MUNICH, July 9, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced
Masato Sagawa as the winner of the
'Non-EPO countries' category of the European Inventor Award 2024.
Dr Sagawa developed the world's strongest permanent magnet in 1982,
changing the future of computing, medical technology, green energy
and multiple other fields. This invention saw him triumph in a
category that also included American-French David Fattal who
created genuine 3-D imaging without glasses for screens, and
Fernando Catalano, Micael Carmo and their team from Brazil who invented quieter jets with lower
carbon dioxide emissions.
Inspired by iron's greater availability and lower cost compared
to the cobalt prevalent in magnets of that time, Sagawa began
blending iron with various common rare earth minerals. His
breakthrough came when he included Boron into the mixture to
increase the distance between the iron atoms, significantly
boosting their ability to resist demagnetisation – a property
essential in permanent magnets. Ultimately, he settled on the alloy
of neodymium, iron, and boron (Nd-Fe-B) that we know today, but
what truly sets his magnets apart is the multi-patented sintering
technique used in their creation. More than four decades later,
this process still produces the strongest magnets relative to their
size.
Dr. Sagawa admits that despite his significant achievements, he
initially doubted his suitability for research, attributing his
success to persistent hard work and a unique perspective. "All
my life, I wanted to be a scientist and a researcher, but I don't
think my research was very good. I wanted to be a professor, but I
was not given that post, so I joined a research team at a company.
It was there that I was asked to focus on magnets. Now, I had never
studied magnets before, so it was really hard for me, but in a way,
that helped because I was able to look at the subject with fresh
eyes and without any preconceived notions about what could or could
not be achieved," says Sagawa.
Nd-Fe-B magnets have allowed computer manufacturers to
dramatically decrease the size of hard drives, helping power the
personal computing revolution. Today some 60% of all permanent
magnets are Nd-Fe-B. These can be found in fields as diverse as
electronics, toys, packaging, hardware machinery, and aerospace and
continue to be used by inventors in new technological
advancements.
Web: https://www.epo.org/en
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