Last week, Greater Iowa City, Inc. joined Iowa Economic Development and Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham, Eastern Iowa Airport Director Marty Lenss, University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson, and University faculty and leadership to discuss the airport’s efforts to build a regional aerospace cluster and how the University of Iowa could support the initiative.
Last year, the airport collaborated with the Iowa Economic Development Authority to commission a study by the management consulting firm Oliver Wyman to outline how the airport could market to aerospace companies about the region’s history of aviation and opportunities for future investment. Workforce development and partnerships with higher education institutions are an important part of the cluster strategy.
At the meeting, Lenss outlined the partnerships already created with Kirkwood Community College, Coe College, and the collaboration with the University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Laboratory. The group discussed other potential collaborations with UI specifically related to payload and satellite support, a fast-growing market identified as having high potential in the Oliver Wyman report.
Attendees then joined other Johnson County community and business leaders for a tour of the new Iowa Spaceflight Laboratory, a cutting-edge laboratory built to support internal and external research projects as well as attract industry investment in building and testing space instruments. Located in Van Allen Hall, the laboratory has equipment to support design, building, testing, and integration, allowing it to provide full-service prototyping support in a short time frame. Iowa Space Laboratory faculty and engineers have worked with companies such as Boeing, Ball Aerospace, and Northrop Grumman, and know there is potential for more commercial partnerships, especially with the recent investments made in the lab.
Faculty also shared information about the University’s Edge of Space Academy, a paid summer research experience where undergraduates build and fly small space instruments to observe the Earth and atmosphere. It’s one example of how the University is already graduating students with the real-world experience to immediately enter careers related to payload development and satellite support.
The Eastern Iowa Airport is pulling together working groups to continue the aerospace cluster momentum in the coming months. Greater IC is eager to participate and bring together partners to realize this exciting vision to grow Eastern Iowa’s economy in alignment with its existing strengths. We will work with our Economic Development Innovation Council to support this effort and provide updates as the aerospace cluster develops.
