Ames Laboratory

The Ames Laboratory began as a chemical research and development program at Iowa State College (University) to assist the World War II Manhattan Project. The program developed an entirely new technology for the conversion of uranium ore to high-purity uranium metal and then used that technology to produce more than 2 million pounds by the end of the war. In 1947, the United States Atomic Energy Commission officially established the Ames Laboratory as a National Laboratory. It is currently the United States Department of Energy research facility operated by Iowa State University. The University's Institute for Physical Research and Technology is responsible for administrative oversight of the Laboratory. The Laboratory and University share facilities, functions, graduate students, and faculty/principle investigators.

After World War II, the Ames Laboratory specialized in rare metals and methods of achieving chemical transformation without the production of toxic waste. The Laboratory has expanded its scope beyond materials research, including research in photosynthesis, hazardous waste analysis, computer programming, quasicrystals, and nontraditional materiaols. Current research programs include Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences; Biorenewable Resources (formerly the Fossil Energy Section); Condensed Matter Physics; Environmental & Protection Sciences (formerly Environmental Technology Development); Materials Chemistry; Metallurgy & Ceramics; Molecular Processes; Nondestructive Evaluation; and Physical and Biological Chemistry.

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