COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
ANNUAL REPORT
FROM THE DEAN
There is no question that our College of Engineering is vibrant, dynamic, and welcoming. Throughout my first year as dean, I have learned more about our research strengths in engineering for human health, engineering for the environment, and our work on the development of smart systems. I have visited our research centers and labs, interacted with our innovative faculty and staff, met with alumni and industry partners, and have seen our students cooperate and thrive. Our college is unique because we function so well as a community – a community of scholars, a community of collaborators, and a community of learners.
This year’s Annual Report includes many of the metrics we share each year – enrollments, faculty and staff size, research output, and our overall budget. Maybe even more importantly, the Annual Report also includes stories of success across our entire community as our faculty, staff, and students work to develop and deploy the latest technologies and breakthroughs that will improve quality of life for people everywhere.
Engineering research and teaching does not occur in a vacuum. We cannot successfully tell our story without highlighting people – people who make the world safer, more efficient, and sustainable through engineering. We must also recognize the people whose lives have been transformed by our esteemed alumni who are leaders across industry, government, and academia.
I am excited for our new endeavors, and I know that this college has a bright future ahead of it.
CONTENTS
Financials and research stories, pages 2-3
Ann McKenna Dean, College of Engineering
Undergraduate students and stories, pages 4-5
Graduate students and stories, pages 6-7
Faculty and stories, pages 8-9
OUR MISSION
To build an inclusive, diverse, and responsible community recognized for: providing an accessible, modern education in engineering and science for future interdisciplinary leaders; advancing knowledge through fundamental and applied research; and facilitating life-long learning and economic development.
FINANCIALS
$27,308,481
$ 52,416,808
Research Expenditures
General Education Funds
$7,634,340 Giving
RESEARCH STORIES
A multistate research collaboration led by Jun Wang, Iowa’s James E. Ashton Professor of Engineering and the departmental executive officer of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, is investigating agricultural communities grappling with effects of severe weather, such as floods, droughts, and heat waves. A $6 million, four-year project funded by the National Science Foundation will focus on communities in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Arkansas.
Valkyrie Analytics, an environmental biotechnology firm, has pledged $1.5 million to the Bioenergy Innovation Fund to support the research of Craig Just, the Donald E. Bently Professor in Engineering and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. The goal is a scalable approach to turning animal biproducts and food waste into renewable energy, a breakthrough that could reduce carbon footprints worldwide.
Kim “Avrama” Blackwell, professor and departmental executive officer of the Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded a $2.86 million National Institutes of Health grant to investigate the correlation between substance abuse and female sex hormones. Blackwell will explore the role of female sex hormones in mechanisms underlying memory storage in a part of the brain involved in substance use disorders.
The Driving Safety Research Institute was awarded $2 million from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to analyze the effectiveness of driver monitoring systems on their ability to detect if someone is driving while drunk—specifically, if they are over the legal limit or not. The study is being led by Tim Brown, DSRI’s director of drugged driving research.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
are
Undergraduate students
MAKING HEADLINES
As a mechanical engineering undergraduate, Ken Reichert worked at the Driving Safety Research Institute building custom driving simulators for clients around the world, including the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. He installed instrumentation and cable assemblies and designed a complex 3D part to cradle a new LCD display.
Hannah Vogts, a biomedical engineering major studying cellular engineering, won a scholarship from Tau Beta Pi, which is among the country’s oldest engineering honor societies. Vogts has been heavily engaged in the college, including serving as lead tutor at the Hanson Center for Communication and conducting lab-based research.
Elise Koltonowski, a chemical engineering student, completed a summer internship with GE Aerospace, a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft. She gained skills in problem solving through data analytics and received an intern impact award for leading with transparency.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS GRADUATE STUDENTS
Our graduate students are mentored by award-winning faculty members who empower them to be innovators and encourage them to become leaders in their fields.
MAKING HEADLINES
Qin Dong and David Ramotowski, PhD candidates in environmental engineering, gained acclaim for research investigating the potential of corn kernels to help degrade toxic PCB chemicals. Dong’s results were published in Environmental Science & Technology, a peer-reviewed journal. Ramotowski won the Iowa Three Minute Thesis contest for expertly translating the research for a general audience.
Emmanuel Akor and Daniel Meggo, PhD candidates in the Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering, are part of a research team awarded a National Science Foundation I-Corps grant to develop a cost-effective mechanical ventilator for underserved communities. The intent is to improve survival rates related to acute respiratory distress.
Fahim Ahmed Zaman, a PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering, won the Graduate College’s Ballard and Seashore Dissertation Fellowship, which provides students with protected and supported time to complete scholarly research activities and write their dissertations. Zaman’s research focuses on improving 3D medical images and improving short- and long-term prognoses of cardiovascular diseases.
111
Engineering faculty
96 15
Tenure-track faculty Instructional-track faculty
2
National Academy of Engineering members
8
Named and distinguished chairs
15
Named and distinguished professorships
3 $511
per tenure-track faculty member
Research productivity
Named and distinguished faculty fellows
MAKING HEADLINES
Rachel Vitali, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is working to improve student career opportunities in the U.S. Navy by expanding Iowa’s Naval Sciences and Technology certificate – one of the few of its kind in academia – to include human performance as a specialization area. Understanding human performance is often critical to the success of naval operations.
Xuan Song, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering and faculty affiliate of the Iowa Technology Institute, won a competitive Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program award to advance research of additive manufacturing of energetic materials. The program aims to “discover, shape, champion, and transition high-risk research that will positively impact the future Air and Space Forces.”
Matthew McGill, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering and faculty affiliate of the Iowa Technology Institute, is leading a research team building capabilities to make Iowa a destination for measuring atmospheric and environmental data crucial for understanding effects of climate change. His three-year, $1.2 million project is funded by Iowa’s P3 program for strategic campus initiatives.
Xiaodong Wu, professor of electrical and computer engineering and faculty affiliate of the Iowa Technology Institute, is principal investigator of a $1.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to advance understanding of Takotsubo, in which patients suffer from a weakened heart as the result of severe emotional or physical stress, such as the loss of a loved one. The condition has been dubbed “broken-heart syndrome.”
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