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Institute for Physical
Research and Technology

Iowa State University
2156 Gilman Hall
Ames, IA 50011-3110

News Releases 2008

Dec. 29, 2008

Ames Lab/IPRT Raise $3,650 for Food Pantry

Employees and friends of IPRT and the Ames Laboratory donated over $3,650 in cash and 600 food items to benefit the Bethesda Community Food Panty in Ames. In addition, over 130 items of clothing were given to the same organization's clothing operation. The alms resulted from an auction held during the two organization's annual holiday party.

 

Dec. 19, 2008

IPRT Director Named AAAS Fellow*

George Kraus, IPRT director, was among four Iowa State University researchers named AAAS Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The honor is bestowed on association members by their scientific peers for "their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications."

 

Nov. 17, 2008

IPRT Assists in Biofriendly Candle Wax Project*

IPRT's Technology Commercialization Group helped develop and fund an Iowa State University research project aimed at producing a new kind of candle wax made from soybeans. Unlike existing soy wax, the new formulation can replace both traditional petroleum paraffin and beeswax-based candles.

 

Oct. 30, 2008

IPRT's Scientists to Work with Muscatine, Iowa Company*

Two IPRT scientists are among those receiving project funding from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, a state economic development program. Victor Lin, director of IPRT's Center for Catalysis and George Kraus, IPRT director, will work with a Muscatine, Iowa, company, Grain Processing Corp. The project aim is to develop a catalytic process that efficiently converts renewable feedstocks into a chemical precursor to a common industrial polymer. The process could reduce industry's reliance on fossil fuels and some hazardous chemicals.

 

Oct. 14, 2008

IPRT's Brown to Present Presidential University Lecture*

Robert C. Brown, director of IPRT's Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies, will deliver this fall's Presidential University Lecture at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, in the Sun Room of Iowa State's Memorial Union. He'll discuss, "Why are We Producing Biofuels?" The lecture is free and open to the public.

 

August 12, 2008

IPRT Scientists Work to Turn Waste into Ethanol*

By combining gasification with high-tech nanoscale porous catalysts, researchers from IPRT and the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory hope to create ethanol from a wide range of biomass, including distiller’s grain left over from ethanol production, corn stover from the field, grass, wood pulp, animal waste, and garbage.

 

June 1, 2008

Des Moines High School Students Qualify For
Science Scholarships To Iowa State University*

Seventeen high school students from Des Moines Public Schools have completed the Science Bound program, qualifying them for a full-tuition scholarship to Iowa State University. The students have successfully completed the four-year program aimed at preparing them to obtain a technical degree. The Science Bound program is administered by IPRT.

 

March 20, 2008

IPRT Key in Ethanol Project*

IPRT researchers are part of an Iowa State team developing technologies to produce ethanol from plant biomass. The effort recently garnered a $944,899 grant from the USDA and U.S. Dept. of Energy. The researchers are developing an integrated system of thermochemical and catalytic technologies to achieve the project's goal. The project is lead by Victor Lin, director of IPRT's Center for Catalysis. The team includes George Kraus, IPRT director, Robert Brown, director of IPRT's Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies, Justinus Satrio, CSET project manager, and Marek Pruski, a scientist with the Dept. of Energy's Ames Laboratory.

 

March 3, 2008

IPRT's Thompson Wins Excellence Award for Nondestructive Testing Efforts

R. Bruce Thompson, director of IPRT's Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, won the Sustained Excellence Award from the American Society for Nondestructive Testing’s Research Council.

 

January 24, 2008

IPRT Backs Solar Decathlon Team*

The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Iowa State as one of 20 teams to compete in the Solar Decathlon in 2009 in Washington, D.C. Teams design, build and operate attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered homes. IPRT is one of the supporters of the effort.

 

*IPRT-related news releases located on ISU, Ames Laboratory, or Science Bound Web sites