Jun Cui, professor of materials science and engineering, had a double win in the R&D Magazine’s 2023 R&D 100 Awards.
Celebrating its 61st year, this renowned worldwide science and innovation competition received entries from 15 different countries and regions.
Cui, and graduate student Chaochao Pan, in conjunction with Ames National Laboratory, invented a continuous hot-roll process to manufacture nanograin neo magnets. It won in the mechanical/materials category and won bronze in the green tech category.
“Our Hot-roll Nano Neo Magnet addresses two major issues in magnet production today. First, it eliminates the use of dysprosium, a critical material,” Cui said. “Second, it addresses the high cost of traditional nanograin magnets by simplifying the traditional two-step batch process to a single continuous hot-roll process.”