Director Adam Schwartz presents his last State of the Laboratory address
Incoming Director Karl Mueller takes the helm June 2
Ames Lab held its annual State of the Laboratory address and picnic on Friday, May 16. The address stood as part of Director Adam Schwartz’s farewell to the laboratory, which also included an open house and ice cream social event the previous day. Schwartz served 11 years in the role.
In his last message to employees, he stated: “Serving this extraordinary institution–on the campus of another extraordinary institution, Iowa State University–has been the greatest honor of my career. And that’s all because of you. What makes Ames Lab exceptional is not just the caliber of our science, but the character of our people. Your dedication, creativity, and collaborative spirit have been the driving force behind every breakthrough and every milestone.”
Schwartz is succeeded by Karl Mueller, who begins his tenure Monday, June 2. Mueller previously served as the director of the Program Development Office for the Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate (PCSD) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington. Prior to that, he served for six years as Chief Science and Technology Officer for PCSD.
“We welcome Karl to the helm, and I appreciate his early engagement,” said Chief Research Officer James Morris. “As we navigate the next chapter of innovation and discovery at Ames Lab with new leadership, I know that everyone will work together to support our continued mission.”
Open House Welcome for Karl Mueller!
Come help us give a warm welcome to our new director, Karl Mueller.
We are hosting an Open House Welcome and would love for you to stop by, say hello, and get to know him over some light refreshments and good conversation.
📅 Date: Wednesday, June 11
🕒 Time: 10 a.m.–noon
📍 Location: 301 Spedding Hall
Whether you can stay for a while or just pop in, we would be delighted to see you. Let’s make Karl feel right at home! No RSVP needed. See you there!
Current employees will start receiving PIV Badges in June
The Badging Office will initiate the PIV Badge process for eligible current employees, beginning with individuals who have birthdays in June. If your birthday falls in June, please be on the lookout for an email from Workday with instructions to begin your PIV Badge enrollment. Visit the PIV Badge Process webpage for resources to guide you through the process.
Wearing your badge
Please remove your badge or obscure it from view while not on Ames Lab property, including ISU-owned buildings (even DOE-leased space in those buildings). Badges should be worn while inside DOE-owned buildings including TASF, Spedding Hall, Wilhelm Hall, Metals Development, all Maintenance buildings, and the Sensitive Instrument Facility. It is acceptable to wear your badge while walking directly between DOE-owned buildings on the Iowa State campus, including parking lots and sidewalks. For more information, visit where to wear your badge on the badging website.
For supervisors
All new employees will receive an Ames Lab Badge in addition to their ISUCard. They will use their Ames Lab Badge for identification and door access. When they come in to get their Ames Lab Badge, the Badging Office will determine if they are eligible for a PIV Badge. If the employee is eligible for a PIV Badge, the Badging Office will begin their process within their first week.
New Employee Alycia Willenbring
Alycia Willenbring is thrilled to join Ames National Laboratory as a compliance specialist on the Performance Management Team. She hopes to add a positive contribution to the team’s ongoing objective in assisting the lab to assure continually exceptional achievements within the world of research and science. She has a deep regard for the work done here in Ames and for the dedicated people making it possible.
Since 2021, Willenbring has specialized in federal contracting and compliance, providing oversight on policy and quality assurance to large teams and the public. She has worked extensively on federal programs since 2016 - providing technical assistance and program implementation expertise. She has directed various environmental-related initiatives in Iowa, focusing primarily on providing resources to historically underserved people in targeted matters. Alycia cares about the success of others and in making the world a better and healthier place. She believes the work done at Ames Lab represents those values indefinitely.
Alycia is passionate about positive collaboration, team building, and mission driven results. In her personal life she is an artist and a mother of two rambunctious toddlers. She enjoys restoring a beautiful 120 year-old Victorian home with her wonderful husband, and volunteering locally and building community programs. Over the last three decades, Alycia has moved 31 times and truly enjoys meeting new people; learning about what makes every person unique and special. She is honored for the opportunity to work at Ames National Laboratory and to assist the incredible staff achieve their goals.
New Employee 
Matt Julich
Matt Julich has joined Ames Laboratory as a Budget and Finance Specialist for CMI Hub. For the last seven years Matt worked in mortgages as a loan originator. “Numbers, spreadsheets and analytical thinking in general are at the core of how I am wired so this felt like a great opportunity to still lean into my strengths while starting down a new career path,” he said. In his free time, he loves traveling with his wife, Sara (who works in ITS at Iowa State), watching movies/shows, cheering on the Cyclones (1999 graduate), playing a variety of sports and spending time with his four kids and extended family.
Human Resources
Considering a summer trip or vacation? Check your balances first!
Workday allows employees to view their monthly paystubs as well as monitor the use of time off use and accruals each month. View the ServiceNow article Monitoring Balances in Workday for additional instructions on how to view this information in Workday. Reach out to Ames Lab Human Resources (humanresources@ameslab.gov) with any questions.
Explore new voluntary benefits offered by Iowa State and AON
A new voluntary lifestyle benefits program offered by AON debuted at Iowa State University in March 2025, giving Iowa State and Ames National Laboratory employees access to thousands of exclusive discounts on big-name and local brands and services.
Offerings include home and auto insurance, pet insurance, and a PerkSpot employee discount program. Employees can enroll in these benefits year-round, meaning no annual enrollment or qualifying life event required, and special rates and discounts are negotiated for cost-savings over regular retail prices.
FES Construction Updates and Impacts in June
Here are FES Projects construction impacts and events you can expect in June, sorted alphabetically by building. For more details and resources, visit the FES Projects webpage in ServiceNow.
Maintenance Shop, Maintenance Garage, and Paint and Air Conditioning
- Throughout the month: Electrical work in ceilings (Access Control project).
Metals Development Building
- Metals Development Building Virtual Event: Wednesday, June 11, 1-2. FES project managers will share information and answer questions about projects that will impact people who work in the Metals Development Building. Click the link above for more details and Zoom information.
- Now through mid-June: Space owner interviews with project manager and ESH to determine location for gas cabinets (Hazardous and Flammable Gas Storage project)
- Throughout the month: Electrical work in hallway ceilings and some offices and labs (Access Control project). We will reach out in advance to coordinate access to offices and labs.
Sensitive Instrument Facility (SIF)
- Throughout the month: Electrical work in hallway ceilings and some offices and labs (Access Control project). We will reach out in advance to coordinate access to offices and labs.
Spedding Hall
- Spedding Hall Virtual Event: Tuesday, June 10, 11-noon. FES project managers will share information and answer questions about projects that will impact people who work in Spedding Hall. Click the link above for more details and Zoom information.
- Now through mid-June: Space owner interviews with project manager and ESH to determine location for gas cabinets and when to shut down exhaust for an exhaust system study (Hazardous and Flammable Gas Storage project)
- Mid-June: Electrical demolition (Fire Alarm Upgrade project)
- Throughout the month: Electrical work in hallway ceilings and some offices and labs (Access Control project). We will reach out in advance to coordinate access to offices and labs.
- Date TBD: One-day closure of Parking Lot 26 (the lot between Spedding, TASF, and Wilhelm) and sidewalks west and south of Wilhelm for a crane to set the new air handling unit on the roof (Wilhelm HVAC project). We will send a facilities notification at least one week in advance.
TASF
- Date TBD: One-day closure of Parking Lot 26 (the lot between Spedding, TASF, and Wilhelm) and sidewalks west and south of Wilhelm for a crane to set the new air handling unit on the roof (Wilhelm HVAC project). We will send a facilities notification at least one week in advance.
Warehouse
- Throughout the month: Electrical work in ceilings (Access Control project).
- Throughout the month: Staging equipment, materials, and trailers (multiple AIM projects)
- Throughout the month: Moving items from the north shed to the southwest shed (AIM - POWER)
Wilhelm Hall
- Now through mid-June: Space owner interviews with project manager and ESH to determine location for gas cabinets (Hazardous and Flammable Gas Storage project)
- June 9-20: Wilhelm/Zaffarano dock closure (Wilhelm Dock Repair project). The Wilhelm/Zaffarano dock will close for repair and resurfacing. Here is a map of alternate routes to move dewars during this closure. Dumpsters will be moved to the south end of Parking Lot 26 (near Zaffarano) during this closure.
- Mid-June: Installing card readers on office and lab doors (Access Control project). We will reach out to space owners in advance to coordinate installing/replacing card readers on doors.
- Mid-June: Electrical demolition (Fire Alarm Upgrade project).
- Date TBD: One-day closure of Parking Lot 26 (the lot between Spedding, TASF, and Wilhelm), sidewalks west and south of Wilhelm, Wilhelm dock access, and Wilhelm west entrance for a crane to set the new air handling unit on the roof (Wilhelm HVAC project). We will send a facilities notification at least one week in advance.
- Throughout the month: Demolition and installation of new ductwork and contractors entering labs and offices periodically to test and balance new HVAC equipment (Wilhelm HVAC project). Testing/balancing visits are quick, and we will notify lab and office occupants in advance whenever possible.
As construction schedules finalize for different projects, we will continue to send facilities notifications before scheduled work and for unplanned utility outages or other interruptions. Sign up or update your subscriptions to choose only the buildings relevant for you.
Questions about FES Projects? Visit the FES Projects webpage for resources, including recordings and copies of presentations from virtual events, or contact FES project managers at fes_pmo@ameslab.gov.
IPP UPDATES
Ames Lab now requires Research Security Training
The Department of Energy (DOE) is the first federal agency to require Research Security Training for “covered individuals” (defined in the following paragraph) starting May 1, 2025. All DOE and NNSA Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) will include a requirement for covered individuals to complete Research Security Training (RST) prior to proposal submission. Requirements for training are a part of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33) from 2021 and the CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) and Science Act of 2022.
The Laboratory will follow Iowa State University’s Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) guidance on the definition of a covered individual: “PI, Co-PI(s), Key Person(s), named Post Doc(s), and named Graduate Research Assistant(s).” All of these individuals are required to take the training prior to proposal submission. Any covered individuals who have not completed the training at the time of submission, will be removed from the proposal. Note also that this requirement flows down to subrecipients.
Ames National Laboratory requires researchers to take the ISU Research Security Training Condensed version. Iowa State offers the training on Workday in a long (4 hour) and condensed (1 hour) version. This training will have a requirement to retrain on a yearly basis.
Each DOE Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is currently or will be requiring covered individuals to certify they have taken the training and sign a certification at the end of the Current and Pending documents. If the requirement is not the current NOFO, we expect a future amendment with the requirement and for the requirement to be in future NOFOs. IPP and the division admins will be reviewing the training records for each proposal submitted to determine if the training has been completed. If it is not completed, the individual will be removed from the proposal.
For more information, you may reference this article in ServiceNow. If you have any questions, please contact proposals@ameslab.gov.
Dataset Requirements for researchers begin in FY2026
Beginning FY2026, all data underlying a publication must be submitted to a data repository at the time of publication and be made publicly available (published data).
The lab STI program must report the DOI for the dataset to the OSTI. Fields have been added to the STI Product Intake Form that allows you to report the DOI and associated metadata including: data title, repository used, data description, dataset type(s), data license, dataset DOI, and dataset publication.
The CRO and IPP have reviewed the commonly used repositories and are providing a list of recommended repositories. For more information on the Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories Guidance, you may read the linked article or view the Data Management and Sharing Plans Powerpoint on CyBox.
These are the Ames National Laboratory preferred repositories:
ISU DataShare (FigShare): Iowa State University’s DataShare is an open access repository for sharing, publishing, and archiving research data created by Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory scholars and researchers. The repository is administered by the University Library in partnership with the Office of the Vice President of Research and Information Technology. Anyone can access the free and open data found on DataShare, but only Iowa State employees and students may submit data to it. More information on DataShare can be found HERE. Also available are DataShare FAQs.
ISU DataShare meets many of the requirements. Individuals from library resources are working to ensure that all requirements will be met. IPP/STI will be notified of the submission of the dataset for review.
Figshare: Used by ACS and AIP journals for supplemental information. Upload files up to 20GB. Make publicly available and assign DOI.
Zenodo: Euro-centric – commissioned by the European Commission
Harvard Dataverse: Up to 1 TB of storage. Easy to brand and share by project or group. Copyright: CC0 license.
Note: Cloud storage such as DropBox, Cybox and One Drive do not meet DOE Data repository guidelines. They can be used for active data management, but not for publishing data.
For more information, please visit the Dataset Requirements and FAQs ServiceNow Article or contact IPP at ipp@ameslab.gov.