A U.S. Department of Energy laboratory operated by Iowa State University

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AT THE AMES LABORATORY

F A L L

2007
F E AT U R E S

4 “Cloud” Chaser 

With energy resolution on the order of 1meV, Ames 

 Laboratory’s new lab-based ARPES system makes it 

 possible to view 3-D images of electron bands.

6 Optimizing Ethanol An Ames Lab chemist is using Raman imaging to find 

 better feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production.

8 The New Look of Superconductivity

Physicist Ruslan Prozorov’s discovery of complex, 2-D foam-like equilibrium 

 patterns in superconducting lead has reopened the field of equilibrium in 

 type-1 superconductors.

9 UPDATE: Extending the Zinc(20) Family

Physicists have added ytterbium to the highly tunable 

 zinc(20) series, RT2Zn20.

 

9 UPDATE: Rolls Royce Aquires License 

 to use Turbine Blade Coating The engine maker plans to use R&D 100 award-winning 

 technology developed by ISU/Ames Lab scientists. 

D E PA R T M E N T S

3 Director’s Letter

10 Awards

11 Education

Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of 

Energy laboratory seeking solutions to energy-related problems through the exploration of chemical, engineering, materials 

and mathematical sciences, and physics. 

Established in the 1940s with the successful development of the most efficient 

process to produce high-purity uranium 

metal for atomic energy, Ames Lab now 

pursues much broader priorities than the 

materials research that has given the Lab 

international credibility. Responding to issues of national concern, Ames Laboratory 

scientists are actively involved in innovative 

research, science education programs, the 

development of applied technologies and 

the quick transfer of such technologies 

to industry. Uniquely integrated within a 

university environment, the Lab stimulates 

creative thought and encourages scientific 

discovery, providing solutions to complex 

problems and educating tomorrow’s 

scientific talent.

Steve Karsjen, Editor

Kerry Gibson, Managing Editor

Saren Johnston and 

Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi, 

Contributing Editors

Grant Luhmann, Art Director

Laura Petersen, Graphic Design Intern

Copyright 2007 by Ames Laboratory. All 

rights reserved. For additional information 

about Ames Laboratory or topics covered 

in this publication, please contact: 

Editor, Inquiry

Ames Laboratory

111 TASF

Ames, Iowa 50011-3020

515-294-9557

www.ameslab.gov

Inquiry is published biannually by the Ames 

Laboratory Office of Public Affairs. Iowa 

State University operates the Laboratory 

for the U.S. Department of Energy under 

contract DE AC02 07CH11358. Ames 

Laboratory shares a close working relationship with Iowa State University’s Institute 

for Physical Research and Technology, a 

network of scientific research centers.

Cover: Ames Laboratory’s discovery of intricate, foam-like equilibrium patterns 

(green image) in superconducting lead represents a noteworthy departure from 

the long-standing Landau model (purple image). (see story on page 8) 

Contents

4

8

6

9

9
INQUIRY FALL 2007 3

irst things first! The search committee charged with finding 

a replacement for former director Dr. Tom Barton brought 

five finalists to campus in late August and early September. The candidates were put through a two-day interview 

process that included an open forum for Ames Laboratory 

employees and the campus community. Based upon my own conversations with the 

candidates, I’m sure that Ames Laboratory will continue its 60-year tradition of excellence 

in science and engineering research.

You’ll find stories on a few of those research efforts within the pages of this issue. 

Physicist Ruslan Prozorov’s discovery that the shape of the entire sample determines 

the pattern topology and overall magnetic behavior of the system is a significant finding 

that represents a major contribution to the field of superconductivity. Physicist Adam 

Kaminski uses a technique called angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, ARPES, to 

learn more about the interactions of electrons because the manner in which they relate 

to one another determines most properties of solid materials. And as rising oil prices 

have boosted interest in ethanol as a home-grown 

alternative fuel, analytical chemist Emily Smith is using a technique known as Raman imaging to help 

select more sustainable crops that can produce more 

cellulosic ethanol.

Smith’s work marks the first joint research effort between Ames Laboratory and Iowa 

State University’s Plant Sciences Institute. When Smith’s project was selected for a twoyear grant by the Institute earlier this year, Ames Laboratory provided matching funds 

from patent royalties generated by other Ames Lab successes, such as Iver Anderson’s 

lead-free solder and Ed Yeung’s work in capillary electrophoresis. While we are by far the 

smallest of the 10 national laboratories operated for the Office of Science in terms of the 

number of employees and overall budget, we ranked first among those laboratories in 

2006 in the amount of licensing income. It’s yet another way that the excellent research 

being done at Ames Laboratory is paying dividends.

With the Laboratory director search coming to a close, I would like to say that it’s been 

my pleasure to serve this Laboratory as interim director for the past eight months. In that 

brief time, I’ve come to a greater appreciation of its dedicated staff and the wide range 

of talent working on projects in a variety of areas. I am also looking forward to handing 

things off to the new director so that the Laboratory can continue to move forward as it 

enters its seventh decade of service to science.

F

From the Director

Alan Goldman, Interim Director 

Welcome to the fall 2007 issue 

of Inquiry magazine.
4 INQUIRY FALL 2007

When atoms are brought together 

to form a solid, some of these 

electron clouds “spread” throughout 

its whole volume. Investigating those 

clouds and probing the electrons that 

create them is Adam Kaminski’s business. To do so, the Ames Laboratory 

physicist uses a technique called angleresolved photoelectron spectroscopy, 

ARPES, to learn more about the interactions of electrons because the manner in which they relate to one another 

determines most properties of solid 

materials. And Kaminski is fascinated 

by metallic solids, especially high-temperature superconductors and the challenge of discovering how they work.

Electrons are very picky. They inhabit only particular energy levels and 

never more than two electrons share 

the same one. In solid materials at low 

temperatures, electrons will fill all of 

the energy states up to the Fermi level, 

the highest occupied state. Electrons 

occupying the high energy levels are 

Kaminski’s favorites because they can 

respond to external stimuli, such as 

electric field and temperature gradient.

To better study electrons, Kaminski developed and set up Ames Lab’s 

high-precision, laboratory-based ARPES 

system that provides energy resolution 

on the order of one millielectron volt, or 

1meV. “There is only one place in the 

world that has better resolution than 

we do with this machine, and that’s in 

Tokyo,” says Kaminski. “So, our system 

is the second-best in the world.

“In the photoemission angle-resolved machine, we can map the band 

structure exactly to study the electrons 

that control most properties of conductors,” Kaminski explains. By shining an 

ultraviolet light of much higher energy 

than visible light on the sample, Kaminski can cause some of the electrons to 

escape the sample. When electrons are 

ejected from the sample, the principle 

of conservation of energy of momentum can be applied to find the initial 

state of an electron before it escaped.

To help clarify the ARPES method, 

Kaminski compares it to the medical 

technique of magnetic resonance imaging. “With an MRI machine, physicians 

can use X-rays or gamma rays to image 

the inside of the body and see organs 

such as the heart and kidneys. With 

ARPES, we can see 3-D images of the 

bands of electrons directly,” he says. 

Kaminski continues, explaining that 

the important aspect of the MRI technique for medical diagnostics is spatial 

resolution. “Electrons don’t have a welldefined spatial position,” he notes, “but 

they do have very well-defined momentum. So instead of working in real 

space like physicians do, we’re working 

in momentum space with ARPES. But 

we can still see what the bands look 

like, the states that are occupied and 

how electrons interact with each other 

and the rest of the solid.”

Kaminski notes that the ARPES 

technique has evolved tremendously 

over the last few years. “With the new 

types of analyzers, we are able to ‘see’ 

electronic bands in explicit detail,” 

he says. The ARPES analyzer sorts 

electrons according to their angles of 

ejection, which, in turn, provides momentum information. “Now we can 

get the data in a matter of five minutes with ARPES, where it previously 

took months,” he says. Using ARPES, 

Kaminski can analyze many kinds of 

samples to address different types of 

problems in which electrons play a 

critical role, the most demanding of 

which is the effort to explain high-temperature superconductivity.

“Superconductivity is caused by 

just a very few electrons at the Fermi 

level – the highest occupied state,” 

says Kaminski. “It’s a very rare phase 

of matter where you have exactly zero 

electrical resistance” he explains. “In 

nature, very few things are perfect, 

but this particular phenomenon is 

absolutely perfect. The resistivity is 

exactly zero.”

Cuprate compounds are the most 

prominent high-temperature superconducting materials, and, although 

I

“Cloud”

C h a s e rB Y S A R E N J O H N S T O N

“In nature, very few things are perfect, 

 but this particular phenomenon is 

 absolutely perfect. 

 The resistivity is exactly zero.”

 — Adam Kaminski

N THE ATOMIC WORLD, IT’S ALWAYS “CLOUDY.” 

THE NUCLEUS OF EVERY ATOM EXISTS IN A CLOUD OF ELECTRONS. 
Ames Laboratory’s lab-based ARPES system has a high-precision XYZ manipulator 

with closed-cycle refrigerator that cools 

a sample to 10 Kelvin (minus 441.67 

degrees Fahrenheit). The system’s lens 

(long horizontal tube) guides electrons 

into the ARPES analyzer (shiny, hemispherical piece). 

INQUIRY FALL 2007 5

the materials were discovered in 1986, 

no one has yet been able to explain 

why they superconduct. “We can easily 

make high-temperature superconductors in the lab, but we still don’t know 

the mechanism of how they work,” 

says Kaminski.

However, scientists do know some 

of the things that separate these materials from conventional superconductors. 

Every superconductor has a superconducting gap, an energy gap that appears at the superconducting transition 

temperature where resistance also disappears. But the superconducting gap 

in a high-temperature superconductor 

is very unusual – instead of being the 

same in all directions, it has a particular direction where the gap appears to 

go to sleep. “It’s very different from 

conventional materials,” says Kaminski. 

“Using the ARPES system in our lab, we 

can measure the superconducting gap 

with enormous precision.”

Kaminski also uses ARPES to study 

the pseudogap in cuprates. “In these 

materials, the properties can be varied, 

for example, by adding a fraction of 

oxygen – 10 to 15 percent,” he says. 

“That changes the properties dramatically.” At very low oxygen content, the 

materials display a phenomenon called 

the pseudogap. It looks almost like the 

superconducting gap, and it persists to 

very high temperatures – well above 

room temperature.

Kaminski notes that there was a lot 

of excitement surrounding the discovery 

of the pseudogap in cuprates. “People 

thought that with this sort of gap you 

could easily make cuprate samples superconducting at high temperatures,” 

he says. “But what we found is that the 

pseudogap is actually not related to the 

superconducting gap. Instead of being 

a friend, it’s actually a foe.”

Kaminski says the pseudogap is 

just one example of the unusual behavior of these materials. “Nobody 

knows what this pseudogap phase is,” 

he notes. “We’ve been studying the 

properties of this phase in relation 

to superconductivity with our ARPES 

system. Hopefully the information we 

get will provide clues to the origin of 

this phenomenon. 

“These materials are the reason I 

started studying condensed matter 

physics,” Kaminski admits. “They’re 

so different from anything we’ve 

known so far. No classical theory can 

explain their behavior. We understand them a lot better now, but 

that’s not to say we know how they 

work. It’s probably one of the most 

complex problems in physics.” 

 Q

For more information:

Adam Kaminski, (515) 294-0849

kaminski@ameslab.gov

Research funded by:

DOE Basic Energy Sciences,

Materials Science and Engineering Division

The top panel is an image of Fermi 

surfaces in LuSb (lutetium antimony) 

samples grown by Ames Lab senior 

physicist Paul Canfield. The bright intense 

lines represent states that form Fermi 

surfaces. These are the electrons that 

control most of the properties of conducting solids. Below are images of electron 

bands along two cuts (indicated by lines 

A and B in the upper panel).
6 INQUIRY FALL 2007

Eth

B Y K E R R Y G I B S O N

anol Optimizing

Ames Lab chemist Emily Smith stands next to a test plot of 

switchgrass, one of several crops she’s studying to determine 

viability for use in producing cellulosic ethanol. 
INQUIRY FALL 2007 7

ITH HIGH-PRICED GASOLINE FUELING

the demand, ethanol production has jumped 

dramatically, especially in Iowa where 26 

ethanol plants are currently in operation with 

more in the planning or construction stages. 

While this surge has meant higher prices for corn, it’s also 

meant higher priced corn-fed beef and the many other products made from corn. There’s also concern for the land as 

farmers move from traditional crop rotation to straight corn 

production and put marginal land back into production.

To address those concerns, producers are looking for other more cost-effective and sustainable crops. Ames Laboratory analytical chemist Emily Smith is looking at a novel way 

to help them determine what type of plant material offers 

the best solution, thanks to a grant this spring from Iowa 

State University’s Plant Sciences Institute that was matched 

by funds from Ames Lab.

Smith is using Raman imaging to study plant cell structure to determine which crops offer the right combination of 

cell wall composition and degradation to maximize conversion to ethanol. If successful, a simplified version of the test 

could even be used in the field to determine if plants were 

at the prime stage for harvest.

“Just like vintners monitor and test the sugar content of 

their grapes in the field, biofuel producers could potentially 

use this technology to determine if their crops were at optimal development for conversion to ethanol,” says Smith, 

who is also an ISU assistant professor of chemistry.

The Raman technique Smith uses employs an optical 

microscope, and specimens are illuminated with a laser 

beam. As the laser light hits the sample, some of the light is 

scattered. By analyzing the scattered light with a spectrometer (spectroscope), Smith can easily and quickly determine 

the chemical makeup of the plant material. A fiber optic 

bundle placed between the microscope and the spectrometer allows a direct measure of the chemical makeup at any 

location on the sample being viewed in the microscope. 

“This method has several advantages over other analytical techniques,” Smith explains. “First, analysis requires very 

little material, so you can take small samples from a growing plant over time without damaging the plant.” Because 

only very small pieces of plant material are needed and little 

time is required to prepare samples, multiple samples can 

be analyzed quickly, making the technique high-throughput.

W

Smith specifically plans to screen the lignin, hemicellulose 

and cellulose content of biofuel plant stocks, such as switchgrass, Miscanthus (a subtropical perennial grass that can 

grow 13 feet high), corn, and poplar and willow trees. Lignin 

interferes with enzymatic conversion of polysaccharides to 

ethanol, so Smith will use the imaging to help select plant 

stocks that have low lignin content.

“We hope to find out if lignin content changes over time, 

with different growing conditions, or with different stock 

material,” Smith says, “so we can determine if there is an 

optimal time to harvest a particular crop.”

Plant material for the project will 

be provided by collaborator Ken 

Moore, an Iowa State University 

agronomy professor and expert in 

biomass crop systems.

While the scope of this project 

will be used to study biofuel crops, 

Smith says the technology could 

also be used to study other plant 

materials, such as those used for 

pharmaceuticals.

Smith has been using the Raman imaging technology to study 

animal and insect proteins and 

said it wasn’t a “big leap” to study 

plant material.

“There is obviously a lot of interest in biofuels right now,” 

she explains. “Given the number of good researchers on 

campus working in this area, it was an easy decision to get 

involved in this project.”

Smith’s work is being jointly funded through a two-year 

grant from ISU’s Plant Sciences Institute and by Ames Laboratory through revenues generated by royalties from other 

research successes. George Kraus, Ames Laboratory’s director of Bio-related Initiatives and newly named director of 

Iowa State’s Institute for Physical Research and Technology, 

called the collaboration a great first step.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring the technological 

expertise of Ames Lab researchers to bear in solving a problem that’s a roadblock to moving biofuels to the next level,” 

Kraus says. “We hope to be a partner in similar projects in 

the future so that other researchers can take advantage of 

the capabilities that exist within Ames Laboratory.”

Q

For more information:

Emily Smith, (515) 294-1424

esmith1@iastate.edu

Research funded by:

Ames Laboratory through royalty revenues

ISU Plant Sciences Institute

Using Raman imaging 

to find a better feed stock

Graduate student Kristopher McKee 

looks through a microscope to position a sample of plant material. 

The two-year Raman imaging 

project will be carried out by 

Smith, right, and graduate students Kristopher McKee, center, 

and Chien-Ju (Cherry) Shih.
8 INQUIRY FALL 2007

IKE THE SURFACE MOTIF OF A BUBBLE BATH, 

the spatial distribution of a magnetic field penetrating a superconductor can exhibit an intricate, 

foam-like structure. Physicist Ruslan Prozorov 

has observed these mystifying, two-dimensional 

equilibrium patterns in lead samples when the material 

is in its superconducting state, below 7.2 Kelvin, or minus 

446.71 degrees Fahrenheit.

By relating the complex geometry of the equilibrium 

patterns to the macroscopic physical properties, such as 

magnetization, Prozorov has shown that the shape of the 

entire sample determines the pattern topology and overall 

magnetic behavior of the system. “You can have the same 

volume and same mass, but if you just change the shape, 

you get a different type of response from the sample and 

a different type of geometry of the equilibrium magnetic 

field patterns,” he explains.

Prozorov’s discovery of the elaborate patterns in superconducting lead marks a significant departure from the 

model first proposed by Russian physicist Lev Landau in 

the 1930s. Landau’s model, which assumes a labyrinth 

or laminar pattern, has 

been the unchallenged 

standard in physics textbooks for 70 years. Now, Prozorov’s innovative research has reopened the whole field 

of equilibrium in type-I superconductors, which had gone 

dormant because it was considered closed.

Over the years there have been observations of equilibrium patterns in superconductors that differ from the 

labyrinth model proposed by Landau. However, the unusual patterns were considered to be defects or fluctuations due to imperfections in the material under study. No 

one bothered to relate the patterns they were observing to 

macroscopic properties. No one, that is, until Prozorov.

“It all started with an accidental finding,” says Prozorov. 

“I was trying to calibrate a thermometer in my magnetooptical crysostat, so I put in a very clean, stress-free piece 

of lead. This is an easy way to calibrate because lead 

becomes superconducting at 7.2 Kelvin, so when I looked 

at my sample and saw superconductivity, I knew my thermometer was correct.”

But something else wasn’t correct, at least not textbook 

correct. When Prozorov applied a sufficiently large magnetic field and looked at the lead sample in the magnetooptics system, he was surprised to see not the Landau 

B Y S A R E N J O H N S T O N

L labyrinth pattern but, rather, a pattern of two-dimensional 

tube shapes that he describes as looking like soap foam. 

“I was shocked because this was totally unexpected,” he 

says. “So now the big question was which pattern represents equilibrium.”

Prozorov’s experiments showed that, depending on its 

purity and macroscopic physical shape, the sample under 

investigation displayed either the soap-foam pattern or the 

Landau laminar pattern. He knew that samples like disks 

or slabs that have two parallel surfaces also have a property known as geometric barrier. Only those sample shapes 

exhibited the Landau pattern, and only when the magnetic 

field was reduced. However, Prozorov discovered that 

shapes without two flat surfaces, such as spheres, hemispheres, pyramids and cones, don’t exhibit the Landau behavior. “We observed the foam, or tubular, phase in all 

of these sample shapes, and we don’t have the Landau 

phase at all,” he says. “So it’s the foam phase that’s the 

equilibrium state of the system. Most of the past studies were done on samples with flat surfaces, that’s why 

people never observed this previously for decreasing magnetic field.”

Emphasizing the difficulty involved in creating these lesscommon sample shapes, Prozorov says, “To observe this 

soap-foam phenomenon, the samples must be very clean 

and defect-free with a uniformity of crystal structure. We 

spent a lot of time trying to make lead samples in the shapes 

of hemispheres, cones and pyramids and finally succeeded. 

Having access to the materials expertise available at Ames 

Laboratory has been a tremendous benefit in our efforts,” 

he adds.

For more information:

Ruslan Prozorov, (515) 294-9901

prozorov@ameslab.gov

Research funded by:

DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences,

Materials Science and Engineering Division

National Science Foundation

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Equilibrium patterns in superconducting lead: left, Prozorov’s 

“soap-foam” pattern; and right, the Landau laminar pattern. 

Both images are obtained at the same temperature and 

magnetic field. The only difference is how the magnetic field 

was increased or decreased to reach equilibrium.

The New Look of 

Q

Superconductivity
UPDATE

INQUIRY FALL 2007 9

Not long ago physicists Paul Canfield, Sergey Bud’ko and Shuang 

Jia discovered an exciting family of 

zinc(20) compounds that can be manipulated to take on the properties 

and behavior of other materials. (This 

research is described in “The Great 

Zinc Rethink,” Inquiry, spring 2007.) 

The highly tunable zinc(20) series, 

RT2Zn20 (R=rare earth, T=transition 

metal, Zn=zinc), allows for many 

model compounds by substituting on 

either the rare-earth site or the transition metal site.

Now, expanding on that work, the 

research team has placed ytterbium, 

Yb, on the rare-earth site, making a 

half dozen YbT2Zn20 compounds. 

“There are clear differences in how 

electrons in a normal metal like copper and electrons in the YbT2Zn20 

compounds behave,” says Canfield. 

“Ytterbium is a rare-earth element 

that is a little schizophrenic. It’s ambivalent, meaning sometimes it will 

display magnetism, and sometimes it 

will get rid of the magnetism totally.”

By putting ytterbium on the rareearth site in the RT2Zn20 series, Canfield and his colleagues were able to 

make compounds that gradually lose 

their local moment magnetism at low 

temperatures. This happens, Canfield explains, when the conduction 

electrons rally around the Yb magnetic moments and collectively screen, 

or cancel, them out. This collective 

behavior of the electrons is called a 

correlated electronic state.

Using the fantastic tunability of 

the YbT2Zn20 system, Canfield and 

his collaborators have been able to 

double the number of this type of 

correlated electron systems. “These 

are materials that have been poorly 

explored because there have been 

such a small number of them,” he 

says. “By increasing the number of 

A single crystal of YbT2 Zn20 

this type of correlated Yb-based compounds, we’re able to start identifying 

systematic trends in their behavior. 

On top of that, we have five of these 

six new materials closely enough related that we can start appreciating 

the significance of subtle nuances in 

their properties.”

Rolls-Royce Corp. has acquired exclusive rights to use a coating invented 

by Ames Laboratory researchers that 

helps turbines stand up to the heat in 

jet engines.

The unique bond coating will be 

applied to engine turbine blades 

made of nickel-based superalloys. 

Those superalloys are designed for 

strength but need help withstanding metal temperatures approaching 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit inside 

the hot section of a jet engine, says 

Ames Lab scientist Brian Gleeson, a 

coinventor of the coating.

The bond coating, based on a composition comprising platinum, nickel, 

aluminum and hafnium, improves the 

durability and reliability of a ceramic 

thermal barrier that’s applied over the 

bond coat, says Daniel Sordelet, a senior scientist and group leader for the 

Ames Laboratory and a co-inventor of 

the technology, which won a prestigious R&D 100 Award in 2005. 

Dr. William J. Brindley, the chief 

technologist for Rolls-Royce Corp., 

says, “This new coating offers excellent oxidation resistance. It’s a new 

concept in coatings and a real step 

forward in understanding how and 

why coatings work. The technology 

also represents a remarkably quick 

transition from fundamental science 

to practical application.”

Rolls-Royce, a world-wide provider 

of power systems for use in aerospace, marine and energy applications, will have an exclusive license to 

commercialize the inventions. Patents 

are pending for the inventions, and 

the term of the license agreement is 

for the life of any patents. The license 

has the potential to be an important 

source of revenue for the Iowa State 

University Research Foundation. 

Daniel Sordelet and Brian Gleeson

Rolls-Royce Acquires License to Use Turbine Blade Coating

Extending the Zinc(20) Family
10 INQUIRY FALL 2007

Materials Chemistry and Biomolecular Materials

2006-2007 AWARDS Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences

Mark Gordon

• IBM Faculty Award

Rodney Fox

• ISU Award for 

Outstanding Achievement in Research

Chemical and Biological Sciences

Robert Angelici

• ACS Award for 

 Distinguished Service 

 in the Advancement 

 of Inorganic Chemistry

Richard Larock

• ISU Distinguished 

Professor of Liberal Arts 

and Sciences

Marshal Luban

• Doctor Rerum Naturalium 

 Honoris Causa, Universität 

 Osnabrück

Jöerg Schmalian

• Fellow, American 

 Physical Society

• ISU Award for Mid- 

 Career Achievement 

 in Research

John D. Corbett

• F. Albert Cotton Award 

 in Synthetic Inorganic 

 Chemistry, American 

 Chemical Society

Surya K. Mallapragada

• Big 12 Conference 

 “Rising Star” Innovator

• ISU Award for Mid-Career 

 Achievement in Research

Alan Goldman

• ISU Distinguished 

Professor in Liberal Arts 

and Sciences

Condensed Matter Physics

Sam Houk

• Fellow, Society for Applied 

 Spectroscopy

• ISU Margaret Ellen White 

 Graduate Faculty Award

Mei Hong

• ISU Award for Mid- 

 Career Achievement 

 in Research

Edward S. Yeung

• Fellow, Society for 

 Applied Spectroscopy

Barbara Lograsso

• SULI Outstanding 

 Mentor Award

Nondestructive Evaluation

Environmental and Protection Sciences

R. Bruce Thompson

• Research Award for Sustained 

 Excellence, American Society 

 for Nondestructive Testing’s 

 Research Council

Karl A. Gschneidner, Jr

• Member, National 

 Academy of Engineering

• Acta Materialia Gold Medal

Materials and Engineering Physics
INQUIRY FALL 2007 11

Ames Laboratory’s Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program concluded its third year in 2007. 

The 10-week SULI program ended 

with a poster session that provided the 

11 student participants the opportunity 

to share final results of their work with 

Ames Lab and Iowa State University 

scientists, students and staff. 

This year’s SULI students were 

from colleges and universities in 10 

states: the University of California, 

Berkeley; Northwestern University 

(Illinois); Pennsylvania State University; Brigham Young University (Idaho); Carleton College (Minnesota); 

Virginia Tech; the Missouri Academy 

of Math, Science and Computing; Albion College (Michigan); Manchester 

College (Indiana); and Grinnell College and Central College (Iowa). 

Each student was matched with a 

mentor, either from the Laboratory or 

ISU, and spent time in research laboratories, where they worked on projEDUCATION

ects that resulted in either a research 

paper or PowerPoint presentation. 

“My career goals have been confirmed,” says SULI student Thomas 

Tim Pica, (left) an undergraduate from the University of California, Berkeley, works with 

Lijun Wang, a researcher in Ames Laboratory’s Materials Chemistry and Biomolecular Materials program. 

Brenner. “I’ve been considering an 

academic career and this internship allowed me to verify that I do 

enjoy research.” 

Nine creative and motivated middle school teachers from Minnesota, 

South Dakota, Kansas and Iowa descended on the Ames Laboratory and 

ISU for four weeks this summer as 

part of the Lab’s newly created DOE 

Academies Creating Teacher Scientists, or ACTS, program. The four-week 

session had the students involved in 

a variety of activities, from training, 

lectures and workshops presented by 

Ames Laboratory scientists and staff 

to visits to research laboratories and 

field stations for observations. Teachers also conducted their own small research projects to investigate topics in 

environmental physics, chemistry and 

earth science. 

The goal of the ACTS program is 

to give participating teachers the skills 

to develop exciting and innovative science programs in their schools that will 

encourage students to pursue careers 

in science and math. Teachers make a 

three-year commitment to Ames Lab’s 

DOE ACTS program, which means we 

can look forward to seeing them again 

in the summers of 2008 and 2009. 

One teacher says this about the 

program, “I have developed a better 

understanding of scientific inquiry both 

as a scientist and as a teacher.” 

ACTS participants Laura Cady (left), a sixth-grade teacher from Clarence, Iowa, and 

Sharon Andrews (right), fifth-grade teacher from Sioux Falls, S.D., adjust equipment 

on the roof of the Science II building on the ISU campus as part of their research 

project measuring solar radiation. 
Ames Laboratory

111 Technical and Administrative Services Facility

Ames, Iowa 50011-3020

515-294-9557

www.ameslab.gov

A U.S. Department of Energy laboratory operated by Iowa State University