Yuan Yang

Yuan Yang

Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Yuan Yang designs, characterizes, and analyzes materials and devices for energy applications, including energy storage, thermal management, and chemical separation.

He has studied 1) novel electrodes and electrolytes for next-generation batteries, such as solid state batteries and alkaline metal sulfur batteries, 2) Radiative cooling materials for passive daytime electricity-free cooling, and 3) liquid centrifugation and chemical exchange-based isotope separation for nuclear and medical applications.

Dr. Yang received a BS in physics from Peking University in 2007 and a PhD in materials science and engineering from Stanford University in 2012. After working as a postdoctoral associate at MIT for three years, he joined Columbia University as an assistant professor in 2015 and was promoted to associate professor in 2020. Dr. Yang has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers with a total citation over 30,000 times and a H-index of 65. He was a Scialog fellow on Advanced Energy Storage. He won Materials Today Rising Star Award in 2022, 3M Non-tenured Faculty Award in 2021, and MIT Technology Review 35 under 35 – China in 2019.

Research Areas

  • Materials Characterization
  • Materials Design and Engineering
  • Materials for Energy
  • Materials Synthesis and Processing
  • Nanomaterials
  • Advanced Manufacturing
  • Advanced Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion
  • Energy Materials
  • Functional and Responsive Materials
  • Nanomaterials (Nanotechnology)
  • Sustainable Materials
  • 2D Materials
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Isotopes

Additional Information

  • Professional Experience
    • Associate Professor, Columbia University, 2020-Present
    • Assistant Professor, Columbia University, 2015-2019
  • Professional Affiliations
    • Materials Research Society
    • Electrochemical Society 
    • American Chemical Society
  • Honors & Awards
    • 2019 Emerging Investigator by Journal of Materials Chemistry
    • 2019 Young Innovator Award by Nano Research
    • 2017 Scialog Fellow on Advanced Energy Storage
    • 2017 Research Initiatives for Science and Engineering (RISE) Award of Columbia University
    • 2014 MRS Postdoctoral Award
    • 2010 Dan Cubicciotti Award of Electrochemical Society (honorable mention)
  • Education
    • PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
    • MS, Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
    • BS, Physics, Peking University