Yu Huang

Yu Huang

Materials Science and Engineering Department Chair

Yu Huang is a professor of the Materials Science and Engineering Department. In July 2021, she was appointed chair of the department.

Huang’s research focuses on mechanistic understandings of nanoscale phenomena and on exploiting the unique properties of nanoscale materials for various applications. She explores technological opportunities that result from the structure and assembly of nanoscale building blocks.

Taking advantage of the distinctive roles of nanoscale surfaces and interfaces, Huang is creating methodologies to apply the latest developments in nanoscale materials and nanotechnology for probing nanoscale processes that can fundamentally impact a wide range of technologies including materials synthesis, catalysis, fuel cells and future electronics.

Before joining the UCLA faculty in 2005, Huang was a Lawrence Fellow and held a joint postdoctoral position at Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Huang’s achievements have gained her many national and international recognitions. Among her accolades are: the Materials Research Society (MRS) Fellow, the Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) Prize for Experimental Electrochemistry, the International Precious Metal Institute (IPMI) Carol Tyler Award, the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award, the World’s Top 100 Young Innovators award, the Sloan Fellowship, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Young Chemist Award and the Nano 50 Award. She is also recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in materials science by Clarivate’s Web of Science.

Huang received her B.S. in chemistry from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and both her M.A in chemistry and Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Harvard University.