Inqui r y I s sue
2
| 2014
15
Anja Mudring
is new to the Ames Laboratory as a
full-time scientist, but her ties to the Lab date back to
1997 when she first came for a two-week fellowship trip
as a graduate student.
“I read in my chemistry text book about molten salts
and ionic liquids, and I thought it was so interesting.
And a name kept popping up: John Corbett, here at
Ames Laboratory. So, I wrote to John and he invited me
to come here to Ames for my fellowship trip.”
Mudring returned as a postdoctoral research
associate from 2001-2003, and even after she returned
to Germany to start her own research group, she
continued to visit Ames Laboratory for about a month
each year.
“Always in the winter. I’ve always liked the quietness
in Ames in the winter. The summer feels too hot to me,
so I vowed to always only come in winter.”
But then the opportunity came to join Ames
Laboratory—all four seasons of the year.
“When the Critical Materials Institute started at
Ames Laboratory, I learned of the openings and I
applied. I already knew I loved Ames and the people
here. And the research opportunities provided by the
CMI were excellent,” says Mudring. “So here I am.
Happy to be here all year long!”
Reactions in ionic liquids can be done by microwave synthesis
in just a few minutes.
Anja Mudring’s research group is working to optimize critical
materials processing using ionic liquids. To fully understand
the processes, Mudring and her colleagues must grow crystal
samples, as seen here, and characterize the materials.
