Insider Brief
- Vulcan Elements is partnering with the North Carolina Collaboratory and UNC-Chapel Hill to develop higher-performance rare earth magnets for defense and commercial applications.
- Supported by a $600,000 research award, the team will use quantum-mechanical simulations to predict how atomic-level changes affect magnetic properties.
- Vulcan’s factory under construction in Benson, North Carolina, is planned to produce 10,000 metric tons of magnets annually and create 1,000 manufacturing jobs.
Vulcan Elements, an American rare earth magnet manufacturer, today announced a partnership with the North Carolina Collaboratory to advance the development of high-performance rare earth magnets for critical defense and commercial technology applications.
The collaboration brings together Vulcan Elements and leading scientific expertise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), where research led by chemistry professor Yosuke Kanai, PhD, will develop a novel analytic capability using quantum-mechanical simulations to predict with significant accuracy how changes at the atomic level affect magnetic properties, ultimately setting a new standard for Vulcan’s magnetic performance.
The partnership represents a convergence of two research fields that are foundational to national security and the future economy: rare earth magnets and quantum mechanics. The research will pair Kanai’s more than 25 years of experience in computational materials research with Vulcan Elements’ expertise in manufacturing rare earth magnets.
The Collaboratory is supporting the partnership through a $600,000 research award, helping support the application of UNC-Chapel Hill’s scientific expertise to advance rare earth magnet innovation. Established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2016, the Collaboratory works with academic experts across the state to transform research into practical applications for the benefit of North Carolina. Since its inception, the Collaboratory has managed more than $300 million in state appropriations and supported more than 800 research projects.
“This collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reflects Vulcan Elements’ commitment to driving the next generation of magnetics innovation and fostering the American magnetics workforce,” said John Maslin, Vulcan Elements’ CEO. “This collaboration is a model for the kind of public-private partnerships that this nation needs: generating cutting-edge breakthrough technologies and translating them into real-world manufacturing capabilities that deliver for our economy and national security.”
“Rare earth magnets are increasingly important to our national security and economy, and North Carolina has an opportunity to play a meaningful role in this growing sector,” said Jeff Warren, PhD, executive director of the NC Collaboratory. “This partnership is exactly the kind of work the Collaboratory was created to support when we were established by the NC General Assembly—connecting world-class research expertise in our state with industry in order to solve real-world challenges. By bringing Dr. Kanai’s computational research together with Vulcan’s synthesis and manufacturing capabilities, we can help advance innovation that has implications well beyond the laboratory.”
The collaboration comes as demand for rare earth magnets is rapidly growing across industries vital to national security and economic competitiveness. Rare earth magnets are required components in critical technologies from semiconductor fabrication, robotics, and automobiles to drones, satellites, and virtually every military system. For decades, the United States has been reliant on China for these magnets. Today, China produces up to 98% of the global supply. To its knowledge, Vulcan is the only rare earth magnet company in the world that is decoupled from China—down to the material, technology, software, IP, and ownership. The partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill advances this mission by bolstering a robust magnetics and manufacturing workforce. It also highlights Vulcan’s commitment to innovating and leveraging advanced capabilities in order to develop leapfrog technologies and deliver the highest performance at competitive prices.
Vulcan Elements’ Benson, North Carolina, manufacturing facility, currently under construction, will be the cornerstone of a domestic rare earth magnet supply chain and the largest rare earth magnet factory outside of China. The 1.1 million-square-foot facility will have an annual capacity of 10,000 metric tons of magnet production and will supply magnets for critical defense systems, semiconductor fabrication, robotics, drones, AI infrastructure, automobiles, and other strategic technologies and sectors of the American economy. The project will create 1,000 manufacturing jobs in North Carolina while reshoring an essential capability that has been controlled and weaponized by America’s competitors for decades.