Peter Ladwig: 2026 Distinguished Achievement Award recipient

MSMS&E ’02, PhDMS&E ’03
Vice president, technology and engineering, Niron Magnetics

A materials engineer, innovator and leader who is advancing rare-earth-free permanent magnets and shaping U.S. energy innovation.

Just about every advanced technology, from smartphones to wind turbines, relies on high-powered magnets made from rare-earth metals like neodymium and samarium.

The problem is that rare-earth minerals are expensive and environmentally damaging to mine and process, and they aren’t produced in the United States, making them a manufacturing liability. But Peter Ladwig and Niron Magnetics are on the verge of commercializing magnets made of abundant, cheap and environmentally benign nitrogen and iron, taking rare earth minerals out of the geopolitical equation.

The work is the high point of a long, fruitful career. Ladwig grew up with little money in Wausau, Wisconsin, the son of deaf parents. A knack for tinkering and car repair he picked up from his father led him to study mechanical engineering at Marquette University. After a brief stint in automotive parts manufacturing, he decided to pursue his PhD at UW-Madison.

That degree led to a long tenure at Minnesota-based Hutchinson Technology, where Ladwig led interdisciplinary teams creating a new additive process platform. The platform produced billions of components for the hard disk drive, medical device and smartphone industries.

In 2022, he took his unique ability to translate fundamental materials science into high-impact applied technologies to Niron, where he has helped scale the company’s revolutionary rare-earth- free magnet technologies.

UW-Madison, he says, is at the core of that success. “Coming from my upbringing, meeting students, meeting professors, going to conferences and being at this large university with all these different points of view, I just felt like my mind exploded,” says Ladwig. “My graduate studies taught me that I belonged in a space between fundamental research and applied engineering. And I’ve been living in that sweet spot my entire career. UW-Madison taught me who I really was.”

Which engineering professors made the greatest impact on you?

I remember meeting with certain professors like John Perepezko, Max Lagally and Y. Austin Chang, and thinking, “This person is a world leader in their area, and here they are, just giving me what they know.” I just found that to be amazing.

Of what professional accomplishment are you most proud?

Developing a critical materials-free permanent magnet that can be entirely sourced in the United States. You can use scrap iron and nitrogen, which is 80% of the air we breathe. There’s no dirty secret to our process. There is no toxic waste produced, and the main byproduct is salt water.

Which do you like best?

UW Arboretum or Picnic Point?
I used to walk out on the end of Picnic Point to a tree that leans over the water I called The Thinking Tree. I would make frequent visits to the tree, and it was one of my favorite places in the world. Every time I go to Madison, I still go up to the Thinking Tree and take my kids.

Camp Randall or the Kohl Center or the UW Field House?
Camp Randall, Section P!

Fun on the Terrace or fun on Lake Mendota?
The Terrace. When I was at Marquette, I met a friend from Madison who said he hung out at the student union on weekends, which didn’t make sense to me. Then I went to the Terrace on a summer evening and I totally got it.