amalie l. frischknecht is an american theoretical polymer physicist at sandia national laboratories in albuquerque, new mexico. she was elected a fellow of the american physical society (aps) in 2012 for "her outstanding contributions to the theory of ionomers and nanocomposites including the development and application of density functional theory to polymers". her research focuses on understanding the structure, phase behavior, and self-assembly of polymer systems, such as complex fluids polymer nanocomposites, lipid bilayer assemblies, and ionomers.