Dr. Chins Chinnasamy is a Distinguished R&D Staff Member in the Energy Science and Technology Directorate, Manufacturing Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), based at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF). His expertise spans the full innovation pipeline — from mine to metal to functional materials and devices — encompassing SMART battery manufacturing, rare earth and rare earth-free permanent magnets, additive manufacturing, critical materials recovery and recycling, electrical steel development for consumer, transportation, transformers, grid, data center and defense applications, soft magnetic composites for active and passive devices, soft and hard ferrites for power electronics (power inductors, isolators and circulators) and defense applications, powder metallurgy, nanotechnology, high-temperature shape memory alloys, and power electronics components. A seasoned technical and program leader, Dr. Chins brings Six Sigma Black Belt certification, project and research contract management, cross-functional team leadership, root cause failure analysis, and a track record of designing and building R&D and production-scale facilities from the ground up. He has led emerging technologies from early-stage development to commercial deployment, accelerating energy sustainability and electrification across consumer, transportation and defense industries.
With over 25 years of experience spanning national laboratories, industries, and academia in the United States, Japan, and India, Dr. Chins brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise and applied program leadership. He holds a Ph.D. based on the research work in Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Science and the University of Madras, India, and completed a prestigious JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship at Tohoku University, Japan, awarded DAAD Fellowship (Germany) and a Certificate in Additive Manufacturing from MIT.
At ORNL, Dr. Chins current focus areas include: Critical Materials production from the upstream, mid-stream and downstream feedstocks, smart manufacturing of battery energy storage materials using AI/ML and cognitive digital twin approaches; Agentic AI approaches for the development of heavy rare earth-free permanent magnets for motors, generators and drone applications; Soft magnetic composites for axial flux motors; Development of advanced amorphous and crystalline electrical steels for grid and transformer applications, high-temperature shape memory alloys, critical materials recycling — including, lanthanide group of elements, refractory metals/alloys, graphitization and supply chain resilience.
Prior to joining ORNL, Dr. Chins was Principal Metallurgist and Technological Lead at Carpenter Technology Corporation, where he invented and scaled new electrical steel Hypocore, new soft magnetic amorphous powders, new additively manufactured soft magnetic composite for motors, and high-Si steel alloys – each backed by issued or pending U.S. patents and trade secrets. Earlier, as program manager and senior research engineer at Electron Energy Corporation, he led ARPA-E, DOE, DOD, NSF, and EPA-funded project tasks, developed pilot scale rare earth-free Mn-Bi permanent magnets, high electrical resistivity permanent magnets and produced high-performance recycled rare earth magnets (Nd-Fe-B and SmCo magnets) equivalent in properties to virgin material based magnets. As a Research Faculty member at Northeastern University, he invented rare earth-free cobalt carbide (Co3-xC) permanent magnets through direct chemical synthesis, and narrow-linewidth Sc(Scandium)- and In(Indium)-doped shape- and size-controlled Ba-hexaferrites for isolator and circulators for microwave devices in defense applications. During his tenure as JSPS Fellow and Visiting Associate Professor at Tohoku University, Japan, he pioneered the synthesis of structure- and morphology-controlled, self assembled ordered (L10 phase) CoPt, FePt nanoparticles assembly for high density media recording applications, self-assembled Co-Ir alloy nanoparticles assembly for high-frequency power electronics applications and conversion of non-magnetic ferrites to magnetic phases. He began his research career as a Senior Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the University of Madras, India.
Dr. Chins research impact spans over 100 peer-reviewed journal publications, more than 100 conference presentations, and a citation h-index of >30 with more than 4,000 citations. He has contributed to more than 20 U.S. and international patents, trade secrets and patent applications, with inventions for commercial production in the areas of permanent magnets, soft magnetic materials, electrical steels, additive manufacturing, smart battery energy storage manufacturing and hard magnetic nanoparticle self assembly based recording media. His Six Sigma Black Belt certification reflects a commitment to lean, high-quality manufacturing processes. He is a Member of IEEE, ASM International, SME, MRS, MPIF, and the Steel Industries Association.