IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering is a world-renowned center for education, research, and public service focusing on hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics. Based in the C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, a five-story red brick building on the banks of the Iowa River, IIHR is a unit of the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering. At IIHR, students, faculty members, and research engineers work together to understand and manage one of the world’s greatest resources—water. Students from around the world benefit from IIHR’s comprehensive multidisciplinary approach, which includes basic fluid mechanics, laboratory experimentation, and computational approaches.

The IFC is engaged in flood projects in several Iowa communities and employs several graduate and undergraduate students participating in flood-related research. The IFC strives to develop hydrologic models for physically-based flood frequency estimation and real-time forecasting of floods, including hydraulic models of flood plain inundation mapping; to establish community-based programs to improve flood monitoring and prediction along Iowa’s major waterways and to support ongoing flood research; to share resources and expertise of the Iowa Flood Center; to assist in the development of a workforce in the state knowledgeable regarding flood research, prediction, and mitigation strategies; to conduct the activities required by this chapter in cooperation with various state and federal agencies.

The Iowa Technology Institute focuses on six mission areas: aerospace technology, environment and energy, biotechnology, systems and sensors, human modeling and simulation, and advanced manufacturing and materials. Its laboratories include the Operator Performance Laboratory,  Virtual Soldier Research program, and Atmospheric and Environmental Research Lab. ITI has a number of strategic partnerships with government and corporate entities, which help fund and support their research and technology development. Partners include the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps and companies such as Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Collins Aerospace, John Deere, Caterpillar, NASA, and many others.

The Iowa Superfund Research Program is a joint endeavor involving basic, mechanistic, and applied projects in biomedical and non-biomedical research areas. The program's overall theme is the consequences of atmospheric sources and exposures to semi-volatile polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and it deals with volatilization, transport, and exposure of lower halogenated PCBs, especially those PCBs that are associated with contaminated waters, former industrial sites, other atmospheric sources, and the consequences of exposure to them. The ISRP brings together 15 scientists representing four colleges in Iowa, Illinois and Kentucky. Working together, they measure sources, transport, and environmental exposure of PCBs; their distribution, metabolism, and toxicity in animals and humans; and novel methods of phytoremediation.

The University of Iowa Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) is a multidisciplinary environmental health research center dedicated to supporting and conducting research to identify, measure and prevent adverse health outcomes related to exposure to environmental toxins. CHEEC is comprised of faculty and researchers located in the University of Iowa Colleges of Public Health, Engineering, and Liberal Arts and Sciences, as wellas the State Hygienic Laboratory.

The Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing (CBB) combines first-class scientific faculty with cutting-edge facilities to reshape and define new technologies for chemical, pharmaceutical, nutritional, and agrochemical industries. Located at the University of Iowa Research Park, the CBB consists of more than 50 faculty members and 300 researchers, including graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral scientists, technicians, and visiting faculty and industrial scientists. Its faculty members come from eight different departments, and it is home to more than 20 predoctoral fellows. The principal areas of study within the CBB include biocatalyst fundamental properties, bioremediation, bioprocessing, new biocatalyst discovery, novel biocatalyst applications, biosensing technology, and reactive agent development.

The Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER) is a state-funded institute devoted to studying and bettering our environment. The center promotes interdisciplinary research on the many aspects of global environmental change. Areas of focus include regional effects on natural ecosystems, environments, and resources, and effects on human health, culture, and social systems. To accomplish its missions, CGRER awards seed grants, fosters interdisciplinary courses, provides state-of-the-art research facilities, and holds seminars and symposia. Through these activities, CGRER assists Iowa’s agencies, industries, politicians, and citizens as they prepare for accelerated environmental change.