A Glimpse into the Department of Energy National Laboratories – Ames National Laboratory

Did you realize that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 17 national laboratories (Figure 1) provide capabilities that not only protect our country, but also produces clean energy alternatives and advances into cancer treatments? Management and operation of these labs is provided under long-term contracts, which offer numerous subcontracting opportunities.

This article provides a snapshot of the Ames National Laboratory.

The Ames National Laboratory (ANL) (Figure 2) is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility located on an 8-acre site at the Iowa State University in Ames, IA. It is one of 42 Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. Funding comes primarily from the Department of Energy. The DOE Office of Science provides oversight, and the AMES Site Office (AMSO) Contract Management Division administers the contract (Figure 3). Stephen Hamilton is the Chief Operations Officer and Karl Duke is the Director of Procurement. Samuel Bigger is the AMSO Site Office Manager.

ANL operates with 473 employees including scientists who also serve as university faculty members. The facility consists of following research divisions and unique facilities:

Research Divisions:

• Chemical and Biological Sciences
• Materials Sciences and Engineering
• Simulation, Modeling, and Decision Science
• Critical Materials Innovation Hub
• Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics
• Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals.

Mission Unique Facilities:

• The Critical Materials Institute focuses on production and development of materials to ensure the nation’s energy security.
• The Materials Preparation Center synthesizes, characterizes, and prepares rare-earth metals for use in multiple applications.
• The Sensitive Instrument Facility provides a specialized vibration- and static-free environment for highly sensitive electron microscopes and instruments.
• The Powder Synthesis and Development Facility designs, tests, produces, and analyzed metallic powders for use in advanced manufacturing purposes.
• The Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility provides a higher sensitivity and faster data acquisition services thereby enhancing insight into the physical, chemical, and electronic properties of materials.
• The Institute for the Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP) and Center for the Advancement of Topological Semi-metals (CATS): iCOUP consists of a group of scientists from all over the United States who combine their knowledge and expertise to research recycling and upcycling of plastics. CATS focuses on the discovery and understanding of materials that have unique bulk and surface electronic properties not known in other materials.

Iowa State University manages and operates the ANL under a $965M, 20-year Cost-Plus Award Fee contract scheduled to expire in December 2026. Contract terms include a 5-year base period, a 5-year option, and up to 10 one-year award terms. This was the first competed contract for these services. The procurement was a Full & Open competition under NAICS Code 541710 – Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences and PSC Code M181 – Operation of Government-Owned Facilities – Government-Owned Contractor-Operated (GOCO) R&D Facilities. The incumbent was the only offeror to submit a proposal. Unseating this incumbent during a recompete may be difficult considering the university’s longevity and experience at ANL.

Deltek is tracking a potential recompete under GovWin Opportunity 110120 Market research and a potential draft solicitation could be issued around Q1 FY 2026, based on the previous procurement cycle. Many M&O recompetes experience delayed recompetes or slow progression through the procurement cycle. In those cases, the government may elect to extend the incumbent contract or award a sole source bridge contract to provide additional time to define a follow-on requirement. Either way, subcontracting opportunities remain available for construction, equipment, information technology, health, safety and personal protective equipment supplies, and technical/professional services, etc. The DOE publishes these subcontracting opportunities for Iowa State University on SAM.gov, and the notices are also available in Deltek’s GovWin product.

Note: If the government recompetes this work as a Research and Development effort, information may be released under NAICS Code 541715, which is the successor to 541710 under which the incumbent contract was awarded.

Figure 1: DOE National Laboratories. 

Source: DOE Website

 

Figure 2. Ames National Lab Organizational Chart.

Source: ANL Website

Figure 3: AMSO Organizational Chart. 

Source: DOE Office of Science website