Des Moines Register
12-05-06
ISU wins federal contract for Ames lab
By LISA ROSSI
REGISTER AMES BUREAU
Ames, Ia. - The Ames Laboratory retained its multimillion-dollar contract with the
U.S. Department of Energy after the contract was put out for bids last summer for
the first time in 60 years.
The Department of Energy announced Monday that it had awarded Iowa State
University a five-year, $30 million-per-year contract to manage and operate the
federal government's lab here.
The new contract takes effect Jan. 1.
The federal government started to require competitive bidding on its labs after
problems surfaced at other labs around the country, Department of Energy
officials said. The Ames lab was not included in the list of labs that needed
improvements.
The lab's contract success was expected, "because sometimes rationality wins
out," said Thomas Barton, director of the lab.
He pointed to what he said was the efficiency of the operation, with many of its
staff members also holding professor and director positions at ISU.
"We share people," Barton said. "The winner is the American taxpayer."
About 20 percent of the lab's work force is ISU students. In addition, the lab has
relationships with more than 270 nonpaid associates in departments throughout
ISU.
The Ames Laboratory is operated for the Department of Energy by ISU.
The lab - an outgrowth of the university's involvement in the top-secret
Manhattan Project during World War II - works to find solutions to energy-related
problems through the exploration of the chemical, engineering, materials,
mathematical and physical sciences.
Reporter Lisa Rossi can be reached at (515) 232-2383 or lrossi@dmreg.com