Since its inception in 1985, the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University has made a name for itself as the most capable university aviation research center in the United States. NIAR provides research, design, testing and certification to the aviation manufacturing industry, government agencies, educational entities and non-aviation related businesses.

With 135,000 square feet of research and office space, the Institute is home to more than a dozen labs including Advanced Joining and Processing, Aerodynamics, Aging Aircraft, CAD/CAM, Composites and Advanced Materials, Crash Dynamics, Environmental Test, Full-scale Structural Test, Human Factors, Mechanical Test and Virtual Reality. Other labs offer support in Calibration and Quality, Computational Mechanics, Information Technology, Visual Technology and Research Machine services to keep our primary labs running smoothly.