2025 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit

Symposium BI01-Critical Raw Materials in Emerging Technology

This symposium delves into emerging sectors and technologies within the critical raw materials field. It encompasses a wide array of topics, ranging from newly evolving products to their associated processes – for example, in sodium-ion batteries, superconductors, semiconductors, magnets or green steel. Beyond these, the exploration extends to the application of CRMs in less visible sectors in the debate on CRMs, like pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, cyber security or agriculture.

Moreover, our focus extends to integrating CRMs in rapidly evolving domains, exemplified by fusion energy, the hydrogen economy, quantum computing, space technology, and water electrolysis. We invite contributions from diverse participants, including pioneering companies in emerging sectors, technology start-ups, researchers working in the intersection of CRMs and perspective technologies for the future sustainable economy, and all other stakeholders working in this advancing field.

In addition, the symposium addresses the geopolitical approaches of industrial and regulatory policies for critical raw materials and their supply chains to support strategic industries. Through interactive panels and talks, we will explore goals and deliverables for strategic perspectives on digital technologies, such as AI, and discuss the geopolitics of sustainable technologies with applied industrial policy for critical raw materials and supply chains, including lessons from current worldwide regulations.







Topics will include:

  • Covers emerging sectors and technologies in the critical raw materials field.
  • Encompasses a wide array of topics, ranging from lithium-ion batteries to semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and cyber security.
  • The focus extends to integrating CRMs in rapidly evolving domains, such as fusion energy, hydrogen economy, quantum computing, space technology, and water electrolysis.
  • Addresses the geopolitics of sustainable technologies with applied industrial policy for critical raw materials and supply chains.

Invited Speakers:

  • Frank Brückner (Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology, Germany)
  • Hyeunseog Choi (Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Republic of Korea)
  • Yoshiko Fujita (Idaho National Laboratory, USA)
  • Charlotte Griffiths (United Nations, Switzerland)
  • Oliver Gutfleisch (Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany)
  • Subra Herle (Applied Materials, USA)
  • Kyung-Tae Kim (Korea Institute of Materials Science, Republic of Korea)
  • Tom Lograsso (Ames Laboratory, USA)
  • Kyoung-Tae Park (Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Republic of Korea)
  • Mihai Stoica (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
  • Anja Waske (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung, Germany)

Symposium Organizers

Min-Ha Lee
Korea Institute of Industrial Technology
Republic of Korea

Jürgen Eckert
Montanuniversität Leoben
Department of Materials Science
Austria

Alessandra Hool
ESM Foundation
Switzerland

Ryan Ott
Ames Laboratory
Materials Science and Engineering
USA

Topics

government policy and funding magnetic properties