Contacts:                                                                              For release: Dec. 5, 2012
Bruce Harmon, Ames Laboratory, 515-294-7712
Laura Millsaps, Public Affairs, 515-294-3474

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory, Bruce Harmon, Kai-Ming Ho, and Cai-Zhuang Wang, have been awarded 45 million processor-hours of computer time on Titan, the world’s premier open science supercomputer according to the November 2012 TOP500 list of the world’s fastest computers.

Titan, located at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., uses a combination of traditional central processing units (CPUs) and a family of processors called graphic processing units (GPUs) that were first created for computer gaming and have a unique capacity to perform the same operation simultaneously on multiple pieces of data. With a theoretical peak of 27 petaflops or 27,000 trillion calculations per second, Titan is 10 times more powerful than its predecessor, Jaguar, but uses only 19.4 percent more power.

Ames Laboratory’s scientists will use the enormous computational capability of Titan to identify promising compositions of new magnetic materials that do not contain rare earth elements, which are increasingly in short supply. Stronger non-rare earth permanent magnets are critical to replace the current rare earth magnets for energy efficient electric drive motors (used in hybrid and electric vehicles) and more powerful electrical generators (used in wind turbines).

“For thousands of years, humans have discovered useful alloys through hit-or-miss metallurgy,” said Harmon. “Now, we finally have the computing capability to explore greater complexities using quantum mechanics-- greater numbers of atoms, the possible crystal structures, and their properties. We can determine which will be optimal, hand it to experimentalists, and say ‘this alloy composition may have a ‘sweet spot’ with ideal properties.’ In turn, experimentalists can return to us and say, ‘this did not work, but maybe the addition of this other element can help.’”

In this way, Harmon said, theorists and experimentalists will be able to work closely together to speed the discovery process for alternatives to rare earth alloys.

Titan’s capabilities offer scientists the tools to complete computational research work in mere hours that previously would have taken months, said Wang.

“To get the new materials we are looking for with the right magnetic properties, we are most likely looking at ternary structures with a larger number of atoms. This is a much more complex problem, and very difficult to explore,” said Wang. “The increased computer capabilities paired with an efficient algorithm will open up new areas for us to search for new alloys.”

The computer time was granted through the DOE’s Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, which promotes scientific discoveries and technological innovations by awarding time on supercomputers annually on a competitive basis. A total of 61 projects, including the Ames Laboratory’s, were granted computer time for 2013.

The computational search for the crystal structures and new materials for permanent magnet applications is supported by the Beyond Rare Earth Materials project, led by the Ames Laboratory and funded by the DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office, Vehicle Technology Program. The basic science, algorithms, and computational code development for the structure prediction and phase diagram exploration is supported by the Exploratory Development of Theoretical Methods project funded by Materials Science and Engineering Division of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science through the Ames Laboratory.

The Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory operated by Iowa State University. The Ames Laboratory creates innovative materials, technologies and energy solutions. We use our expertise, unique capabilities and interdisciplinary collaborations to solve global problems.

DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.

With the Ames Laboratory's 11th Annual Employees Holiday Auction less than two weeks away, we are still in need of donated items to be auctioned. See what new has been added and stop by the Public Affairs office to place bids. This year the auction proceeds will benefit the Story County Raising Readers program and Bethesda Food Pantry.

The auction will be held on Dec. 12th in Spedding Hall Auditorium.

In addition to items listed in last month's Insider, bidders will have the following things to compete on:

Basket of assorted handmade chocolates and other items donated by Karen Huiatt.
Rhodolite garnet & silver necklace from Ames Silversmithing	Small drillpress donated by Kerry Gibson
ISU jacket and hoody from Dogtown	Callaway driver donated by John Henderson
Portable/beach wine table set donated by Mike Dotzler

Ames Laboratory employees have helped Iowa State surpass its $325,000 goal for this year's United Way campaign. Total contributions stand at $325,856.

To date, the Lab has raised $8,222, which is a bit short of our $10,000 goal, but it's never too late to send in your contribution to help build upon the success of the existing campaign.

We will be auctioning off the items we received from the United Way campaign as part of our Holiday Auction on Wednesday, December 12, and we will give that share of our proceeds to United Way. Holiday celebration and auction will be from 1:30 to 3:30 in the Spedding Hall auditorium.

And don't forget, you can drop off donated hats and mittens and food pantry items in Public Affairs.

Ames Laboratory/ISU Science Bowl seeks volunteers for the 2013 High School Science Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 26 and the 2013 Middle School Science Bowl on Saturday, Feb. 23.  Volunteers serve as moderators, judges, timekeepers and scorekeepers for the exciting science and math game-show style competitions.  Morning or afternoon shifts range from four to eight hours. All volunteers get a free T-shirt and free lunch.

To learn more about Ames Lab/ISU Science Bowl visit: 

http://www.ameslab.gov/education/science-bowl

To sign up to volunteer for one or both Science Bowl events, contact Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi, Public Affairs, breehan@ameslab.gov, 515-294-9750, by Friday, Dec. 14.

Barbara and Tom Lograsso serving as moderator and judge respectively at the 2012 High School Science Bowl.

Three central Iowa high school students, including one who is now attending Iowa State University, explored chemistry at the collegiate level at ISU last summer in a program for economically disadvantaged students.

The three participated in Project SEED (Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged), an eight-week science program at Iowa State sponsored by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The three students are Luis Angel Martinez-Patino from Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Maria Andrade from Marshalltown High School, and Jasmin Cisneros, a 2012 Marshalltown High graduate who is now studying biochemistry at Iowa State. Project SEED is a program that gives high school students from low income and underrepresented family backgrounds the opportunity to participate in university and industry science labs, said Javier Vela, Iowa State professor of chemistry and Project SEED mentor and an associate of the Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory. The program has been held at ISU for the past three summers. “The program really motivates the students and allows them to see what researchers do every day for a living,” said Vela. “It is a humanizing experience and big eye opener for students to see normal people doing research.” Vela has high hopes for the program next summer, setting a goal to host five high school students. He also would like to expand the program to other universities across Iowa and to other areas of science. Chemistry is an academic department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State.

Project SEED participants are students, front row from left, Maria Andrade, Luis Angel Martinez-Patino and Jasmin Cisneros. Chemistry faculty serving as mentors are, back row from left, Emily Smith, Javier Vela and Malika Jeffries-EL.

Martinez-Patino has a passion for learning about chemistry, and getting involved with Project SEED has influenced his future career path. He learned valuable information from graduate students while in the lab, understanding how vital it is to have a strong background in mathematics and science.

“With this opportunity I actually did real chemistry, and I liked it more than I could ever imagine,” said Martinez-Patino. “The program convinced me that I want to make chemistry my career.”

Vela was the first and only mentor on board with Project SEED when he hosted his first student in summer 2010. During the summer 2012 session, fellow ISU chemistry faculty members Malika Jeffries-EL and Emily Smith joined Vela as mentors.

The Project SEED students were able to choose an area of chemistry that most interested them. Martinez-Patino was under the direction of Jeffries-EL, researching plastics and how they can be used in everyday life. Andrade paired with Smith, investigating interactions between proteins and biologically active molecules, which can one day lead to new health practices and medicines. Cisneros was under the direction of Vela, investigating how to make new materials for solar energy by harvesting and converting sunlight into power and fuels.

More on Project Seed

~ by Steve Jones, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Although 2012 has not yet come to a close, many employees have been diligently planning for projects, upgrades and changes in 2013.  Whether you are already on this train or not, now would be a good time to reflect on the accomplishments you have made in 2012 and think about the goals you would like to set for 2013.  Below are some tips on how to do just that:

First things first - what are goals?

• They are statements with end results.
• They are expected within a specified period of time.
• They are achievements toward which effort is directed.

What should they include?

• A personal development component.
• Related to tasks specified in your job description.
• Tied to departmental and organizational goals.

For each goal you create, you will want to describe the end result and indicate quantity, quality, timeframe, percentage or other specific measure.  Each goal should fit into and support the overall strategy of the Ames Laboratory.

What does a clearly written goal look like?

• Start with an action verb.
• Identify a single key result to be accomplished.
• Specify when the result will be achieved.

Example:  Complete the employee survey by May 1, 2013.
             (action verb)      (end result)          (timeframe)

To test if a goal is well-written, ask yourself the following…

• Is it relevant?
• Can it be measured?
• Is it realistic and attainable?
• Is it challenging and stretching?
• Is it mutually understood and agreed upon?
• How will you follow up?

Annual performance evaluations are just around the corner and will begin after the first of the year.  You may want to keep this guide handy as you set future goals throughout this process.  For questions, please contact Ames Lab Human Resources at (515) 294-2680.