Yan Yao

The 2025 ENFL EES award, sponsored by CapChem Inc. goes to Prof. Yan Yao of University of Houston. Most of us should know Yan from his contributions to our programming and leading our strong battery symposia. Yan is currently the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is an internationally recognized leader in the field of electrochemical energy storage, particularly known for his pioneering work on battery chemistries beyond lithium-ion. His research focuses on the intersection of electrochemistry and materials science. He specialize in multivalent, solid-state and aqueous batteries designed to improve safety and reduce environmental impact. Dr. Yao serves as the Thrust Co-Lead in DOE’s Energy Storage Research Alliance (ESRA) as well as Principal Investigator for several flagship battery programs, including the Battery500 Consortium, the Low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Storage (LENS) Consortium, Vehicle Technology Office’s Battery Materials Research program, and three ARPA-E projects. Dr. Yao authored over 150 research papers and has received numerous awards, including the 2025 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Engineering from TAMEST, Texas Academic Leadership Academy Fellow (2023), Senior Faculty Research Excellence Award from the University of Houston (2022), Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate Analytics (2021), Scialog Fellow on Advanced Energy Storage (2017), and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2013). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a senior member of both the National Academy of Inventors and the IEEE. He holds 12 issued U.S. patents and has co-founded two start-ups.