Maintenance and Modifications
NIAR's Werx Organization Leverages Engineering, Mod Capabilities
The National Institute for Aviation Research's Werx lab is partnering with Dynamic Aviation on modification of three 737s for a special-missions program.
The Werx modification lab at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) has received a Part 145 repair station certificate from the FAA for limited airframe and engine. (Photo: AIN/Jerry Siebenmark)
The Werx modification lab at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) has received a Part 145 repair station certificate from the FAA for limited airframe and engine. (Photo: AIN/Jerry Siebenmark)

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, 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.