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.