Iowa State professor David Hoffman recently has been named the interim division director for Science and Technology at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University.

A member of ISU’s chemistry department for 30 years, Hoffman brings a diverse background in science and technology to the position.

Hoffman’s past achievements include writing 137 scientific papers and holding a patent for helping design a micro-pump.

He also served a year in Washington, D.C., as program officer for the Structural Chemistry and Thermodynamics programs with the National Science Foundation.

“It is the diversity of his background that makes David a perfect candidate for the position,” said Tom Barton, director of the Ames Laboratory.

Hoffman began his appointment Aug. 15 and now advises more than 260 scientists and engineers on science and technology issues.

His main responsibility is looking for new federal, state and private funding opportunities for the various Ames Laboratory programs, he said.

The Ames Laboratory is operated for the Department of Energy by ISU.

It conducts research in areas of national concern, including energy resources, high-speed computer design, environmental technology development and synthesis and study of new materials.

Hoffman said he is currently becoming familiar with all of those various programs.

“The most challenging aspect of my new position is the same as what makes it the most fun — it’s putting together new programs and making use of the expertise that exists in the labs,” he said.

Hoffman continues to serve as a professor of chemistry at ISU while taking on his new responsibilities.

He also continues working on his own personal research of the Quantum Scattering Theory.

This research deals with the effects of molecules colliding and what happens when chemical reactions take place — otherwise know as molecular quantum dynamics.

Hoffman replaced R. Bruce Thompson, who left the Ames Laboratory to become director of ISU’s Center for Nondestructive Evaluation.