Magnets for a Sustainable World

Invention, industrialization and basic research of the Nd-Fe-B magnets
Dr Masato Sagawa, Daido Steel Co., Ltd., Japan.

Top Scientist Lecture by Dr Masato Sagawa, the inventor of the sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnet - the strongest permanent magnet to date that has revolutionized the world of magnetics and has positively impacted our society, from electronics to electrical motors and renewable energy. In the 1970s, Sagawa was given the research topic to improve the mechanical strength of the then-strongest permanent magnet – samarium-cobalt (SmCo) – making great strides in the industry.  During his research, he came up with the idea that any rare-earth (R) magnet would benefit from using iron instead of cobalt, and in his search for such R-Fe magnets as an informal side project, he found NdFeB. The material has been a phenomenal success with the market for NdFeB magnets soon worth €20bn. Dr Sagawa was awarded the Japan Prize in 2012, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2022, and the European Inventor Award in 2024 for his efforts.

The societal impact of NdFeB
Dr Nora Dempsey, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Grenoble, France

Dr Nora Dempsey has carried out pioneering work on the development of NdFeB micro-magnets, opening the route for their integration into diverse types of applications. She is now focused on thin film-based high throughput studies of the impact of element substitution in energy-related magnetic materials, including various rare-earth-based hard magnetic material systems. Dr Dempsey was awarded the CNRS 2021 Innovation Medal.

Global challenges in critical raw materials - What role for Sweden?
Adj. Prof. Magnus Ericsson, RMG Consulting, IVA-fellow

Magnus Ericsson is a veteran observer and analyst of global mining, his interest going back to the early 1970s. He has advised governments, international organisations, companies and civil society on all continents on matters of mineral policy and strategy. He is co-founder and former Editor-in-Chief of the scientific publication Mineral Economics, adjunct professor in mineral economics at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden and a Fellow of IVA.

Spintronics for a Green Society
Prof. Hideo Ohno, former President of Tohoku University, IVA-fellow

Hideo Ohno served as President of Tohoku University for six years, concluding his tenure in March 2024. He is a globally renowned leader in spintronics and nanotechnology. Ohno's groundbreaking research on spintronics, particularly magnetic tunnel junctions and their applications in non-volatile memory, has greatly advanced energy-efficient information processing technologies. His outstanding contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Europhysics Prize, the IUPAP Magnetism Prize, the IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award, and the Japan Academy Prize. He is an International Fellow of IVA, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the IEEE, and the Japan Society of Applied Physics.

The seminar is moderated by Eva Krutmeijer and will be held in English.

The Top Scientist Lecture seminar is a recurring collaboration between JSPS – Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japanese Embassy, SJF (Sweden Japan Foundation) and IVA. With support from SSF - The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research.