Fact Page (IIHR at a Glance)

IIHR is a unit of the University of Iowa College of Engineering
View a PDF of IIHR’s Strategic Plan
IIHR currently enrolls about 90 graduate students:
- 29 percent MS and 71 percent PhD
- 57 percent men and 43 percent women
IIHR’s current graduate students represent 17 countries: Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, and Vietnam
IIHR alumni represent countries all over the world
About 50 percent of IIHR students are international
About 55 PhD-level research engineers and scientists work with about 90 graduate students on cutting-edge fluids-related research, incorporating computational fluid dynamics with laboratory modeling and field observational studies
IIHR Organizational Chart
IIHR research is supported by grants and contracts from a wide range of funders, including:
- State and federal government agencies
- Nonprofit organizations and foundations
- Public utility districts
- Engineering firms
- Municipalities
The first hydraulic lab at the University of Iowa was built in 1920 on the banks of the Iowa River
The original lab expanded and grew to became today’s C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Lab (SHL), the heart of the IIHR community
UI architect George Horner designed the Stanley Hydraulics Lab, which is a hybrid of Romanesque Revival and Art Moderne architectural styles
SHL was renovated in 2002 and renamed to honor 1926 UI engineering alumnus C. Maxwell Stanley
In 2000, the American Water Works Association designated the SHL as an American Water Landmark
In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded the prestigious National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark to SHL
IIHR’s facilities include eight annexes, labs, and shops:
- Hydraulics East Annex
- Hydraulics Model Annex
- Hydraulics Oakdale Annexes 1 and 2
- Hydraulics Wave Basin Facility
- Hydraulics Wind Tunnel Annex
- James Street Laboratory
- Lucille A. Carver Mississippi River Environmental Research Station (LACMRERS)
LACMRERS is the first university-owned research facility on the Mississippi River, offering space for:
- Education
- Research
- Laboratory work
- Meetings
IIHR’s Engineering Services unit conducts research and modeling for a wide variety of external clients.
The Iowa Flood Center, founded at IIHR in 2009, is the nation’s first university-based center for study and research related to floods.
The Iowa Geological Survey, with a long history dating back to 1855, joined IIHR in 2014 to provide expertise in groundwater modeling, mapping of Iowa’s earth and mineral resources, innovative geophysical skills, and more
In 2007, artist Shirley Wyrick created a sculpture for the entrance area of the C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory titled Free Flow. The sculpture comprises a waterfall, three cast bronze watercourses, and detailed relief images of IIHR’s history and research
State-of-the-art computing resources support IIHR’s education and research
New high-performance computer clusters support large-scale research-related utilizing multiple processors to perform concurrent jobs in parallel, helping to speed up computation