Imitation Games: We Take an $80 Million Driving Simulator for a Spin

At the University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) research center, more than 40 faculty, staff, and students use a 93-ton moon-lander-looking machine and a variety of vehicle cabs to study the way people drive. This test rig—called NADS-1—rides on seven belts (six on the x-axis, one on the y). All in, this costs about $80 million, but it allows researchers to perfect today’s automated driving tech in a safe, controllable way.

NADS provides national leadership on COVID-19 research protocols

National Advanced Driving Simulator Director Daniel McGehee made recommendations for human subjects testing in driving research for the COVID-19 era to the Transportation Research Board during its mid-year meeting earlier this month. How to keep people safe in driving research—in both simulators and on-road vehicles—is not something that has been widely shared or standardized in the research community. In many tests, multiple people are in the vehicle. 

University of Iowa internship program offers graduate students the diverse career options they need

Common for undergraduates, internships have never been a routine part of doctoral study. But they should be — both to give our Ph.D.s more career options and to help departments build connections with the world around us. Beginning in 2019, the university’s Obermann Center for Advanced Studies began offering internships to doctoral students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, as part of a program jointly funded by Iowa’s graduate school and a four-year grant from the Mellon Foundation.

NASA-funded study at IIHR explores connections between reduced air pollution due to COVID-19 and decreases in precipitation in the western United States

New research at the University of Iowa College of Engineering will study the connections between reduced air pollution due to COVID-19 shutdowns and sharp decreases in precipitation in the western United States.
Parents and children in crosswalk

Study says parents’ teaching style can be instrumental in helping children learn how to safely cross busy roads

New research from the University of Iowa shows parents who teach children ahead of time how to properly choose gaps in traffic can help them learn more quickly how to cross roads safely. The study found that timely instruction from parents led to improvements in children’s road-crossing abilities.

UI engineers to study the grain structure of metal alloys on the International Space Station

Not all metals are created the same. The size and shape of the small grains that comprise all metals have a direct effect on the properties and performance of metal parts. The grain structure forms when the molten metal is poured into a mold and solidifies. A research team, led by Christoph Beckermann, University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, will compare metal samples that have been solidified in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station against similar samples formed on Earth.

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