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Prof. Yao Yang

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

 

Graduate Field Faculty, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

 

Graduate Field Faculty, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

 

Faculty Fellow of Atkinson Center for Sustainability

Office: G60, S.T. Olin Lab, 162 Sciences Drive, Ithaca

Yao's journey to science and personal growth: 

Kavli Foundation Nanoscience Profile and Faculty Profile

 

In Yao's spare time, he enjoys long-distance biking and downhill skiing.

Education

2021-2024

University of California Berkeley

As a Miller fellow at UC Berkeley, he worked with Prof. Peidong Yang at Berkeley Chemistry on developing operando EC-STEM to tackle the fundamental challenges in CO2 reduction to liquid fuels at gas-solid-liquid interfaces in an effort to provide an atomic/molecular-level picture of dynamic electrocatalytic processes with advanced TEM at the National Center of Electron Microscopy (NCEM) and synchrotron X-ray at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) based on Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. More information about the Miller fellowship can be found: https://miller.berkeley.edu/fellowship

2015-2021

Cornell University 

Yao was co-advised by Profs. Héctor (Tito) Abruña in electrochemistry and David Muller in electron microscopy, and worked extensively with Prof. Francis DiSalvo on solid-state materials. His PhD work focused on the design and synthesis of precious-metal-free electrocatalysts for alkaline fuel cells and the characterization and understanding of their reaction mechanisms employing operando transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray methods.  Yao's PhD work was recognized by the Wentink Award (Highest Graduate Award at Cornell Chemistry)

2011-2015

Wuhan University

Yao was advised by Prof. Lin Zhuang and Li Xiao in Department of Chemistry at Wuhan University on the design of oxygen cathodes of rechargeable Li/Air batteries. Yao was among the 6 out of 7400 senior undergraduates winning the inaugural first-class scholarship of creative research established by WHU former president, Prof. Daoyu Liu, a chemist and devoted education reformer

Awards and Honors

2025: ACS Materials and Interfaces Outstanding Presentations by Young Investigators Award

2021-2024: Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley

2024: Journal of Materials Research (JMR) Distinguished Invited Speaker at MRS Spring 2024 (Symposium ES02) 

2023: Best Early Career Presentation at MRS Spring 2023 (Symposium CH01)  

2022: ACS AC/DC Rising Stars in Analytical Chemistry  

2020: Wentink Award

2020:  Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) Student Research Award

2019: Microscopy Society of America (MSA) Student Poster Award

2019: Harvard Rowland Fellowship Finalist              

2018:  Howard Neal Wachter Memorial Prize

2014: Daoyu Liu Scholarship of Creative Research, Wuhan University

Webmasters

Dr. Sungin Kim

Zora Zhang

Email:

Location:

G63, S.T. Olin Lab, 162 Sciences Drive, Cornell University

Ithaca, New York 14850

Social media

ambassadors

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Wenqi Li

Rafael Guzman-Soriano

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