Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Iowa's flagship university is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. It was formed in 1858 as an agricultural school and Engineering was one of the first programs that was offered.[1].
Iowa State is classified as a Doctoral Research University with very high research activity (RU/VH) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.[2].Iowa State is also a member of the prestigious American Association of Universities (AAU) which is an international organization composed of the most highly ranked research universities in the United States and Canada. The membership is by invitation only.[3]. College of engineering at Iowa state hosts one of the largest career fairs in the country in which more than 350 companies participate [4].The college has a placement rate of 95%.[5]
Iowa state receives nearly 300 million dollars in research grants every year.
Ranking
The college of engineering has consistently been ranked among the best engineering schools in the United states and is the 8th largest engineering school in the United States[5]. According to US NEWS the undergraduate engineering program was ranked 36th in the country in 2016 [6] . The graduate program is ranked in the top 50 overall and top 25 among the public universities [7]. Business insider ranked Iowa state as one of the best engineering schools in the country for landing key jobs in some of the top tech companies[8]. Top value for engineering ranked Iowa state at 23 in their ranking which focuses on quality of education for the price paid [9]. Wall street journal ranked Iowa state engineering as one of the 14th best engineering programs among recruiters.[10].
| Ranking | National | World |
|---|---|---|
| US News | 36 (Public) | 215 |
| Business Insider | 37 | - |
| Shanghai Ranking | 110 | |
| Value Colleges | 23 | - |
| Start Class | 37 | - |
| WSJ | 14 | - |
Birthplace of first electronic digital computer
Atanasoff–Berry Computer replica on 1st floor of Durham Center, Iowa State University.
Iowa State is the birthplace of the first electronic digital computer, starting the world’s computer technology revolution. Invented by mathematics and physics professor John Atanasoff and engineering graduate student Clifford Berry during 1937-42, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, or ABC, pioneered important elements of modern computing, including binary arithmetic, regenerative memory, parallel processing, electronic switching elements, and separation of memory and computer functions.[14]
On October 19, 1973, U.S. Federal Judge Earl R. Larson signed his decision following a lengthy court trial which declared the ENIAC patent of Mauchly and Eckert invalid and named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer—the Atanasoff-Berry Computer or the ABC.[14]
An ABC Team consisting of Ames Laboratory and Iowa State engineers, technicians, researchers and students unveiled a working replica of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer in 1997 which can be seen on display on campus in the Durham Computation Center.[50
Research
Ames Laboratory
Main article: Ames Laboratory
Iowa State is the only university nationwide that has a U.S. Department of Energy research laboratory physically located on its campus. Operated by ISU, the Ames Laboratory is one of ten national DOE Office of Science research laboratories.[58]
ISU research for the government provided Ames Laboratory its start in the 1940s with the development of a highly efficient process for producing high-purity uranium for atomic energy. Today, Ames Laboratory continues its leading status in current materials research and focuses diverse fundamental and applied research strengths upon issues of national concern, cultivates research talent, and develops and transfers technologies to improve industrial competitiveness and enhance U.S. economic security. Ames Laboratory employs more than 430 full- and part-time employees, including more than 250 scientists and engineers. Students make up more than 20 percent of the paid workforce.[59]
The Ames Laboratory is the U.S. home to 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Dan Shechtman and is intensely engaged with the international scientific community, including hosting a large number of international visitors each year.[60]
ISU Research Park
The ISU Research Park is a 230-acre development with over 270,000 square feet of building space located just south of the Iowa State campus in Ames. Though closely connected with the university, the research park operates independently to help tenants reach their proprietary goals, linking technology creation, business formation, and development assistance with established technology firms and the marketplace.
The ISU Research Park Corporation was established in 1987 as a not-for-profit, independent, corporation operating under a board of directors appointed by Iowa State University and the ISU Foundation. The corporation manages both the Research Park and incubator programs.[61]
Other research institutes
Iowa State is involved in a number of other significant research and creative endeavors, multidisciplinary collaboration, technology transfer, and strategies addressing real-world problems.
In 2010, the Biorenewables Research Laboratory opened in a LEED-Gold certified building that complements and helps replace labs and offices across Iowa State and promotes interdisciplinary, systems-level research and collaboration. The Lab houses the Bio economy Institute, the Bio based Industry Center, and the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals, a partnership of six universities as well as the Max Planck Society in Germany and the Technical University of Denmark.[62]
The Engineering Teaching and Research Complex is home to one of the world’s only six-sided virtual reality labs (C6) which supports the research of more than 50 faculty and 200 graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral students.[63]
- ^ "Iowa State University College of Engineering College Facts". www.engineering.iastate.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ "Carnegie Foundation Classifications". classifications.carnegiefoundation.org. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ "Association of American Universities". www.aau.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ "Iowa State University College of Engineering College Facts". www.engineering.iastate.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ a b "Iowa State University College of Engineering College Facts". www.engineering.iastate.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ "US News Undergraduate Ranking" (PDF).
- ^ "Iowa State University College of Engineering College Rankings". www.engineering.iastate.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ "The 50 Best Engineering Schools". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ "Top 50 Best Value Engineering Programs of 2015 | Value Colleges". www.valuecolleges.com. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ^ "Rankings by Major". Wall Street Journal. 2010-09-14. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-05-29.