Des Moines Business Record Daily 10-25-07 Ticker A report supported by the National Science Foundation identified Iowa State University as a model of economic development activity. The report included a case study of ISU's efforts to transform technologies developed on campus into products for start-up companies and existing businesses. Iowa State University Research Foundation was second in the country, executing 218 licenses in the year ending on June 30, 2005, behind the University of California.