PROF. Weilai Yu
Academic Appointments
2025- University of Toronto, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry; LOGICS Lab, Principal Investigator; Acceleration Consortium, Member
Bio: Dr. Weilai Yu obtained his Ph.D degree in Chemistry at Caltech (2021) working with Prof. Nathan S. Lewis and Prof. Harry B. Gray, studying the stability of semiconductor photoelectrodes for solar fuels. From 2021 to 2024, he is a postdoctoral scholar of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University working with Prof. Zhenan Bao and Prof. Yi Cui, investigating the reactivity of liquid electrolytes in Li-metal batteries. Dr. Yu obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry at Wuhan University. His current research focuses on systematically unveiling how the molecular interactions within nanoscale material interfaces dictate the macroscale performance of chemical and energy conversion.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
2021-2024 Stanford University, Postdoc scholar of Chemical Engineering, with Prof. Zhenan Bao & Prof. Yi Cui
2016-2021 California Institute of Technology, Ph.D in Chemistry, with Prof. Nathan S. Lewis & Prof. Harry B. Gray
2015 Spring Harvard University, Visiting Undergraduate Student
2012-2016 Wuhan University, B.S in Chemistry (Highest Honor)
HONORS & AWARDS
2024 Invited Speaker, Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) of Batteries
2022 Young Scientist, 71st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (Chemistry)
2022 Community Editorial Board, Materials Horizons (Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC)
2022 Discussion Leader, Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) of Electrochemistry
2022, 2024 Bio-X Travel Award, Stanford University
2021 Caltech Student Community Service Award
2020 Highlight by Cover Story on Sustainability, Caltech Magazine (2020 Spring)
2020 Caltech Art of Science Prize
2017 Resnick Sustainability Institute Fellowship, Caltech
2016 Outstanding Graduate Representative, Wuhan University (WHU)
2015 Leijun Scholarship, the highest honor at WHU