Hosin “David” Lee, a University of Iowa professor of civil and environmental engineering, was honored with the outstanding contribution award at the annual meeting of the Korean Transportation Association in America.

Just after midnight on April 7 along the eastern coast of Florida, Jun Wang saw a blinding light burst across a harbor, followed by a mighty roar. It was a SpaceX rocket lifting off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and starting its ascent into space. With his wife and two of his kids by his side, Wang watched the rocket climb higher and higher into the inky sky — carrying years of his research with it.