Stories - Move What Matters | Iowa State University Foundation

Geetu Tuteja, wearing a light beige blazers, smiles at the camera against a yellow background

HEALTHIER PREGNANCIES

Geetu Tuteja is diving into the genetic development of the placenta. The computational tools her lab creates support other researchers worldwide.

Iowa State student Chloe Smith, wearing a lab coat, safety glasses, and black gloves, holds up a small round pill to the light to look at it.

BETTER HEALTH

Chloe Smith’s love for learning and teaching others guides her journey toward medicine.

MORE ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

Greg Welk is building systems to boost physical fitness statewide.

Kaylee Herrig holds a bionic model of a hand towards the camera while smiling and looking at the hand.

AFFORDABLE PROSTHETICS

Kaylee Herrig works to improve prosthetic access worldwide.

Members of Savanna Studio pose on top of a large rock outdoors.

GLOBAL LEARNING

Learning in different environments helped Sophie Trom realize all the different paths a degree in landscape architecture could open for her.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Reagan Suubi is using the skills he’s gained at Iowa State to help give back to Ugandan youth.

OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE BACK

Katie Strotman’s service learning trip to Mexico inspired her to help expand volunteer opportunities for other student-athletes.

Dr. Rachel Allbaugh holding a lens toward the camera.

WORLDWIDE VETERINARY CARE

Dr. Rachel Allbaugh is educating the next generation of veterinarians by bringing her renowned expertise to a global audience.

Patrick Schnable pouring corn seeds from a laboratory flask

PRECISE CROP INPUTS

EnGeniousAg’s easy-to-use nitrogen sensor can save farmers money — and help them better steward the land they depend on.

ECO-FRIENDLY FINISHES

Janas Materials’ invention is helping Diamond Vogel Paints grow its water-based — and thus more environmentally friendly — product lines.

TREATING WASTEWATER SUSTAINABLY

Gross-Wen Technologies developed a system to make treating wastewater greener — literally — with algae.

DESIGNS NEW MOMS NEED

Ling Zhang’s experience as a new mother spurred her to design a nursing bra that’s comfortable, practical, and stylish.

AGING AT HOME

How do you persuade seniors to incorporate accessibility features in their home before disability happens? As Iowa State interior design major Ava Yuska found, a “show, don’t tell” approach works well.

HEALTHIER AGING

Research by Iowa State kinesiology graduate Sarah Steege shows walking benefits seniors’ mental, social, and physical health.

Sydney Pantini with several virtual assistant devices.

SUPPORT YOU CAN TRUST

Which is more trustworthy: a computer-generated voice assistant or a human voice? Iowa State marketing graduate Sydney Pantini conducted research to find out.

BUILDING BETTER ROADS

Chemical engineering major Anna McCaslin has investigated ways to make asphalt more durable and longer-lived. Her discoveries could help address a problem as old as roads themselves.

SAFER FOOD

Salmonella bacteria infections could drop if Braden Lewis can help it. The biochemistry major has been making significant progress toward solving the problem since his first year at Iowa State.

MORE SUSTAINABLE FOOD

Iowa State senior Jacob Friedrich is researching how producers can optimize hydroponic greenhouse gardening. He says what he’s learning will help feed the world.

Skylar dressing a mannequin wearing her designs

IMPACT THAT STICKS

Iowa State empowered Skylar Bundridge to turn a hobby designing stickers and T-shirts into a full-fledged business — and turned her into a full-fledged entrepreneur.

Three members of the Casmium app team, posing with laptop and baseball bats

STATS THAT TRACK

When their high school’s baseball coach needed an easy approach to statistics collection and analysis, these innovative Iowa State students stepped up to the plate with a mobile app designed to meet the coach’s needs.

Collin and Jacob from Campus Town Trading

FINANCIAL LITERACY

Collin Gauck and Jason Kautman brought their business idea to Iowa State, where they found the support and resources to help them nurture it — and bring out their inner innovator and entrepreneur.

IN-THE-FIELD SOLUTIONS

The Student Design Consultancy program is among dozens of ways at Iowa State for design students like Aleka Hickman to innovate — and make a difference in the world while they’re doing it.

Cam Schafer surrounded by small exotic animals.

THE BEST FOR EXOTIC PETS

While a veiled chameleon was the inspiration for Spock’s Sanctuary, a home for exotic rescues and boarders, the student team couldn’t have brought their business to life without the entrepreneurial support at Iowa State.

OPPORTUNITIES TO TAKE FLIGHT

Though growing up around chickens in Mexico inspired Yalitza Curiel’s interest in poultry, Iowa State gave it flight through support aimed at providing more equitable access to college and promising career paths for students who have been historically underrepresented.

KICKSTARTING BRIGHT IDEAS

Students arrive at Iowa State with great ideas. As they meet each other and connect with Iowa State faculty and resources, those ideas are given the opportunity to become life-changing, world-improving realities.

UNLOCKING HUMAN POTENTIAL

When financial stress causes college students to leave school, it leads to the loss of a generation of untapped human potential. Completion and emergency grants like the one Regine Peters received enabled her to remain at Iowa State – and graduate.

EXPANDING PERSPECTIVES

By providing experiential, outside-the-classroom learning opportunities, whether in the form of research projects, internships or study abroad programs, Iowa State is inspiring students like Karine Holmes to gain the knowledge and skills needed to improve lives.

Asheesh Singh holds dried plant in front of a gold background

A RESILIENT FOOD SUPPLY

Teams of Iowa State researchers are creating a whole new paradigm in plant breeding, one that maximizes agricultural productivity at the critical intersection of sustainable agriculture, bioenergy and food security.

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

Student teams from Iowa State and Makerere University lead on-the-ground projects that create practical solutions for communities in Uganda. Up next: a pedal-powered grain machine that cleans maize at Kamuli District schools.

A HUNGER-FREE WORLD

How can we fight world hunger, even amid a pandemic that only makes matters worse? An Iowa State researcher developed an online network that connects excess food at restaurants and grocery stores with families in need.

OUR BEST ‘NEW NORMAL’

As the fight against COVID-19 began, people in veterinary diagnostics, design, chemistry, psychology, mechanical engineering and other fields across Iowa State’s campus stepped up to solve epic problems.

FOOD FOR ALL

By 2050, our planet will be home to 2 billion more people than today. Can our food supply keep up? Iowa State scientists are designing roving robots that will enable the world to grow more food on less land, with few resources, in an ever-changing environment.

HELP MOVE WHAT MATTERS

Projects like these need people like you because momentum builds person by person. We can transform the landscape of what’s possible.

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