大同特殊鋼顧問の佐川さんに「欧州発明家賞」　世界最強の永久磁石で

　【パリ時事】欧州特許庁（本部ドイツ・ミュンヘン）は９日、今年の「欧州発明家賞」の授賞式を地中海の島国マルタで開いた。「非欧州諸国部門」受賞者には、世界最強の永久磁石とされる「ネオジム磁石」を発明した大同特殊鋼顧問の佐川真人さん（８０）が輝いた。
　佐川さんは式典で「受賞できて非常に光栄。この賞が材料科学者を志す若者の励みになることを期待する」と述べた。
　ネオジム磁石はスマートフォンや家電、医療機器などの性能向上に役立っている。（2024/07/09-22:58）

Japanese scientist Masato Sagawa, who invented neodymium magnets, recognized as the world's strongest permanent magnets, has won the European Inventor Award 2024, the European Patent Office, the award's organizer, said Tuesday.
   Sagawa, 80, adviser to Japan's Daido Steel Co., won the prize in the category of non-European countries.
   "I am extremely honored to receive" the award, Sagawa said at a ceremony held in Malta. "I hope this award will help young people who aspire to become material scientists to realize how useful research and development in materials science and technology can be for society, and that it will serve as an encouragement to them."
   Neodymium magnets are used to help improve the performance of smartphones, home appliances and medical devices.
   The European Inventor Award was established in 2006. Japanese scientist Akira Yoshino, the developer of lithium-ion batteries, received the award in 2019, before winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the same year.