Dr. Gareth Hatch

Gareth Hatch is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Innovation Metals Corp. (IMC) and co-inventor of IMC’s proprietary RapidSX™ separation and purification technology, for critical metals such as rare-earth elements (REEs), Li, Ni and Co. He also serves as Chief Technology Officer and Director of Ucore Rare Metals Inc., the parent company of IMC. Gareth is also Managing Director of UK-based Strategic Materials Advisors and was a co-founder of USA Technology Metals Research (TMR), consulting and advisory firms operating in the critical-materials sector. He was previously Interim CEO and Director of Alabama Graphite, and Director of Technology at US-based Dexter Magnetic Technologies, where he began his career focused on permanent-magnet design and engineering. He holds five US patents.

Gareth is Advisory Board Chair for the Rare Earth Industry Association (REIA), a member of the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) strategy team on REEs, and is a member of the Canadian ISO TC/298 Mirror Committee, working to develop international standards for the REE industry. He is Newsletter Editor of the IEEE Magnetics Society, and founder of the Magnetism & Electromagnetics Interest Group and the Strategic Materials Network, both at LinkedIn.com.

Gareth is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and is a Chartered Engineer. He holds a B.Eng. (Honours) degree in materials science & technology and a Ph.D. in metallurgy & materials, both from the University of Birmingham, with research focused on REE permanent-magnet alloys.

In 2019, Gareth was a recipient of the NATO STO Applied Vehicle Technology Panel Team Excellence Award, and in 2020 was the recipient of the IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Service Award.