Dr. Yan Yao is the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor at the University of Houston. His research bridges electrochemistry with materials design and synthesis, with a focus on next-generation beyond lithium-ion batteries. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from UCLA in 2008. After working in industry for two years and as a postdoc at Stanford University, he joined the University of Houston in 2012. Dr. Yao has published over 150 research papers and delivered more than 180 invited lectures. He holds 12 issued U.S. patents and has co-founded two start-ups. He serves as the Principal Investigator for several core battery programs, including the Battery500 Consortium, the Vehicle Technology Office’s Battery Materials Research program, the, and three ARPA-E projects and as Deputy Thrust Lead of the Basic Energy Science’s Battery Innovation Hub. He has received numerous awards, including the 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 an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and a senior member of both the National Academy of Inventors and the IEEE.