{"recordId":"st_gzhm51e0g12raagf","canonicalUrl":"https://sotwire.com/stories/vulcan-elements-unc-collaboratory-rare-earth-magnet-research","jsonUrl":"https://sotwire.com/stories/vulcan-elements-unc-collaboratory-rare-earth-magnet-research/record","slug":"vulcan-elements-unc-collaboratory-rare-earth-magnet-research","headline":"Vulcan Elements teams with UNC-Chapel Hill on rare earth magnet research","dek":"The North Carolina Collaboratory is backing the work with a $600,000 research award, Vulcan Elements said on Oct. 20.","articleBody":"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.\n\nAccording 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\n\"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.\n\nThe 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.","category":"other","categoryLabel":"Company news","location":"Durham, NC","company":{"name":"Vulcan Elements","domain":"vulcanelements.com"},"sample":false,"sampleDisclaimer":null,"publishedAt":"2026-10-23T22:30:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T22:30:00.000Z","badge":"Desk reported","trust":{"level":"desk_reported","doctrine":"Sotwire verifies who at the company stood behind the submission. It does not independently certify every underlying company claim as true.","verifies":"which named Sotwire editor wrote this from the cited sources","doesNotCertify":"independent truth of every claim","badge":"Desk reported","verificationMethod":"Named Sotwire editor, from the cited sources. Not a company attestation, and not an independent fact-check of every sentence.","domainChecked":false},"attestation":{"attested":false},"confirmation":null,"facts":[{"label":"Announced","value":"Oct. 20, 2026"},{"label":"Partner","value":"North Carolina Collaboratory, based at UNC-Chapel Hill"},{"label":"Research lead","value":"Yosuke Kanai, PhD, UNC-Chapel Hill chemistry professor"},{"label":"Funding","value":"$600,000 research award from the Collaboratory"},{"label":"Method","value":"Quantum-mechanical simulations of how atomic-level changes affect magnetic properties"},{"label":"Benson plant","value":"1.1 million square feet, 10,000 metric tons a year of planned capacity, 1,000 jobs, per the company"},{"label":"CEO","value":"John Maslin"}],"keyEvents":[{"date":"2026-10-20","label":"Vulcan Elements announced the Collaboratory partnership"}],"sources":[{"url":"https://vulcanelements.com/company/updates/vulcan-elements-and-north-carolina-collaboratory-partner-to-advance-rare-earth-magnet-innovatio","title":"Vulcan Elements and North Carolina Collaboratory Partner to Advance Rare Earth Magnet Innovation Through University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Research","publisher":"Vulcan Elements"},{"url":"https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2026/10/20/vulcan-elements-will-partner-with-unc-on-magnets-research","title":"Exclusive: Vulcan Elements partners with UNC on magnets research","publisher":"Axios Raleigh"}],"source":{"url":"https://vulcanelements.com/company/updates/vulcan-elements-and-north-carolina-collaboratory-partner-to-advance-rare-earth-magnet-innovatio","publisher":"Vulcan Elements","publishedAt":"2026-10-20T04:00:00.000Z"},"cover":{"url":"https://sotwire.com/covers/vulcan-elements-unc-collaboratory-rare-earth-magnet-research.webp","alt":"Vulcan Elements teams with UNC-Chapel Hill on rare earth magnet research","provenance":"unknown","provenanceLabel":"Unknown origin","credit":null},"images":[{"id":"med_wjt52nmzhn95ek3a","url":"https://pub-ec2c7475154f4c22ba3162ee6eef7802.r2.dev/wire/vulcanelements.com/obj_o9kkybr8057ziuwu-b0a31b82046804ec926d10a1e85379cdc74bab8d-1260x1242.png","alt":"Vulcan Elements and Collaboratory logos side by side on a gray background.","caption":"The Vulcan Elements and North Carolina Collaboratory logos, from the company's announcement.","credit":"Image: Vulcan Elements","lead":true,"provenance":"unknown","filename":"b0a31b82046804ec926d10a1e85379cdc74bab8d-1260x1242.png"}],"provenanceMethod":"EXIF, XMP, and filename heuristic. 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