Iowa has more than 114,000 kilometres of unpaved county roads, and many counties struggle to keep them in excellent condition. Araz Hasheminezhad is working to repair it. A PhD trainee in civil engineering at Iowa State University’s College of Engineering, he is using recycled plastic to 3D print web-like structures called geogrids. These are checked on gravel roads in Buchanan County, and the early results have actually been promising.
“The composite geosynthetic is carrying out even better than we expected,” Hasheminezhad states. “After a heavy rainstorm and snowfall, we visited the test website to assess its efficiency in damp conditions. We discovered that the geogrid likewise enhances drain and wetness management.”
Moneyed by the Iowa Highway Research Study Board and the Iowa Department of Transportation, his research study has “the capacity to conserve resources and lower plastic waste at regional, national, and worldwide levels,” he states.
That kind of work– genuine options genuine issues– is what a graduate engineering education at Iowa State is everything about.
College student can customize their coursework and research study to match their objectives, whether they plan to enter industry or pursue academia. Source: Iowa State University
Ingenious research and interdisciplinary cooperation
A lot of graduate programs keep trainees within their department. Iowa State Engineering does things in a different way. It organises its work around five signature research study locations– Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Energy Systems, Engineered Medicine and Biomanufacturing, Resilient Infrastructures, and Secure The Online World and Autonomy– and students routinely move across them.
Metrid Okumu arrived as a Rising Doctoral Institute scholar with a background in computer engineering. She ended up in a civil engineering research group, where she utilized her abilities to record high-speed structural information. Her training opened a door into a various field entirely.
“This partnership has actually enhanced my technical and communication abilities and reinforced the importance of bridging theory with real-world application,” Okumu states. “It has actually opened my eyes to a career in artificial intelligence, and the impact I bring to intricate jobs like this.”
In another example, college students in mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering teamed up to build a lab-on-a-drone to test water quality in remote areas. The associate dean of the, Michell Soupir– a professional in Land and Water Resource Engineering within Iowa State’s top-ranked farming and biosystems engineering department– joined them as part of the group. Here, one research question often brings people from across the college together.
Randy Aryee and Mohammed Sakib Noor, graduate students in chemical engineering, are dealing with Dr. Ratul Chowdhury to utilize artificial intelligence to discover molecules that reduce methane production in dairy livestock. The project links AI, chemistry, and agricultural sustainability.
Onyeka Onyenemezu, a chemical engineering PhD trainee from Nigeria, picked Iowa State particularly for such partnerships. “The department has a strong culture of applying biological principles to resolve genuine engineering obstacles, which lined up completely with where I wanted to take my profession,” she says.
Her research study focuses on engineering microbes that can endure the harsh conditions of industrial production– changing petroleum-based chemicals with plant biomass and agricultural waste. This summertime, she’s starting an internship at the pharmaceutical company Merck, where she will be applying biological procedures to vaccine production.
Strong mentorship, lively community
An Iowa State Engineering graduate degree sets you up for your next step: prepare for industry, pursue a career in academia, plus many more possibilities.
Take Hasheminezhad, for example. Together with his research on roadway infrastructure– which has made him numerous awards, including the Graduate and Professional Trainee Senate Research Award in 2025– he teaches pavement analysis and concrete design, and mentors trainees along the way. “Teaching brings whatever together,” he says. “I learn from trainees as they learn from me, and together, we’re working to construct a better future.”
After finishing his PhD, he intends to pursue a professors career.
As for Onyenemezu, she mentors undergraduate researchers in the lab and leads the Graduate Society of Women Engineers Iowa State chapter. “Mentoring undergraduate researchers is among the important things I find most satisfying about remaining in the lab,” she says.
Her advisor, Cargill Professor in Chemical Engineering Laura Jarboe, formed how she thinks about that function. “Dr. Jarboe has actually modelled for me what it appears like to buy individuals, and I attempt to bring that same intentionality to my work with the undergrads I mentor,” she states.
Rupsa Roy finished her PhD in civil engineering as a co-principal investigator on a project moneyed by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, collaborating with research study groups across Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia on landslide early warning systems.
The reach of her work was worldwide. But what stood apart to her the most was the support from her coach, Assistant Teacher at Iowa State. “Dr. Ajmera never quit on me,” Roy states. “Even during my difficulties, she motivated and encouraged me to maximize this opportunity.”
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