Since the start of the pandemic, Iowa’s State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) has managed to successfully adapt its space to accommodate new testing equipment and additional staff to meet the exponential growth in demand for COVID-19 testing.

For 40-plus years, the U.S. Army gauged the physical fitness of its soldiers on pushups, sit-ups and a 2-mile run test. But the Army wanted a better measure of “soldier physical readiness.” And now it has it, thanks — in part — to the University of Iowa.

The new UI Stanley Museum of Art is getting its interior finishing touches. When complete, the facility will feature not only gallery space for the museum’s collection but also an education floor for teaching and research and a multipurpose lobby.

Instead of turning old paper and cardboard into new paper, engineers at the University of Iowa are working to enhance the process of turning wastepaper into high-value fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composites. Xuan Song, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering; Chao Wang, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering; and H.S. Udaykumar, professor of mechanical engineering, received nearly $1 million from REMADE institute, a public-private partnership established by the U.S.

Cardio Diagnostics, a University of Iowa faculty startup, has commercially launched a new home clinical test for assessing patients’ heart disease risk. The product, the Epi+Gen CHD at-home sampling kit, was made possible through a license held by the UI Research Foundation.

Funding in support of core UI research activities rose 15% (or $68,581,401), from $466.9 million in Fiscal Year 2019 to $535.5 million in FY20. While a large portion of the increase is attributable to CARES Act Funding, without it the UI still outpaced research funding from any previous year since it began tracking this data.

University of Iowa genetics expert Val Sheffield has converted part of his lab to help fight the coronavirus pandemic by creating a simple specimen-collection method that skips the swab and removes the need for medical personnel. All people have to do is spit in a cup.

Three University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine faculty and staff have received gap funding for innovative translational research projects that potentially could lead to new, commercially viable medical devices or technologies.

The University of Iowa has been named an official Fair Trade University, a designation made upon the passing of a student-led resolution that calls for the university’s commitment to procure and sell fair trade items.

The Des Moines area is seeing a warehouse building boom, and Barret Thomas, professor of business analytics in the Tippie College of Business, attributes that to the growth of e-commerce, as more warehouse space is needed to transfer and store merchandise that’s been shipped cross-country.