Ryan Yao Email & Phone Number

California, United States

Los Angeles, Us

Our mission is to scale battery reuse as the largest source of the next billion batteries.The world needs 2 billion batteries by 2050, but this comes at a huge cost to the planet, as we need to mine 30x more.We dismantle and sort used battery packs 7x faster and 50% cheaper than by hand using robotics, AI and sound for EV OEMs, battery makers and fleets.Once we dismantle 1000s of battery packs, we repurpose them into $4000 cheap grid batteries that are 20% cheaper than making new ones.Our vision is to become the leading maker of zero-impact batteries by building 1 million batteries/year by 2035. This will power a truly clean energy revolution at scale and reduce 6 Giga tons of CO2 by 2050.We are Universe Energy, and we make batteries eternal.

Austin, Texas, Us

Cell Degradation and Analysis Lab

San Jose, California, Us

Cell Development - Stack Science

Houston, Tx, Us

I synthesized large crystal NMC, LCO and LNMO lithium ion cathode particles using molten salt method, and fabricated electrode sheets and assembled coin cells to study phase change of cathode particles during lithiation

Austin, Texas, Us

I operated argon glovebox in clean room to build and dissect coin cells for testing and analysis. My main role was in developing experimental methods for measuring various transport parameters in lithium ion chemistry cells, for which I created and ran test schedules for cycling coin cells using Arbin, Biologic and Keithley battery testers. I also worked on data analysis to understand silicon anode aging and degradation processes using MATLAB.

Berkeley, Ca, Us

Undergraduate researcher in the Adam Weber research group studying the impact of conditioning on membrane-electrode assemblies in fuel cells. I characterized performance increase using hydrogen limiting current method to determine mass transport resistance changes and electrochemically active surface area measurements to quantify active platinum catalytic area improvements due to conditioning.

Camarillo, Ca, Us

I conducted experiments to study and reduce silver cathode gassing problems in silver-zinc button cells using manometers. I initiated a project to improve gassing test by collaborating with a mechanical engineering intern, using Autodesk Fusion 360 to design and 3D print an apparatus. The new apparatus was tested to increase repeatability, accuracy and effectiveness of gassing test. Another related project was studying the effects of hydrogen evolution reaction on cathode nanoparticles. I used SEM images to examine the surface morphological changes during corrosion. I designed and implemented a cathode material recycle stream to reduce waste and operating costs. Through the recycle process, silver material retention increased from 50-60% to 70-80%.

Berkeley, Ca, Us

I worked on two projects in the Maboudian Applied Materials and Surface Science Laboratory:1. Forming self-assembling monolayers (SAMs) on silicon based substrates through liquid phase deposition to reduce friction, stiction and adhesion of micro-electro-mechanical systems. I used triethoxyphenylsilane (TEPS) and trimethoxyphenylsilane (TMPS) for liquid phase deposition in a nitrogen-purged glovebox. I used hydrofluoric acid to etch silicon samples, and UV-Ozone to prepare samples for deposition. The effectiveness of the monolayers were then quantified by water droplet contact angle measurements made with a Rame-Hart goniometer.2. Synthesis of plasmonic gold nanoparticles of various geometries for application in photocatalysis and carbon dioxide reductionI created solutions of chloroauric acid and made gold nanoparticle seed solutions to be further processed into nanostars/ nanoflowers. Different recipes were used to produce plasmonic nanostars of varying aspect ratios. I experimented with using RAMAN spectroscopy to form TiO2 vests to produce plasmonic photocatalysts.

Master Of Science - Ms, Data Science

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Chemical Engineering

Ib Diploma, International Baccalaureate