Professor Yang Shao-Horn (邵阳)

Biography

Yang Shao-Horn is JR East Professor of Engineering. She holds joint appointments in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Research Laboratory of Electronics. She has been a faculty member since 2002. She currently serves on the MITEI Energy Council and as a co-director for the MIT Low-Carbon Energy Storage Center. Her research is centered on controlling the kinetics and dynamics in electrification and making zero-carbon fuels, chemicals and materials. She and coworkers have pioneered the use of electronic structure to develop universal guiding principles, and design interfaces with record activity, reactivity and stability to enhance functions/performance for lithium batteries, fuel cells and electrolytical processes for production of hydrogen and other energy carriers. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Electrochemical Society, the National Academy of Inventors, and the International Society of Electrochemistry. She advised 100+ students and postdocs at MIT, who are now pursuing successful careers in industry including some of the most innovative companies such as Telsa, Amazon and Apple, national research laboratories, and in academia (~35) including faculty positions at MIT and academic positions in Europe and Asia.

Research and Teaching Interests

• Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Technologies
• Photoelectrocatalysis of O₂ and CO₂
• Nanostructured Materials for Lithium Storage

EEL research is centered on exploiting chemical/materials physics to understand and control kinetics and dynamics at interface and in bulk for energy storage and making of sustainable fuels and chemicals. Such fundamental understanding is used to design processes and materials for applications including Li-ion batteries, metal-air batteries, water splitting, CO2 reduction and N2 reduction.

Select Professional Activities and Service

• RSC Energy and Environmental Science, Editorial Board
• Wiley Advanced Energy Materials, advisory Board
• Cell Press, Chem and Joule, advisory Board
• ACS, Journal of Physical Chemistry, advisory Board