In November 2020, Stephen Baek, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, and H.S. Udaykumar, a professor of mechanical engineering and interim associate dean for research and graduate programs, both at the University of Iowa, received the 2020 Defense Innovation Award from TechConnect. Udaykumar and Baek received the award for their presentation “MaterIQ: An AI-based software tool for materials-by-design” at the Defense TechConnect Summit.

According to a University of Iowa study published by the American Chemical Society, between 51,000 and 79,000 Iowans are at risk for lead exposure in drinking water that exceeds the threshold set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Amina Grant, a Ph.D. student studying civil and environmental engineering, was lead author on the study which examined now many Iowans may be consuming drinking water that has more lead than is allowed by the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule (LCR).