Dr. Yang Yang is a world-renowned materials scientist and distinguished leader in renewable energy research. He currently holds the prestigious Carol and Lawrence E. Tannas Jr. Endowed Chair in Engineering at UCLA and serves as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Yang received his BS in Physics from National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan in 1982, followed by his MS and PhD in Physics and Applied Physics from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1988 and 1992, respectively. Before joining UCLA in 1997, he served on the research staff of UNIAX (now DuPont Display) in Santa Barbara, where he began his pioneering work in organic electronics that would later define his career trajectory.
Professor Yang's groundbreaking contributions to organic photovoltaics have fundamentally transformed the field of solar energy technology, with his research consistently pushing the efficiency boundaries of organic solar cells from 4% in 2005 to breakthrough the 10% technical and commercialization barrier in 2012, ultimately reaching 11.5% efficiency by 2014. His seminal inventions of the inverted organic solar cell architecture and the inverted tandem solar cell have become foundational technologies that have dramatically improved device stability and performance, addressing critical challenges that previously limited commercial viability of organic photovoltaics. With over 500 refereed papers spanning solar energy conversion and highly efficient electronic devices, his work has earned him recognition as a Highly Cited Researcher in three major fields—Materials Science, Chemistry, and Physics—making him one of only approximately twenty researchers worldwide to achieve this distinction. His innovations extend beyond traditional solar cells to include photovoltaic polarizers for LCD applications and transparent OPV devices, demonstrating his commitment to practical applications of fundamental scientific discoveries.
Beyond his technical contributions, Professor Yang has demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing the global renewable energy research ecosystem through his roles as Faculty Director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at the California Nano-System Institute and as Founding Dean of the School of Engineering at Westlake University in China. His receipt of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry's Sustainable Energy Award in 2019 and recognition as one of the World's Influential Scientific Minds by Thomson Reuters underscore his international impact and thought leadership in the field. Professor Yang continues to drive innovation through strategic initiatives including the formation of the Center for the Next Generation Materials and the Engineering Shared Facility at Westlake University, while mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers. His ongoing research focuses on developing next-generation photovoltaic technologies that promise to further enhance solar energy conversion efficiency and accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy solutions.
