The National Science Foundation awarded a five-year, $2 million grant to researchers at Iowa State University who developed a new machine-learning and mathematical modeling to plant breeding and farm management practices. Researchers plan to focus on three areas: harnessing mathematical models to better predict traits of crops; genomic selection, or the decisions plant breeders make […]
Kent Corporation announced the opening of a new Kent Innovation Center on the Research Park campus at the Iowa State University, the company announced in a press release. Kent Corporation will be able to collaborate with more than 90 Iowa companies through Kent Corporation’s Enterprise Innovation Group, the company said in a statement. Jeff Underwood, […]
A John Deere tractor fitted with Smart Ag’s AutoCart driverless technology trucks through a demonstration field during the 2018 Farm Progress Show. Photo by Kate Hayden Driverless cars may take over most of the national headlines these days, but an Iowa software company is betting that autonomous vehicles can make a much larger impact off […]
The Iowa Economic Development Authority board today approved $4.5 million in funding over three years for creation of the Iowa Bioscience Development Center (IBDC). At last month’s meeting, the board heard an update on the existing Iowa Innovation Corporation, the state’s public-private partnership for economic development that is transitioning to serve as the IBDC. The […]
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics will be the first in the state to employ a Coralville company’s artificial intelligence diagnostics when scanning for diabetic retinopathy, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports. The device, called IDx-DR and developed by IDx, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April. The technology takes images […]
An Iowa and Texas lab are sharing credit for the serendipitous, concurrent discovery of a protein-coding gene. The Daily Iowan reports that findings from the University of Iowa Boudreau Lab and a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center lab were published side-by-side in the journal Cell Reports, for the gene that UI investigators call “Mitoregulin,” […]
Ag Startup Engine has announced a second investment of $25,000 in FarmlandFinder, a search software that allows clients to buy, search for and sell agricultural land and property information, reports Clay & Milk. FarmlandFinder, formerly known as Terva, serves land owners and buyers in Iowa but will expand into 12 states by this winter, founder and […]
The largest pork producer in Iowa is taking new steps to beautify and cut down on confinement odors, reports Radio Iowa. Iowa Falls-based Iowa Select Farms will be installing an electrostatic precipitator fence around all company-owned farms built in 2018, environment project manager John Stinn said. The system requires high-voltage wires to be installed behind […]
The leader of a New Jersey-based company granted a medical marijuana manufacturing license in Cedar Rapids expects Iowa to eventually expand the current marijuana program, reports the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “Once Iowa discovers the THC component is not a bad component, but a helpful component, we hope to see these (regulations) open up to include […]
Gross-Wen Technologies Inc., which commercializes an algal wastewater treatment developed at Iowa State University, accepted a $2 million investment from engineering firm Doerfer Corporation, GWT announced on Wednesday. The company expects to hire up to four more positions with the funds, including a vice president of operations, and sales and operations staff. GWT developed the […]