Grad student wins national award in magnetics

The Magnetic Materials Producers Association (MMPA) has awarded UD graduate student Maria Daniil one of only two financial grants in the country, and she is the first woman even to receive one.

Every year, the MMPA gives two $5,000 grants to applicants who show strong interest in magnetics or magnetic materials. To be eligible for the grant, students must complete an application providing information concerning their interests in magnetics, how they started their studies in that field, their accomplishments and what their goals are.

"In the application, I just explained how I got started in my graduate studies of magnetic materials and what I had accomplished up to that point," Daniil said.

Daniil, who holds a bachelor's degree in physics, said her adviser, George Hadjipanayis, physics and astronomy, first told her about the grant program.

Daniil is working in the field of high performance Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets. She is trying to substitute carbon for boron and obtained a nanocomposite magnet with improved properties.

"Maria is a solid worker and a perfectionist," Hadjipanayis said. "I chose her because of those traits and also because of her area of research concerning uses for high performing magnets had a lot to do with the content of the contest."

High performance magnets–the most powerful magnets in the world–are use d in everything from computers and car motors to MRI machines.

"In a world of smaller and smaller, the smaller and more powerful the magnet, the more you are able to do with a limited space," Hadjipanayis said. "People think of magnets and see those devices used on refrigerators, but that is just one tiny application."

"I am excited. I feel proud when I see my students succeeding, and I believe that Maria will be very successful if she decides to continue her studies in the field of magnetics," Hadjipanayis said.