(Ames, Iowa) — Iowa State University received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity University Award for the fourth consecutive year.
The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities gives the award each year to recognize schools for their contributions to economic development in their region or state. Iowa State has been eligible since 2017 for this award, placing first in the category of Innovation — one among three categories for the award. David Spalding serves as the Vice President for Economic Development and Industry at Iowa State. Spalding stated that the school was awarded the award on the KMA’s Morning Show. Spalding spoke about three case studies, the first being the university’s efforts to provide affordable and sustainable housing for rural communities.
Spalding said, “So we received a grant from Iowa Economic Development Authority and purchased a large-scale 3-D printer.” Spalding said that they have created materials together with their construction engineers to be used for printing. These materials essentially serve as the “ink” in the printing, but are actually printing material on location.
The IEDA grant was $1.4 million. Spalding states that the printer is at Iowa Central Community College to conduct indoor testing and train community college students. It will be transported to Hamburg this spring and early summer for outdoor testing.
The school was also recognized for its involvement with CyTown (a $200 million multi-use area). Spalding states that CyTown’s goal is to transform an area currently used as a parking lot into a connecting space for the campus, Iowa State Center and ISU Research Park.
Spalding stated that “that development is planned to contain a medical center, some businesses and what we call the “CyTown Suites””. “The ultimate goal with this development is to create an entertainment district that will enhance the experience for those who visit us for basketball, volleyball, and other sports.”
He said that the district was also an innovative way to support the performing arts, by providing funding for maintenance and upgrading of C.Y. The Scheman Building, Fischer Theater, Stephens Auditorium and Fischer Theater are all part of the district. The first phase of the project will be completed in January 2023, subject to final approval by the Board of Regents.
Finaly, the school was selected for its private/public partnerships in ag Research. Spalding cites as one of the highlights Iowa State’s Digital Ag Research Team’s collaboration with John Deere.
“It has one their five global technology centres located here at Iowa State Research Park, but they also have a facility that is used to conduct research on advanced sprayer technologies,” he stated. This technology, which is combined with sensors from Iowa State faculty, allows them to spray the exact right amount of chemical in a field.
Digital Ag also works with ISU Research Park in developing a new facility that will meet the growing program’s needs. The team works together to improve farming practices. The Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen accepted an APLU award at the group’s annual conference on November 6th. Listen to the entire interview with David Spalding here