Iowa has 17,775 miles (28,606 kilometres) of paved roads but more than 71,000 miles (114,000 kilometres) of its roads are unpaved. Araz Hasheminezhad is working with several countries to fix this. A PhD student 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 tested on gravel roads in Buchanan County, and the early results have been promising.
“The composite geosynthetic is performing even better than we expected,” Hasheminezhad says. “After a heavy rainstorm and snowfall, we visited the test site to assess its performance in wet conditions. We found that the geogrid also improves drainage and moisture management.”
Funded by the Iowa Highway Research Board and the Iowa Department of Transportation, his research has “the potential to save resources and reduce plastic waste at local, national, and international levels,” he says.
That kind of work — real solutions for real problems — is what a graduate engineering education at Iowa State is all about.
Graduate students can tailor their coursework and research to match their goals, whether they plan to enter industry or pursue academia. Source: Iowa State University
Innovative research and interdisciplinary collaboration
Most graduate programmes keep students within their department. Iowa State Engineering does things differently. It organises its work around five signature research areas — Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Energy Systems, Engineered Medicine and Biomanufacturing, Resilient Infrastructures, and Secure Cyberspace and Autonomy — and students regularly 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 used her skills to capture high-speed structural data. Her training opened a door into a different field entirely.
“This collaboration has strengthened my technical and communication skills and reinforced the importance of bridging theory with real-world application,” Okumu says. “It has opened my eyes to a career in machine learning, and the impact I bring to complex projects like this.”
In another example, graduate 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— an expert in Land and Water Resource Engineering within Iowa State’s top-ranked agricultural and biosystems engineering department — joined them as part of the team. Here, one research question often brings people from across the college together.
Randy Aryee and Mohammed Sakib Noor, graduate students in chemical engineering, are working with Dr. Ratul Chowdhury to use artificial intelligence to find molecules that reduce methane production in dairy cattle. The project links AI, chemistry, and agricultural sustainability.
Onyeka Onyenemezu, a chemical engineering PhD student from Nigeria, chose Iowa State specifically for such collaborations. “The department has a strong culture of applying biological principles to solve real engineering challenges, which aligned perfectly with where I wanted to take my career,” she says.
Her research focuses on engineering microbes that can withstand the harsh conditions of industrial production — replacing petroleum-based chemicals with plant biomass and agricultural waste. This summer, she’s starting an internship at the pharmaceutical firm Merck, where she will be applying biological processes to vaccine manufacturing.
Strong mentorship, vibrant 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. Alongside his research on road infrastructure — which has earned him multiple awards, including the Graduate and Professional Student Senate Research Award in 2025 — he teaches pavement analysis and concrete design, and mentors students along the way. “Teaching brings everything together,” he says. “I learn from students as they learn from me, and together, we’re working to build a better future.”
After completing his PhD, he hopes to pursue a faculty 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 one of the things I find most rewarding about being in the lab,” she says.
Her advisor, Cargill Professor in Chemical Engineering Laura Jarboe, shaped how she thinks about that role. “Dr. Jarboe has modelled for me what it looks like to invest in people, and I try to bring that same intentionality to my work with the undergrads I mentor,” she says.
Rupsa Roy completed her PhD in civil engineering as a co-principal investigator on a project funded by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, collaborating with research teams across Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia on landslide early warning systems.
The reach of her work was global. But what stood out to her the most was the support from Iowa State. “My mentor never gave up on me,” Roy says. “Even during my hardships, my mentor motivated and encouraged me to make the most of this opportunity.”
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