Friday, December 5, 2025

By Alexa Joss

Soddering on a circuit board

The Iowa Flood Center is well known for its publicly available flood stage information that is crucial to aid in flood warnings. Less well known is the network of intricate sensors that gather the data, said Mia Smith, a student research assistant at the research center. 

Smith, an undergraduate environmental engineering student, gets to see the behind-the-scenes process firsthand. She submitted a photo of a bridge sensor being assembled for the 2026 Capture Your Research competition. 

“The photo captures the hands-on side of engineering that we don’t always see in the classroom,” said Smith, who took home the first-place prize for undergraduates. “It reinforces how important it is to understand the systems we rely on and to be comfortable building, troubleshooting, and working directly with equipment in the field.”

Each year, the University of Iowa community is invited to showcase its creativity through Capture Your Research, an image competition where students, faculty, and staff submit a photo that illustrates the essence of their research. Entries are judged on originality, visual appeal, how well the image represents the research, and the clarity of the written description.

Three men stand by an image of red cells.
Suresh Raghavan, Leo Cruz Criollo, Milad Arzani (left to right)

This year’s contest revealed talent across campus and engineering students stood out with several top placements. Their submissions offer a glimpse into the innovative work happening inside the labs, field sites, and testing facilities at the University of Iowa. 

Milad Arzani, a PhD candidate in biomedical engineering, earned first place in the graduate student category for an image of a blood clot.

“This clot was surgically retrieved from a stroke patient's brain. A clot is a double-edged sword,” Arzani said. “It is vital to life because it is what stops bleeding, while on the other hand, it can also disrupt life if it occurs at the wrong place and time. Blood elements, once vital for life, now obstruct it.” 

Learn more about the winners from engineering.

Undergraduate Student – Engineering Winners

Soddering on a circuit board
First place, Undergraduate: Bridge Sensor Assemble, by Mia Smith, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Green orb outlines over black background
Second place, Undergraduate: Cells in Orbit, by Emily Formella, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Graduate Student – Engineering Winners

Red blood cells over grey background
First place, Graduate Student: Bloodshot Clot Plot, by Milad Arzani, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Green laser beam over dark surface
Second place, Graduate Student: Going with the Flow, by Abhishek Ghimire, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Green trees and bushes hang over a river
Third place, Graduate Student (tie): In the Weeds with Flood Forecasting, by Anthony Lamoreux, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering