Graduate Studies at
IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering

• Overview

• Program Features

• Research Opportunities

• International Opportunities

• Graduate Research Assistantships and Tuition

• Fellowships

• Facilities

• Admission

• Contact Us

Overview

IIHR is part of The University of Iowa’s College of Engineering and is one of the oldest and most preeminent hydraulic facilities in the United States.  Unique among fluids research laboratories, IIHR offers state-of-the-art computational simulation and laboratory modeling capabilities, as well as field observational research. This encourages application of an expanding range of cutting-edge approaches for the investigation and solution of a wide spectrum of flow problems, with unmatched ideal learning opportunities for students and researchers.

IIHR graduate students obtain hands-on experience and training in site-specific investigations and field studies leading to degrees and careers in Civil & Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Geoscience. Extensive IIHR computer and laboratory facilities provide opportunities for basic and advanced research in the broad fields of fluid mechanics, environmental hydraulics, and water and air resources. 

Graduate studies at IIHR provide professional expertise integrating:

• Physics of flow and flow-related processes;
• Analysis, modeling, and simulation skills;
• State-of-the-art laboratory equipment, instrumentation, and computer methodology;
• Environmental, economic, social, and international issue awareness; and
• Communication skills for a successful professional career.

IIHR’s alumni work all over the world in senior positions in universities, research institutes, and industry. Visit our alumni list to review theses/dissertation titles from our former graduates.  

IIHR’s research facilities include the historic C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, an ASCE Civil Engineering Historic Landmark, in the heart of Iowa City on the Iowa River.  IIHR also occupies seven other buildings in the Iowa City area and a state-of-the-art research station north of Muscatine, Iowa along the Mississippi River.

Program Features

IIHR graduate students work with faculty advisors to design flexible and tailored curricula in engineering and other relevant disciplines on campus to support of their personal career objectives. Some features of IIHR's education and research programs that help develop student expertise for a distinguished career include:

·         Core strength in fluid mechanics

·         Large selection of courses

·         Flexible curricula tailored to expertise development

·         Interdisciplinary engineering, science, and humanities courses

·         Broad range of topics for thesis research

·         Extensive computer and laboratory facilities

·         Continuous exposure to diverse engineering and research projects

·         Experienced and motivated faculty and staff

Research Opportunities

IIHR offers groundbreaking research opportunities in the following broad areas:

·         Atmospheric pollution and transport

·         Biofluid mechanics

·         Computational and experimental hydraulics

·         Environmental fluid mechanics

·         Hydraulic engineering

·         Hydraulic modeling

·         Hydraulic structures

·         Hydrology and Hydrometeorology

·         Ice mechanics and cold regions engineering

·         Industrial and aeronautical fluid mechanics

·         Remote sensing of hydrologic processes

·         River hydraulics

·         Sediment transport and watershed processes

·         Ship hydrodynamics

·         Urban hydrology and hydraulics

International Opportunities

In collaboration with UI's International Programs and host institutions from around the world, IIHR conducts the course "International Perspectives in Water Research and Resources Planning," which focuses each year on a different country or a world region for an intensive and in-depth exposure to historical, cultural, social, economic, ethical, environmental, and political conditions that impact water resources projects. The purpose of the course is to better prepare students for careers that are becoming increasingly global in scope. In past years, the course has taken students to India, Taiwan and Japan, China (twice), Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, and Romania), Turkey, and Argentina.  Check out the International Perspectives web page for a full course description and information about past trips. The next International Perspectives course offering is tentatively scheduled to visit Egypt in late 2008 or early 2009.  

IIHR has several international agreements for exchange of students, including possibilities for co-supervision of thesis research. These include agreements with international educational and research institutions, such as Danish Hydraulic Institute, National Center for High-Performance Computing, and University of Stuttgart.   

Graduate Research Assistantships and Tuition 

IIHR awards, on a competitive basis, graduate research assistantships (GRAs) to many of its students.  GRAs are 12-month appointments, renewable given satisfactory coursework and thesis research progress, until the degree objective is attained. The current half-time GRA pay range is between $23,472 and $25,080 per year for a half-time assistantship, depending on degree status. Next year (2008-2009), this will increase to between $24,288 and $25,956.  GRAs with at least 1/4-time appointments are entitled to Iowa's resident tuition rate (See fees for Graduate College, Engineering) and receive a tuition scholarship. The tuition scholarship will cover 65% or more of tuition in the 2008-09 academic year.

Fellowships Available to IIHR Graduate Students

IIHR offers the Paul C. and Sara Jane Benedict Fellowship for the Study of Alluvial River Processes to one or two doctoral candidates conducting research on selected aspects of sedimentation. See the Paul C. and Sara Jane Benedict Fellowship web page for details.

University of Iowa Fellowships, awarded to outstanding incoming graduate students, include an annual stipend and tuition. IIHR provides UI Fellows with supplemental discretionary funds, which may be used for any education-related purpose. IIHR also supplements stipends received by winners of competitive national graduate fellowships, such as NSF, ONR, DOD, DOE, and NASA. Total value of national fellowship packages varies, depending on degree status. Visit IIHR's Graduate Student Opportunities web page for a full list of fellowships and other funding opportunities, including international fellowships, available to IIHR graduate students.

IIHR Facilities

One of IIHR's great strengths is its in-house capabilities for both laboratory modeling and computational fluid dynamics.  Specialized facilities include IIHR's high-speed computer assets, several large flumes, ship-model towing tank incorporating a wavemaker and 3D particle image velocimeter (PIV), ice-engineering laboratories, computational fluids/hydraulics laboratory, a mobile rainfall laboratory, a three-dimensional scanning elastic lidar, a differential absorption lidar, and a number of PIV and fiber-optics-based LDV.  IIHR also has the in-house resources and experience to create a model of any river or dam in the world. IIHR's state-of-the-art LACMRERS research laboratory on the Mississippi River is well equipped for research in sediment analysis and river-related hydraulics and ecology.

See IIHR's Facilities web page for more details about IIHR's unique facilities.

Admission

All IIHR students are admitted through the UI Graduate College. Visit the Graduate College Admissions Page for a list of application materials and for the online application form.

Contact Us

Questions?  To inquire about graduate studies at IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering or to plan a visit, please complete and submit this brief information form.  You may also contact Carmen Langel at 319 335-5841 or carmen-langel@uiowa.edu.

Inquiries about IIHR may also be sent to:

     IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering

     The University of Iowa
     100 C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory
     Iowa City IA 52242-1585
     Fax: (319) 335-5238
     E-mail: iihr@uiowa.edu
     IIHR web site: http://www.iihr.uiowa.edu

Other relevant links:

     UI College of Engineering web site: http://engineering.uiowa.edu
     Civil and Environmental Engineering web site: http://www.cee.engineering.uiowa.edu
     Mechanical Engineering web site: http://www.me.engineering.uiowa.edu

     Geosciences web site: http://www.uiowa.edu/~geology/

     The University of Iowa web site: http://www.uiowa.edu/

The University of Iowa does not discriminate in its educational programs and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, religion, sex, age, disability or veteran status. The university also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to university facilities without reference to affectional or associational preference. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies, contact the Coordinator of Title IX and Section 504, and the ADA in the Office of Affirmative Action, telephone (319) 335-0705, The University of Iowa, 202 Jessup Hall, Iowa City IA 52242-1316.

(Last update: 12/4/2007)