University of Iowa

[ACTIVE]

HQ: Iowa City, Iowa · Est. 1847 · 1 model registered

Recent press

Site Risk Profile

As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies University of Iowa: 1 model.

Ownership

ACTIVE

Capital / Funding

Undisclosed

Headquarters

Iowa City, Iowa

IP / Patents

Undisclosed

Platform Models

Audited Incidents

Overview

Public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, founded 1847. Robotics research through the UI Robotics and Sensing Lab and VRAC focuses on surgical robotics, rehabilitation robotics, and haptic interfaces.

Audited Posture AssessmentPeer Percentile: 15.4%

Limited public funding data for capital position assessment.

Key Facts

HeadquartersIowa City, Iowa, USA

Founded1847

Statusresearch

Typehardware

RAD LabRobotics and Assistive Devices Lab — director Deema Totah; assistive robotics, rehabilitation devices

Soft RoboticsCaterina Lamuta — DARPA/ONR-funded "Softopus" octopus-inspired underwater robot, soft robotics pioneer

CAS LabCooperative Autonomous Systems Lab — director Venanzio Cichella; UAVs, autonomous vehicles, multi-agent coordination

HIR LabHuman Instrumentation and Robotics Lab — director Rachel Vitali; human biomechanics, wearable robotics

Nomad RobotGeb W. Thomas — Nomad autonomous robot project, surgical simulators, Antarctica deployment

Key FacultyDeema Totah (RAD/assistive), Caterina Lamuta (soft robotics/Softopus), Venanzio Cichella (CAS/UAVs), Rachel Vitali (HIR/biomechanics), Geb Thomas (Nomad/surgical), Er-Wei Bai (robotics controls), Karim Abdel-Malek (human motion simulation)

Research AreasSoft robotics, assistive/rehabilitation devices, UAV swarms, autonomous vehicles, human motion simulation, surgical robotics, biomechanics

DARPA Director's FellowshipCaterina Lamuta received DARPA Director's Fellowship (Aug 2023) for octopus-inspired soft robot research

Safety & Regulatory Posture

0 entries

Audited Incident & Recall Footprint

No incidents on record for University of Iowa.

Leadership & Founders

7 entries

Current Program Leadership & Executives

Deema Totahsecondary-verified

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering & RAD Lab Director

Caterina Lamutasecondary-verified

Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering & Soft Robotics Pioneer

Venanzio Cichellasecondary-verified

Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering & CAS Lab Director

Rachel Vitalisecondary-verified

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering & HIR Lab Director

Geb W. Thomassecondary-verified

Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Er-Wei Baisecondary-verified

College of Engineering Distinguished Professor, ECE

Karim Abdel-Maleksecondary-verified

Professor, Biomedical & Mechanical Engineering

Partnerships & Commercial Deployments

2 entries

Total Tracked2

Operating2

Announced0

Concluded0

Key Recurring Partners

AWS1 · 1× joint · 976 total

NVIDIA2 · 1× joint · 1110 total

Recent Verified Partnerships

Partnership
MOST RECENT

FAQ

6 entries

What is University of Iowa?

What does University of Iowa make?

University of Iowa has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: UIowa Robotics (University of Iowa builds physical robots).

Where is University of Iowa headquartered?

University of Iowa is headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa, USA.

Where does University of Iowa operate robots?

University of Iowa is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.

Is University of Iowa a top robotics company?

On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, University of Iowa ranks in roughly the top 85% of companies tracked by the registry.

Is University of Iowa safe?

University of Iowa has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.