Join us in congratulating Jihui Yang on his new role as Chair of the MSE department!

Interim department chair Fumio Ohuchi and incoming chair Jihui Yang at the 2017 MSE graduation ceremony

 

Jihui Yang, the Kyocera Professor in MSE, will take on the position of Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, starting September 1, 2017. Jihui has provided leadership in the department as chair of the undergraduate committee, and brings experience in both academia and industry that will position the department to grow and excel in the coming years.

Jihui’s research focuses on thermoelectric and energy storage materials with an emphasis on the design, synthesis, testing, and understanding of advanced thermoelectric materials and Li-ion battery materials for energy conversion and storage. He has authored 100 papers, holds 19 US patents, and has established strong research funding from DOE/EERE in recent years including the partnership on battery research with PNNL. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has received the Campbell award from GM R&D and the DOE INCITE award.

As he prepares for the transition, we look forward to hearing from Jihui on his vision and goals for MSE. For now, he says "I'm looking forward to my new role and helping UW MSE be the best in the world on education, professional leadership, and research."

We thank Fumio Ohuchi for his very capable leadership of the department as interim chair for the past several months.

UW Engineering Dean Mike Bragg offered his appreciation for the time and effort of the search committee that included François Baneyx (chair, Chemical Engineering), Jun Liu, Christine Luscombe (MSE), Jessie Muhm (Engineering Advancement), Peter Pauzauskie (MSE), Suzie Pun (Bioengineering), and Miquin Zhang (MSE) and all who shared input and opinions with the committee during the selection process.