CHBE Seminar by Diane J. Graziano: Resilient Critical Materials Supply Chains

Armour College of Engineering’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering will welcome Diane J. Graziano, Chemical Engineer at Argonne National Laboratory, to present a lecture, “Resilient Critical Materials Supply Chains”

Biography: Diane Graziano is a chemical engineer and complex systems analyst in Argonne’s Decision and Infrastructure Sciences Division. She conducts decision science research with focus on supply chains, resilience, energy technologies, and integrated analysis for diverse topical areas, including sustainable manufacturing, renewable energy, critical materials, and social justice. Before joining Argonne, she worked in Research and Development at Amoco Chemical Company. Diane earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

Abstract: Several independent assessments have identified rare earth elements (REEs) as critical materials, notably neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium used in permanent magnets for clean-energy technologies. Factors affecting their criticality include expected growth in demand arising from their unique performance-enhancing properties in consumer, energy, and military applications and the supply risk associated with China's dominance in their production. Given the importance of these REEs (and other critical materials) to achieving U.S. and global decarbonization goals, improving the resilience of their supply chains is essential. To inform such strategies, Argonne developed the Global Critical Materials (GCMat) agent-based model of the REEs supply chain and has applied it to study market dynamics, supply disruptions, and unconventional sources. The model and study results will be described in this seminar, and the audience will be invited to share their thoughts on domestic production and supply chains.