The U.S. Army has awarded a $5 million contract led by Karim Abdel-Malek, a University of Iowa engineering professor, for a groundbreaking study aimed at improving soldier fitness standards and training.

Tyler Bell, a University of Iowa associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, contributed to studies of AI-integrated virtual reality training for teacher preparation, which won the Thomas N. Urban Research Award.

George Barrera is a third year graduate student in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering.

River to River host Ben Kieffer spoke with Aislinn Conrad, a former child welfare investigator, and mechanical engineer Karim Abdel-Malek. The two are developing an AI system that monitors physical behaviors to detect violence as it happens.

Pranev Karthik, a finance and business analytics information systems major, and Lane Neshiem, a mechanical engineering major, won the $500 People’s Choice award at the fall IdeaStorm competition for SmartStack Systems, an all-in-one stacked washer and dryer system.

Host Ben Kieffer speaks with director of IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering Larry Weber about the implications if we no longer track water quality and the effort to fund the network of 60 sensors across the state.

Elliot Anderson, Jerald Schnoor, and Larry Weber participated in an event called Our Water, Our Future. It provided an in-depth look at the Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment, which studied central Iowa’s Des Moines and Raccoon watersheds.

Larry Weber from the UI Center for Hydrologic Development said residents felt the impact of increased pollution this summer. “This summer, the nitrate levels were above 20 milligrams per liter, more than double the safe water drinking levels,” Weber said. “When we go back 50 years, the nitrate levels were one to 3 milligrams per liter.”

The University of Iowa College of Engineering has received a $7.7 million gift from alumnus Richard "Dick" and Judy Smith to endow the deanship as the Dick and Judy Smith Dean of the College of Engineering and support facility enhancements.

The annual awards from the College of Engineering and University of Iowa recognize excellence and longevity in faculty and staff members