This story first appeared in Engineers Week 2025, an annual special section that showcases a variety of local engineering topics to celebrate all that engineers contribute to our world.
Utility engineers and crews have extensive experience in securing the nation’s power grid — some 120,000 miles of transmission lines operated by 500 companies and cooperatives — against natural disaster. Researchers and engineers in Iowa are working to ensure the system is safe from intentional sabotage by hackers.
“Never trust, always verify,” is the guiding principle, according to Manimaran Govindarasu, professor in electrical and computer engineering at Iowa State University.