Our Progress

In addition to great law enforcement officers, Iowa State police chief Michael Newton periodically seeks specific language skills among applicants. His current staff roster includes two Mandarin-speaking and one Spanish-speaking officers, none by accident. “We want to represent our community with a diverse group of officers who want to do the job,” Newton said. “The ability to talk to people in their native language is much more personable — and a better way to take care of victims or talk to a suspect.”

This fall, a new interdisciplinary climate science degree program will prepare students for careers helping society address and adapt to climate change. The program is a first for the state of Iowa’s public institutions. The new program will help meet growing workforce demand for graduates well-versed in climate science — in fields that include agriculture, financial and insurance industries, the military and national intelligence agencies. With a core curriculum in geological and atmospheric science, economics and science communication, climate science students will choose additional courses from pathways in advanced climate science, science visualization, design and planning for sustainability, policy and human behavior, climate, food, agriculture and biodiversity, and science communication.

In July, Iowa State’s College of Design, in partnership with the City of Des Moines, hosted a session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design in Des Moines. The ISU College of Design was competitively selected from among top U.S. design institutions to host the technical assistance workshop, one of several the institute holds each year around the country to help mayors find solutions to critical planning and design challenges facing their cities. Iowa State brought in top design talent from across the U.S. and Iowa and created an opportunity for mayors to engage in problem-solving.

Iowa State and its partners developed a data-sharing system that enables data-driven decisions to better serve young children and their families — an advance that has garnered national attention as a model for other states. Iowa State faculty lead I2D2, a highly secure, cross-program data-sharing system. With a team of ISU data experts working with seven state departments and Head Start programs, I2D2 has made possible successes that include improving early childhood services and opening substance use recovery centers in four Iowa cities. In a national report, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services highlighted I2D2 as an example of a data sharing initiative for other local and state governments.

Thanks to trailblazing Iowa State research, Iowa was the first state to apply a new ultra-high performance concrete to bridge construction. The material, tested at ISU for nearly two decades, is significantly more durable than concrete and can extend a bridge’s life to 75 years and beyond. Now, Iowa State engineers are testing the use of sprayable or pumpable ultra-high performance concrete to potentially reduce bridge construction from months to days — and as a tool to repair and rehabilitate bridges. The researchers are collaborating with Iowa and California state transportation departments. The California partners are especially interested to learn from ISU how the concrete is able to withstand natural disasters.

When Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation for a Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month, the chief proponent behind that special order was Iowa State staff member Debbie Roberts. Roberts, who self identifies as a congenital amputee, is one of an estimated 2 million Americans living with a limb loss or limb difference. Roberts has worked for years to raise awareness and improve understanding of limb loss and limb difference.

Iowa State engineers lead a team that’s developing cybersecurity systems that prevent, detect and mitigate attacks on renewable sources sending power to the grid. The U.S. Department of Energy, which has invested $2 million in the project, believes cutting-edge cybersecurity technology will keep the U.S. at the forefront of global innovation and protect America’s power grid in the face of increasing cyberthreats from abroad.