Iowa State's Formula SAE Team likes a lot about this year's mini open-wheel racer: reliable engine, wider cockpit, roomier engine bay, new shock attachments. All those changes should make for a race car that's easier to run, operate and fix.

What started as a school project for her cognitively disabled son has turned into a career focus for one Iowa State University graphic design professor. Debra Satterfield's teenage son, John, has epilepsy and an autism spectrum disorder. A few years ago, she discovered his talents as a painter. Since then Satterfield has led a team of faculty and students on the design of educational, social inclusion and play experiences for children with cognitive disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders.

An Iowa State graduate student is another step closer in the development of a bio-based raw material that could replace petroleum-based chemicals in many products. As part of that development, Shivani Garg has launched her own business to market the technology.

Iowa State's Team LunaCY is looking for more success at NASA's annual competition for mining robots. Iowa State's team won three first-place awards at last year's competition. Team members think they have the machine to bring a few more awards back to campus.

Iowa State's Sri Sritharan and Grant Schmitz have designed and tested a concept for building concrete towers to replace the steel towers used for wind turbines. Concrete towers could be a practical way to raise turbine towers from today's 80 meters to the better winds at 100 meters and higher. Even under extreme loads up to 170,000 pounds, the engineers' test segments performed well in structural tests.

A team of students at Iowa State University is putting the finishing touches on a built-from-scratch 1/4-scale tractor to enter in a nationwide engineering competition at the end of May.

The student-engineers of Iowa State's Baja SAE Team have been busy designing and building what they hope is a reliable off-road racer. Their first real test is later this week at an international competition in Bellingham, Wash. Team members are hoping the car can survive the contest's big event, a four-hour endurance race.