Something big is happening in a cluster of buildings and hangars in Wichita, Kansas, that once served as a modification center for Boeing Co. The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (WSU) created an organization two and a half years ago, called NIAR Werx, to provide a host of services to OEMs, suppliers, and other commercial, business, and military aviation companies—especially startups—seeking to do projects as small as one-off parts manufacturing all the way up to retrofitting commercial airliners for special missions and other purposes.
At the same time, it provides real-world learning and experience for WSU engineering students and students enrolled in the airframe and powerplant and avionics programs offered by the university’s technical college, WSU Tech.
David Jones, NIAR Werx director, emphasized that the nonprofit…
