For 40-plus years, the Army has been waiting for someone like 18-year-old Santos. He runs, he deadlifts, executes push-ups and carries burdens like a pack mule and is fresh as a daisy the next day. He’s also entirely virtual. University of Iowa's Santos (and his female counterpart Sophia), is a biomechanically accurate digital avatar that predicts behavior through

Karim Malek, director of the Virtual Soldier Research program at the University of Iowa, and Maj. Gen. Stewart Wallace (retired) appear on the Iowa Innovation Podcast powered by NewBoCo. They discuss how the Virtual Soldier Research program has the capacity to change the world, why Wallace would come out of retirement for this specific project, and host Anthony’s fears of the movie “I, Robot” becoming a reality.

University of Iowa Technology Institute Director Karim Malek will present at Defense Strategies Institute's 6th Annual Military Virtual Training & Simulation Summit on Feb. 22-23.

The University of Iowa may not have the visibility of some aviation schools, but the institution is well known for important research for the civil and military sectors. Robert W. Moorman spoke with their principals. Often research of new technology serves as a prologue to a corresponding need for new or better training. Such could be the case with various research programs at the Iowa Technology Institute, part of the College of Engineering.

The 7th International Digital Human Modeling Symposium (DHM) proved to be a reunion for Virtual Soldier Research (VSR), a research center within the University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI).

The UI’s Virtual Soldier Research Program puts the Army Combat Fitness Test through its paces.

The University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) hosted Adjutant General Benjamin J. Correll of the Iowa Army National Guard and several members of his team.

Helping the Army assess the new test, scientists at the Iowa Technology Institute at the University of Iowa are doing biomechanical analyses to determine if the levels of strength it calls for are similar to what’s needed for activities such as lifting ammo boxes and digging holes.

University of Iowa Technology Institute Director Karim Malek was a guest recently on the Newsradio 1040 WHO program, Need to Know with Jeff Angelo. 

The U.S. Army turned to a multidisciplinary team of experts at the University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) and ITI’s internationally recognized Santos technology to provide independent review of its first new fitness test in 40 years called the Army Combat Fitness Test.

The University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) has received an Epic MegaGrant that will be used to explore the integration of its virtual human, Santos, with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.

Maj. Gen. Stewart Wallace had been away from the University of Iowa for nearly 50 years while serving as an Army officer and later an executive in the defense industry. He has returned to become one of the biggest advocates for the Iowa Technology Institute, helping build relationships with the Department of Defense and military leaders.

Advancements in digital human modeling and simulation have expanded opportunities for the United States Armed Forces, video game makers, and manufacturers to improve human performance and enhance realism in virtual environments, presenters relayed during the University of Iowa Technology Institute’s (ITI) second annual Iowa Virtual Human Summit.

The University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) is convening experts from the U.S. Army, Epic Games, academia, and other sectors to explore the progress and potential of mature virtual human (or digital twin) technology for improving physical and non-physical components of human performance.

A relationship forged between University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) and Titus Human Performance at the 2019 Defense Strategies Institute’s Human Performance & Biosystems Summit in Washington D.C. quickly evolved into a productive public-private partnership leveraging each other’s capabilities to tackle projects neither could alone.

Sonalysts, Inc. is teamed with University of Iowa Technology Institute on an Army Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Contract to Address “Physical Monitoring Techniques to Improve Warfighter Performance.”  

Technology born out of military-funded research in the University of Iowa’s Virtual Soldier Research Program (VSR) soon may be used in schools, hospitals, stores, and other places to improve safety.

After 15 years of work, digital avatars are finally maturing to a place where researchers can “design a human” to test protective equipment for military personnel, University of Iowa researchers said Wednesday.

The need for better-fitting body armor and PPE not just for soldiers, but for women and smaller-stature men in a variety of dangerous fields was the focus of the first annual Iowa Virtual Human Summit.

Virtual event on Aug. 12 to examine how a ‘digital twin’ can reduce injuries through better designed female body armor.

The University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) and its physics-based virtual human model Santos are integral to a new initiative to harness modeling and simulation technology to better predict and analyze soldier performance, according to an article published by the U.S. Army this month.