Ames Laboratory (Ames) is a national center for the synthesis, analysis, and engineering of rare-earth metals and their compounds. Ames conducts fundamental research in the physical, chemical, and mathematical sciences associated with energy generation and storage.
The laboratory is located on the campus of Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa, and consists of 10 buildings (320,000 gross square feet of space) with the average age of the buildings being 37 years.