Today, the Greater Wichita chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals gathered in celebration of National Philanthropy Day to honor six individuals or organizations. Knight Foundation was given the award for Outstanding Foundation of the year.

According to the Wichita Eagle, "National Philanthropy Day acknowledges the services provided by the nonprofit community and recognizes the impact that philanthropy has on society."

Knight Foundation announced a grant of $2.1 million in Wichita to take aviation composite technology, which we're very good at, and transfer it to a new industry, the manufacture of medical devices.

I actually learned about composites when I was a kid, but didn't know what I was learning. My dad built a sailplane in our garage while I was growing up. He bought plans and over a number of years, with help from his flying buddies, many of whom were engineers at Cessna and Beech, built the fuselage and wings.

He used fiberglass and epoxy glue to create part of the wings so they'd be lightweight. When the epoxy dried, the fiberglass was much more durable with the hardened resin on it. That's composites.

Dad is 75 now and building another plane. This time it's a Tailwind in their basement. And yes, he's still making stuff out of composites. I wasn't aware of it until I started telling my parents about the grant I'd been working on while having Sunday dinner with them. That's when Dad went down to his basement and brought up a little part he'd made from carbon fiber and resin.

He couldn't believe I was taking a class on composites. I couldn't believe he was making them himself.

So we had no choice but to open a great bottle of wine and toast all that is well with the world.

A few weeks ago I held in my hand what looked like the handle of a salad tong. Dark-colored, curved, and lightweight, it was really a surgical retractor made from composites instead of metal. Up close the fibers were arranged in a criss-cross pattern, like a tweed jacket. To create it, the fibers were covered with resin and heated in an autoclave. The result is a product completely different from its metal counterpart.

The retractor was lightweight yet strong, requiring at least 60 pounds of force to break it. Even more important, it was x-ray translucent. Used in place of a metal retractor during surgery means it can be left in place instead of being moved several times.

Fiber, resin and heat are the building blocks of aviation composites. The Center of Innovation for Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Research (CIBOR) is working to make them the building blocks of a new industry in Kansas: the manufacture of orthopedic medical devices. Knight Foundation's grant announced today, $2.1 million over five years, will help make this vision real.

Our grant will build the composite laboratory where this new work will happen. In just a few years the CIBOR team hopes to create new medical devices that can be manufactured here in Kansas, leading to new jobs and a more diverse economy.

Is it risky? Sure. Even with the best of plans, plans change. But the CIBOR team has what it takes to be transformational: vision, courage, tenacity and know-how. They're committed to improve the quality of life for people with acute and chronic orthopedic conditions. And they're committed to create new opportunities for Kansans.

Sometimes the simplest discoveries become the greatest. I'm optimistic that discovering new uses for composites can lead to the greatest possibilities for our state and its people.

Editor's note: Knight Wichita Program Director Anne Corriston writes about recent recognition of the PACES program that Knight has funded.

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer recognized Knight Foundation’s workforce development project, PACES, in his State of the City address on January 27.

Image by Michael Kinard.

PACES, Preparation for Aviation/Advanced Career Employment System, is managed by the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas. The goal is to connect low-income, low-skilled people to higher paying careers at local aviation companies and their suppliers. The economic downturn our aviation companies are currently experiencing means we are expanding the PACES model to include the health care industry.

Knight’s initial investment in PACES has led to other grants, including one from the City of Wichita. The PACES program team will work with community-based organizations to provide remedial learning, skills assessment, and coaching to participants.

It’s a project with a long view – moving people from marginal jobs with low pay to better-paying jobs that offer benefits and opportunities to advance their careers. We will learn much along the way and will share our findings as we go.