Georgetown Physicists Use AI to Study Magnetic Materials
A new military research grant supports efforts to engineer material defects for more efficient electric vehicle motors.
Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Materials Science
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Georgetown University physics professors Kai Liu and Gen Yin have secured a three-year military research grant to study magnetic materials. The project focuses on utilizing atomic defects to optimize material behavior for high-efficiency motors, electric vehicles, and drones.
Why it matters
By treating atomic defects as a design parameter rather than just flaws, researchers aim to develop materials that significantly reduce energy consumption and charging times in critical electronic infrastructure.
The team utilizes the first-order reversal curve technique to map magnetic fingerprints of materials over a 3-year research period. These physical maps serve as training data for machine learning algorithms designed to predict and locate atomic defects.
The players
Kai Liu
Georgetown University physics professor leading the research into magnetic material behavior and defect engineering.
Gen Yin
Georgetown University physics professor co-leading the project on mapping material magnetic fingerprints.
Bradley Fugetta
Doctoral student at Georgetown University supporting the development of experimental samples.
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
A military research organization funding the investigation into material science for defense and civilian applications.
The details
Researchers at Georgetown University are investigating how the physical structure of materials dictates magnetic response. The team employs machine learning to analyze these properties, testing the hypothesis that controlled atomic defects can improve efficiency. Doctoral student Bradley Fugetta is participating in the creation of experimental samples to validate the output of these computer simulations.
Timeline
October 14, 2026: Georgetown University announced the Air Force Office of Scientific Research grant award.
The Tech Race
This project joins a broader effort to optimize magnetic materials for next-generation electric propulsion systems. It follows the established pattern of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research basic research grants by funding fundamental physics to advance hardware efficiency.
The project intends to produce an open-source artificial intelligence model, which could eventually be used by other researchers to accelerate material discovery. While the research is currently in the simulation and early experimental stage, its success could lead to more efficient electric vehicles and drone batteries.
The takeaway
The team plans to validate their simulation findings through physical testing in the coming months. Readers should watch for the release of their open-source AI model, which aims to standardize how laboratories identify and map defects in magnetic materials.
Further reading
Learn more about the latest research in Materials Science.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Hoya.
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