A fundraising campaign has started at Wichita State University for a new, state-of-the-art facility that will be called the Shocker Fly Lab.  The facility will be an enclosed flight space to research, design and test unmanned aerial vehicles that will position the university at the forefront of unmanned aerial system education and development.

This $12.75 million project will be completed in two phases, the first of which will consist of a net-enclosed open-air facility measuring approximately 100 feet by 200 feet with a steel structure 30-35 feet high.

Wichita State officials announced Monday that a $1 million gift from Lynn Nichols, retired chairman and CEO of Yingling Aviation, and his wife Sherry.   WSU president Rick Muma said in a press release, “The Shocker Fly Lab will be a game-changer for Wichita State, providing a dynamic space where students, faculty and industry partners can come together to push the boundaries of drone technology.  This facility will fuel cutting-edge research and applied learning and drive real-world innovation in aerospace and autonomous systems. Thanks to the generosity of Lynn and Sherry Nichols, we’re creating a hub where ideas can quite literally take flight.”

The Shocker Fly Lab will be constructed on the Innovation Campus near the Hub for Advanced Materials Research and the John Bardo Center.  The lab will foster collaboration and innovation between students, faculty and Innovation Campus partners, along with the National Institute for Aviation Research, to develop, test and refine advanced drone systems in a real-world environment. This will complement the cutting-edge work happening in the Project Innovation Hub at the John Bardo Center to leverage the capabilities of a new supercomputer under construction.

There is no set timeline yet for the completion and opening of the facility.