A new system to track material design processes

Engineers at NIMS develop a system that captures all the elements of trial and error in material design, enabling reliable reproduction of the reasoning processes and results

Engineers at NIMS develop a system that captures all the elements of trial and error in material design, enabling reliable reproduction of the reasoning processes and results TSUKUBA, Japan, Apr 22, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - Discovering and characterizing new materials is important for unlocking advances in fields like clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and improved infrastructure. Researchers use machine learning and other computational tools to help them, but the trial-and-error nature of the process creates specific challenges. The research produces large amounts of experimental and computational data, and scientists need tools that can track and store not only the results but also the chain of reasoning behind them. A newly developed system tracks and stores not only the results but also the chain of reasoning behind them, allowing researchers to review the decision making process for a greater transparency and reproducibility in materials science research. A newly developed system tracks and stores not only the results but also the chain of reasoning behind them, allowing researchers to review the decision making process for a greater transparency and reproducibility in materials science research. A new system called pinax, published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods, provides precisely those features. Developed by engineers at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), pinax captures the entire process of developing new materials, including machine learning workflows and decision-making processes. “By formalizing both successful and unsuccessful trial-and-error processes, pinax enhances reproducibility, accountability, and knowledge sharing while maintaining strict data governance,” says Satoshi Minamoto of NIMS, the study’s lead author.