Points of Pride

Research, technology and outreach achievements

Birthplace of the computer

Iowa State is the birthplace of the first electronic digital computer, starting the world's computer technology revolution. It was created by physics professor John V. Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry.

Top 10 scientific breakthroughs: Chimps hunt

ISU anthropologist Jill Pruetz and Cambridge grad student Paco Bertolani's discovery of chimps hunting with tools was No. 2 on Wired magazine's " Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007."

Licenses and options

In the latest survey conducted by the Association of University Technology Managers, in which 165 U.S. universities participated (2005) Iowa State ranked:

• 2nd in licenses and options yielding income
• 2nd in the number of licenses and options executed on its intellectual property. For those universities without medical schools, Iowa State ranked 1st in each of these categories.
• one of the top three U.S. universities in the development of patentable biotechnology.

Technology licensing 'powerhouse'

A National Science Foundation study calls Iowa State University a technology licensing "powerhouse." The report noted that the Iowa State University Research Foundation executed 218 licenses in the year ending June 30, 2005. That was second in the country behind the University of California system. News story.

R&D Awards

Iowa State ranks second among universities in the total number of R&D Awards presented by R&D magazine for the most promising new products, processes, materials, or software developed throughout the world and introduced to the market annually.

Fastest supercomputer

Iowa State houses Cy-Blue, one of the nation's fastest supercomputers.

First six-sided VR theatre

The nation's first six-sided virtual reality theatre (C6) at Iowa State has undergone a recent multi-million dollar upgrade (2007) and now projects more than twice the resolution produced by any other virtual reality room in the world.

Top research university

Iowa State University is one of 34 of the best research universities in the nation to be a member of the Association of American Universities.

First in meat science

Iowa State's meat science extension program is ranked first in the nation by Meat & Poultry magazine.

Among the 100 Top Young Innovators

Two Iowa State chemical engineering professors are among MIT's list of 100 Top Young Innovators.

GeneSequer

Developed by Volker Brendel, Liqun Xing and Wei Zhu is a software program used to rapidly identify gene sequences. This tool is in use by several plant biotechnology companies to identify the genes that code for particular proteins.

SCAT Scanner

A device that uses fluorescence imaging to detect contamination on the carcasses of meat animals was developed by Jacob Petrich in collaboration with Mark Rasmussen and Thomas Casey at the USDA. It is used primarily in meat packing and processing plants under the trade name VerifEYE.

Nitro Freeze(tm)

A novel ice cream production system that uses liquid nitrogen to fast-freeze ice cream. It was developed by Thomas Paskach and William Schroeder who formed their own company, Nitro Ice Cream, LLC. The system is also available through franchising.

1% linolenic soybean oil

Developed by Walter Fehr and Earl Hammond by selective breeding methods is low in trans-fats and has improved processing and storage qualities when compared to traditional soybean oil. Because of the health concerns with trans-fats, soybean oil from these varieties is creating a demand in the market place.

Impellicone

Developed by Mark Hanna and Paul Boyd is a system for the uniform distribution of anhydrous ammonia as a fertilizer. This environmentally-friendly technology reduces the amount of fertilizer typically applied to crops.

XR Dose(tm) and XR Scat(tm)

Developed by Feyzi Inanc are software programs used to create X-ray images in human subjects and in industrial applications respectively. XR Dose reduces the exposure of patients to x-rays while XR Scat allows for inspection of components that are difficult to inspect by other means.

CADSEEK

Developed by Abir Qamhiyah and Donald Flugrad is a novel and accurate geometric search engine that enables the search and retrieval of computer aided design (CAD) image files. This software helps to improve the design process by allowing easy access to CAD design files thus avoiding costly design duplication. Qamhiyah and Flugrad have formed a company, iSEEK Corporation, located at the ISU Research Park.