Iowa's wave basin leads the world in ship hydrodynamics

Tucked away in the University of Iowa’s Research Park is one of the world’s most renowned wave basins—a warehouse-sized tank of water with the technology necessary for testing Navy and commercial ship designs years before the vessels are christened.

The UI’s Hydraulics Wave Basin Facility was constructed in 2010 under the guidance of Frederick Stern, a professor of mechanical and industrial engineering who, since his arrival at the UI in 1983, has built on the university’s impressive history of hydroscience and engineering research to create the gold standard of ship hydrodynamics programs.

[GrahamCrannell]

for anyone wondering (and because an explanation is inexplicably absent) "CFD" in this context means "computational fluid dynamics"
They're using the tank to verify simulations of water flow and boat movements. Better and more-accurate simulations can help reduce the cost and time of the ship design process

[tansatechenergyandwater]

It is not a "very" unique facility. Unique means one of a kind 😂😂. It is a very specialized, and first rate facility though for wave dynamics testing.