Vulcan Elements teams with UNC-Chapel Hill on rare earth magnet research
The North Carolina Collaboratory is backing the work with a $600,000 research award, Vulcan Elements said on Oct. 20.
Vulcan Elements, the Durham rare earth magnet maker, announced a research partnership with the North Carolina Collaboratory on Oct. 20, 2026. The work will be carried out at UNC-Chapel Hill under chemistry professor Yosuke Kanai.
According to the company's announcement, Kanai's group will build an analytic tool that uses quantum-mechanical simulations to predict how changes at the atomic level affect a magnet's properties. Vulcan says the goal is to raise the performance of the magnets it makes. The release credits Kanai with more than 25 years of computational materials research.
The Collaboratory, which the N.C. General Assembly created in 2016, is funding the project with a $600,000 research award. The release says the Collaboratory has managed more than $300 million in state appropriations and supported more than 800 research projects since it began.
"This collaboration is a model for the kind of public-private partnerships that this nation needs," Vulcan Elements CEO John Maslin said in the release.
The company is building a manufacturing plant in Benson. Vulcan describes it as a 1.1 million-square-foot facility with annual capacity of 10,000 metric tons of magnets and says the project will create 1,000 manufacturing jobs in North Carolina. Axios Raleigh reported that Maslin expects the team to begin moving into the site after Thanksgiving.
About this story
By Sotwire Desk. Written by Sotwire Desk from the sources below. Not a company attestation.
Sotwire Desk. Written by a named Sotwire editor from the sources cited below. Not a company attestation. Sotwire corrects errors publicly.
Key facts
- Vulcan Elements
- Durham, NC
- Company news
- Desk reported
- Sotwire Desk
- Oct. 20, 2026
- North Carolina Collaboratory, based at UNC-Chapel Hill
- Yosuke Kanai, PhD, UNC-Chapel Hill chemistry professor
- $600,000 research award from the Collaboratory
- Quantum-mechanical simulations of how atomic-level changes affect magnetic properties
- 1.1 million square feet, 10,000 metric tons a year of planned capacity, 1,000 jobs, per the company
- John Maslin
Key events
- Vulcan Elements announced the Collaboratory partnership
Sources
- Vulcan Elements and North Carolina Collaboratory Partner to Advance Rare Earth Magnet Innovation Through University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Research · Vulcan Elements · accessed 2026-10-23
- Exclusive: Vulcan Elements partners with UNC on magnets research · Axios Raleigh · accessed 2026-10-23