Iowa

Nuclear USS Iowa sub calls to mind Ames’ role in the Manhattan Project | Opinion

Published

8 months ago

April 17, 2025

Press Room

Nuclear USS Iowa sub calls to mind Ames’ role in the Manhattan Project | Opinion

Iowa State quietly saved the Manhattan Project, assured an Allied victory and forever changed history.

Wendy Wintersteen
| Guest columnist

Watching the young men and women sailors scramble aboard the new USS Iowa submarine as ship sponsor Christie Vilsack announced, “Board our boat and bring her to life!” I wondered if they understood Iowa State University’s role in ushering in the nuclear age?

Did these sailors know Iowa State was the only university to receive the Army Navy “E for Excellence” banner after World War II?

At that moment I reminded myself to send the book, “Wilhelm’s Way — The Inspiring Story of the Iowa Chemist Who Saved the Manhattan Project” to the submarine commander of the nuclear-powered USS Iowa. I wanted him to know how an ISU chemistry professor changed world history.

To understand the story, you need to return to the end of 1941.

Theoretically, the idea of nuclear energy and a possible nuclear bomb had been conceived by physicists. However, to test the theory, thousands of pounds of pure uranium were needed to create the first nuclear bomb. Chemists at Westinghouse and prestigious universities had only created mere grams of not-quite-pure uranium. The newly established Manhattan Project was stalled, unless someone figured out how to purify uranium — and fast.

By February 1942, Iowa State’s head of physical chemistry, Frank Spedding, was contacted by the University of Chicago’s Manhattan Project team. He learned of the project’s numerous challenges, including the need for a process to purify uranium which required a special furnace. Fortunately, Iowa State had such a furnace and Spedding immediately brought in ISU professor Harley Wilhelm, a sharecropper’s son from southern Iowa, who understood chemistry and metallurgy. Though completely under-resourced in a ramshackle lab, Wilhelm began experiments to purify uranium.

Scientific innovation is not always pretty. Explosions and fires seemed routine in the Physical Chemistry lab that summer. But Wilhelm and a team of graduate students kept trying new approaches to purify uranium and learn from their failures.

By August 1942, the first glimmers of success appeared. A 20-gram piece of pure uranium was produced in the lab! The basic process worked. But could the process be made more efficient and larger?

By Sept. 23, Harley Wilhelm and team had done it. He boarded the night train to Chicago, carrying an 11-pound ingot of pure uranium to show the Manhattan Project leaders. Upon seeing this much pure uranium, the director’s “eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped,” according to Wilhelm. Could an Iowa State chemistry professor have accomplished what the best funded private and university labs in the nation had failed to achieve?

To test the claim, they asked Wilhelm to saw it in half to prove it did not have a cavity inside. The sawing resulted in a small fire but showed a pure solid mass of uranium. They sent a portion to MIT to confirm its purity. It was pure.

By November, the War Department signed a contract with Iowa State to produce pure uranium through Operation Quik Phix. In the next few years, the Ames facility, called “Little Ankeny,” delivered 2 million pounds of pure uranium to the war effort. Moreover, the Ames Process yielded pure uranium at a cost of $1.55 per pound, instead of the $1,000 per pound anticipated by Westinghouse, saving the government hundreds of millions.

With the War Department’s gratitude, Iowa State and Wilhelm both received the Army Navy “E for Excellence” banner. Iowa State had quietly saved the Manhattan Project, assured an Allied victory and forever changed history.

On the submarine pier, I listened with pride as Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks recalled the previous versions of the mighty USS Iowa. When Christie Vilsack charged the crew to “bring her to life!” I knew the living heart of this nuclear-powered submarine beat with the pure-uranium-powered energy and science of Iowa State University and its brilliant professor, Harley Wilhelm. His story constantly reminds me of the importance of university researchers and their impact in times of war and peace.

Wendy Wintersteen is president of Iowa State University.

Source link

Click to comment

Iowa

Iowa City West sweeps City High in a pair of close contests

Published

4 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Iowa City West sweeps City High in a pair of close contests

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Grace Fincham led the West High girls to a second-half comeback in a 60-51 win over City High, giving the Trojans a win on their rival’s home floor.

The Trojans improve to 6-2 with the win. The Little Hawks drop to 6-2.

In the boys’ nightcap, the Little Hawks’ comeback attempt fell short, as the Trojans held on for a 53-51 win.

Source link

Iowa

Iowa football dissects LeVar Woods succession plan

Published

16 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Iowa football dissects LeVar Woods succession plan

The loss of LeVar Woods, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ long-time, elite special teams coordinator, cannot be dismissed. The Hawkeyes have consistently been among the nation’s best special teams units, from punting to kicking to owning the return and field position battle.

With LeVar Woods departing Iowa for Big Ten foe, the Michigan State Spartans, the Hawkeyes have a big hole to fill, and head coach Kirk Ferentz spoke to the media this week on what that succession plan may look like.

“Yeah, it’s not a light decision. The trick will be to find the next LeVar Woods. He’s done a fantastic job. He didn’t have the profile necessarily maybe at that point to predict what he was going to do, but he’s done all the work. It’s like a good player; players do the work. LeVar has done a great job immersing himself and learning every aspect and then growing with each and every turn. So I guess I’m describing what we’re looking for, a guy who’s a good coach, who’s eager to take a challenge on, and immerse themselves in that world.

“Special teams is a unique niche, if you will. I’m sure we’ll have good candidates. It’s not pressing right now in my mind. What is pressing is the next two weeks getting ready for the game, and then after that we’ll have eight plus weeks or eight plus months actually to get it right. I don’t plan on waiting until August to fill it, but we’ll figure that out when we get in the new year,” Ferentz said about LeVar Woods.

The past few seasons, Iowa has been elite on special teams with kicker Drew Stevens being incredibly consistent, the punting game flipping fields, and the run of returners consisting of Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Charlie Jones, Cooper DeJean, and Kaden Wetjen.

The Hawkeyes have won more than their fair share of games relying on this unit, and to continue that success, Ferentz needs to hit on this hire.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7

Source link

Iowa

Iowa State Cyclones’ Jimmy Rogers Must Retain Impact Wide Receiver

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Iowa State Cyclones’ Jimmy Rogers Must Retain Impact Wide Receiver

With the Jimmy Rogers era starting up for the Iowa State Cyclones, he will be hoping to retain some of the talent for the program after the departure of Matt Campbell.

Since Campbell took the job with the Penn State Nittany Lions, there has been a barrage of recruits leaving the program. That was always to be expected with the coaching change, but the Cyclones’ class went from being one of the best in the history of the program to a bit of a problem.

Fortunately, Rogers is expected to bring some of his recruits over from Washington State as well, and that recently started with Malcolm Watkins committing to Iowa State. With the transfer portal set to open in a couple of weeks, there is undoubtedly going to be a lot of player movement.

For Rogers, there will be a couple of key players that he should be focused on trying to retain. Furthermore, keeping some of the younger talent who might be around for multiple years could also help them sustain success.

Alec Busse of 247Sports recently wrote about some essential players for Jimmy Rogers to try and retain that could help the program long-term. Unsurprisingly, sophomore wide receiver Brett Eskildsen was named.

Eskildsen Could Be an Impact Player for Multiple Years

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In 2025, the wide receiver position for Iowa State saw a lot of changeover following the departure of some talented players to the NFL. The position group wouldn’t be considered a strength of the program last year, but there was some young talent that showed promise.

One of the top players for the passing offense was the talented sophomore receiver who ended up finishing with a strong campaign. Overall, Eskildsen totaled 30 receptions, 526 receiving yards, and five receiving touchdowns.

The sophomore led the team in both receiving yards and yards per catch, while finishing third in receptions and second in receiving touchdowns. With it really being his first year playing, it was an outstanding start to his career.

For Rogers, keeping the talented receiver for the next couple of years would be a big boost for the program. Fortunately, there are a couple of factors that could help with that. Recently, his brother signed as a preferred walk-on, and his family also has some connections to the program. Those factors could be key for Rogers to retain him, and it would be a significant boost for the offense if he were able to do so.