News at SDState

Three student teams from South Dakota State University have advanced to the finals of two different NASA contests in the coming weeks. All are mechanical engineering students. The Gateways to Blue Skies competition advanced eight teams to Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California, May 20-21. Both of SDSU’s entries in the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concept-Academic Linkage contest were selected for the finals of the small lunar servicing and maintenance robot division in Cocoa Beach, Florida, June 2-4. A total of 14 teams were selected in three divisions.

America’s newest concrete industry management academic program is continuing to turn heads as a result of student achievement. The latest feather in the cap for the program at South Dakota State University is a $10,000 scholarship won by sophomore concrete industry management major Kate Connor of Winfred. She was notified April 7 that she was the recipient of the Advancing Organizational Excellence Fellowship, which is awarded through the Concrete Industry Management trade association. She is the fourth student in the program to win a national award this semester.

The Women in Aviation Club, as described by Madeline Davis, is a community and support system that promotes professional development within aviation, focused on women in South Dakota State University’s aviation program. As its president, Davis hopes to take the Women in Aviation Club to the next level. There are about 50 women enrolled in the aviation program at SDSU, and she hopes to motivate as many of them as she can to join the club.

Fifty-four students, teachers and mentors participated in the South Dakota Space Design Competition at South Dakota State University March 8-9 with the top students advancing to the world championship at Kennedy Space Center in July. Students came from high schools in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. Participants were matched with other students they did not know in order to add to the communications challenge.

South Dakota State University pharmacy students outdid themselves in the 2024 North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination. Dan Hansen, dean of the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, said 56 of the 59 Pharm.D. graduates took the exam in 2024, and all 56 passed on their first attempt, giving SDSU a 100% pass rate.

Selections for the third class of Future Innovators of America Fellowships have been announced by the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering.

The Ness School of Management and Economics at South Dakota State University will now offer both a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts in accounting following the program’s approval by the South Dakota Board of Regents.

The Wintrode Student Success and Opportunity Center, established in 2007, has made significant strides in its 16 years of operation, increasing its services to students by over 400%.

Greg Heiberger, an assistant professor in the College of Natural Sciences, led efforts to have South Dakota State University selected as one of seven metaversities in the United States by VictoryXR, a global leader in metaverse education. As a metaversity, SDSU will provide a virtual replica of campus for students to attend classes, whether they are on the main campus in Brookings or learning remotely.

Success in intercollegiate athletics at South Dakota State the past decade has been about as much on the competition field as it has been in the classroom.