Building upon Argonne’s mission of cross-collaboration and cutting-edge research, the lab recently launched the Institute for Molecular Engineering at Argonne (IME@Argonne). Led by Director Seth Darling, IME@Argonne seeks to translate advances in materials science, physics, chemistry, biology and computation into new tools to address important societal problems.
The IME first launched in 2011 as a joint activity between the University of Chicago and Argonne, and in its early stages, the bulk of the activity at Argonne was housed within the Materials Science Division. Given the multi-disciplinary nature of the IME program and the opportunity to reach a broader spectrum of sponsors, we are explicitly expanding the reach of the IME to the full laboratory. Much like the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) has done in the battery space, IME@Argonne will act as a cross-cutting center that will pull together capabilities from across Argonne to tackle big challenges and integrate resources from various sponsors to form a large, coherent program, in this case revolving around molecular engineering. The research will all take place within the programmatic divisions across Argonne.
IME@Argonne, which is part of Argonne’s Science and Technology Partnerships and Outreach Directorate (S&TPO), is a partner organization to the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago (IME@UChicago). The combined IME, drawing on the complementary strengths of the two institutions, will amplify its research impact and will generate new partnerships with third parties/sponsors, thus benefitting both organizations. IME-affiliated students from the University of Chicago will have enhanced opportunities to work at Argonne as part of their education, bringing with them their rigor, vibrancy and creativity.
IME @Argonne has four main focus areas:
- Materials for Water
- Quantum Information and Technology
- Energy Storage
- Soft Matter Science and Engineering
If you have interest in learning more about IME@Argonne and possibly being part of some of its cross-divisional projects, contact IME-Argonne@anl.gov.