engineered new materials development
• Multi-scale simulation and optimization
• Multi-Robotic Advanced Manufacturing (MRAM)
• On-demand certification

The 3DEXPERIENCE Center is devoted to accelerating virtual product development, manufacturing and technology innovation with both aviation and non-aviation companies on projects large or small – whether developing manufacturing or product development strategies, implementing new technology or solving a specific challenge.

The Innovation Campus at Wichita State University

Situated on 120 acres, Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings where organizations establish operations and reap the rewards of the university’s vast resources: laboratories that give students access to real-world applications and the training needed to effortlessly assimilate into the workforce; a community makerspace that provides access to technology and services that facilitate product development; and mixed-use areas that provide everyone with a place to learn, work, live and play.

About Wichita State University

The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 masters' and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. www.wichita.edu

About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe’s number one space enterprise and the world’s second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

About Dassault Systèmes

Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced and supported. Dassault Systèmes’ collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 220,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com.

3DEXPERIENCE, the Compass logo and the 3DS logo, CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, ENOVIA, DELMIA, SIMULIA, GEOVIA, EXALEAD, 3D VIA, BIOVIA, NETVIBES and 3DEXCITE are registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries.

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