From Rare-Earth Magnet Research To Sovereign Manufacturing Potential

Australia’s rare earth opportunity

Dr Hansheng Chen works in one of the most strategically important areas of Australia’s future economy: critical minerals and materials processing.

His research focuses on rare earth permanent magnets, which are essential components in technologies such as hybrid and electric vehicles, wind turbines, humanoid robots, and advanced manufacturing systems. These magnets sit at the centre of many clean energy and high-tech supply chains, but the way they are produced also reveals a significant missed opportunity for Australia.

Australia has strong capability in upstream mining and rare earth resources. Yet too often, raw materials are exported overseas, where much of the value is added through processing, manufacturing, and conversion into high-value components.

For Hansheng, this raises an important question: what if Australia could do more than supply the raw materials?

His project explores how additive manufacturing, often called 3D printing, could be used to manufacture rare earth magnets more efficiently and flexibly. Instead of relying on conventional magnet manufacturing processes that can involve multiple complex steps, high energy costs, and material wastage, Hansheng is investigating a 3D-printing approach that could simplify production and manufacture magnets in customised shapes.

The long-term impact could be significant. If Australia can move further along the rare earth value chain, it could strengthen sovereign manufacturing capability, reduce reliance on offshore processing, and create new opportunities in high-value advanced manufacturing.

From “Can the technology work?” to “How could this create value?”

Like many early-career researchers, Hansheng began with a strong technical focus. Much of his attention was on whether the technology could work, how the materials would behave, and what was required to improve the manufacturing process.

But as the project developed, he began to recognise that technical success alone would not be enough.

Hansheng joined the Base Program with his 3D-printed rare earth permanent magnet project.

Throughout 2024 and during the program, he began to shift from asking only, “How do I make the technology work?” to also asking, “How could this technology create value?”

That shift changed the way he thought about research impact.

“The Base Program helped me realise that research involves much more than publishing academic papers,” Hansheng said. “There are different ways, for example, commercialisation via industrial partners, that can make your products more impactful.”

One practical outcome of this mindset shift was Hansheng’s decision to bring different expertise into the project. Through a Faculty of Engineering initiative connected with the Business School, he began working with an MBA student who could bring a sharper commercial lens to the research.

For Hansheng, this was valuable because it challenged the assumptions that can sometimes sit untested within academic environments.

That experience reinforced an important lesson: impact is rarely created by technical expertise alone. It often requires people with different skills, perspectives, and questions to help shape the pathway forward.

Building proof, partnerships, and momentum

Since completing the Base Program, Hansheng has continued to build momentum around the project.

He was awarded a Sydney Nano Kickstarter grant to support proof-of-concept work and help position the project for future larger-scale funding opportunities. An IP disclosure around the technology has been submitted, opening up potential pathways for future licensing, joint development, or spin-out exploration.

Hansheng also received the Australian Critical Minerals R&D Hub–International Scholarship Program, funded by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources, which enabled him to visit companies and research institutions in Europe working across different parts of the magnet supply chain—an experience he describes as essential to uncovering the questions that really matter.

Those visits helped him build first-hand understanding of industry bottlenecks, production systems, and how advanced manufacturing capability is being developed internationally. For a project with sovereign manufacturing potential, that broader industry view is critical.

If successful, his research could help Australia move from exporting raw rare earth materials to producing higher-value components onshore.

For other early-career researchers, his advice is straightforward: “Try not to see research impact as something separate from the research itself—it’s really about finding ways to maximise the impact of what you’re already doing. Stay patient, stay tenacious, and stay focused.”

Hansheng’s journey shows how a technically strong idea can begin to move towards impact when researchers are supported to communicate its value, engage with different perspectives, and explore the pathways that could carry their work beyond the lab. For Hansheng, this progress has also been shaped by the academic guidance of his supervisor and mentor, Professor Simon Ringer; the support of the AXA Foundation of Human Progress; and the backing provided at every level, from his School through to the Core Research Facilities at the University of Sydney.

Even now, Hansheng sometimes revisits the Research-Impact Map he prepared during the Base Program two years ago. Several updated versions have followed since, but returning to the original reminds him of the determination and mindset he carried at that time—a reminder that impact pathways are built gradually, through clarity, persistence, and the right support.