Yitian Wang’s homepage

YITIAN WANG

ywang1057@ucr.edu · +1(929)624-1021

LinkedIn · CV (PDF)

SUMMARY

Ph.D. scholar in Electrical Engineering specializing in thermal transport and lattice dynamics in functional oxides and solid-state ionic conductors. Experienced in crystal and thin-film growth, vacuum deposition, material characterization, and data-driven modeling using Python and MATLAB. Published 5 first-author works in leading journals and skilled at collaborating with national labs and cross-disciplinary device and materials teams. Additional teaching assistant experience during Ph.D. studies.

EDUCATION

University of California, Riverside

Riverside, CA Mar. 2021 - Jun. 2026 (expected)

Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering Awards: Dissertation Completion Fellowship Award; MRS 2023 Spring Highly Commended Student Talk Award

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY Aug. 2019 - Feb. 2021

Master of Science, Material Science and Engineering

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA Jul. 2017 - Aug. 2017

Summer Session, Physics

Beijing Normal University

Beijing, CN Sep. 2015 - Jun. 2019

Bachelor of Science, Physics Awards: ‘Jingshi’ Scholarship (2016 - 2018)

SKILLS

Software / Programming

Python, MATLAB, R, SQL, LaTeX
COMSOL, SolidWorks, Linux
GSAS-II, Mantid, ImageJ, VESTA
Quantum ESPRESSO, VASP
AI Agent Training and Deployment

Materials Synthesis & Growth

Floating-Zone Crystal Growth
Physical Vapor Deposition / Magnetron Sputtering, Chemical Vapor Deposition

Characterization & Spectroscopy

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
Inelastic Neutron Scattering, Raman, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
Four-Probe Transport Methods, Mechanical Strength Testing

Battery & Electrochemistry

Prototype Cell Assembly, Composite Separator Fabrication
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), Galvanostatic Cycling
Temperature-dependent Transport Testing, Thermal Abuse Testing

Methods & Other

Design of Experiments (DOE), Uniaxial Strain Tuning

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Graduate Research Assistant

University of California, Riverside Jun. 2021 - Jun. 2025

Riverside, CA

Pioneered lattice-dynamics studies on Li-ion solid-state electrolytes, extending work previously limited to Cu- and Ag-ion systems.
Published 5 first-author papers in journals including PRX Energy and J. Mater. Chem. A.
Built a floating-zone crystal growth workflow from scratch, producing centimeter-scale LLZTO single crystals that enabled phonon-resolved neutron scattering measurements previously infeasible on polycrystalline samples.
Identified diffuson-mediated thermal transport in Li-ion conductors, providing the first verification of this mechanism in Li-ion solid-state electrolytes.
Developed a two-channel (phonon + diffuson) thermal-conductivity model in MATLAB that explained anomalous temperature dependence in Li-ion conductors where the traditional Debye model failed.

Experiment Lead

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Jan. 2022 - Jul. 2023

Oak Ridge, TN

Authored two successful beam time proposals and led inelastic neutron-scattering experiments on LLZTO single crystals using TAX (HFIR) and ARCS (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Resolved the full phonon dispersion of a garnet solid electrolyte for the first time, providing experimental benchmarks for ab initio lattice-dynamics calculations.
Built automated data-reduction pipelines in Mantid and Python, significantly reducing manual analysis time.
Managed on-site experimental decisions and coordinated across ~7 research groups spanning UCR, UT Austin, ORNL, ETH Zürich, and TU Wien.

Student Researcher

Columbia University Sep. 2019 - Jan. 2021

New York, NY

Engineered composite Li-ion battery separators (γ-C₃N₄/PVDF) via solution processing, targeting improved electrochemical reaction kinetics.
Assembled and tested CR2032 full cells over 100+ galvanostatic cycles, characterizing cycling performance and interfacial stability via EIS.
Applied first-principles DFT (Quantum ESPRESSO) to model defect stability in olivine cathode structures, complementing experimental work with computational materials design.

Student Researcher

Beijing Normal University Sep. 2018 - May 2019

Beijing, CN

Designed a uniaxial-strain apparatus in SolidWorks exploiting differential thermal contraction for controlled detwinning of iron-based superconductors below 140 K.
Built a Monte Carlo simulation in MATLAB to model atomic movement of metal atoms inside multi-wall carbon nanotubes, reproducing experimental observations.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Graduate Teaching Assistant

University of California, Riverside Sep. 2022 - Dec. 2025

Course	Role	Term	Evaluation
Technology in the Premodern World (ENGR 108)	Reader	Fall 2025	N/A
Circuits and Electronics Lab (EE 005)	Lab Instructor	Spring 2025	7.0/7.0 (96th %ile)
Technology in the Premodern World (ENGR 108)	Teaching Assistant	Spring 2025	5.7/7.0 (83rd %ile)
Linear Methods for Engr. Analysis – MATLAB (EE 020B)	Teaching Assistant	Winter 2023	6.5/7.0 (81st %ile)
Magnetic Materials (EE 139)	Teaching Assistant	Fall 2022	6.5/7.0 (77th %ile)

Served 280+ students across 7 sections over 3 academic years.
Achieved perfect 7.0/7.0 evaluation (96th percentile campus-wide) in EE 005, with consistently above-department averages across all courses.
Selected student feedback: “singlehandedly one of the most effective teachers on this campus” and “top tier educator” (EE 005); “the backbone of the entire class” (EE 020B); “always helpful… feedback was helpful in creating a well organized presentation” (EE 139).

INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

Administrative Assistant, Physics Department

Beijing Normal University Sep. 2018 - Jan. 2019

Managed archival of 3 years of departmental paperwork and organized the academic calendar for 4 course sections.

Student Intern

Shanghai East China Computer Corp. Jul. 2016 - Aug. 2016

Gained hands-on exposure to IT industry workflows, strengthening teamwork and cross-functional communication skills.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society — Elected Full Member (2026)
American Physical Society (APS) — Member (2025–2026)
Materials Research Society (MRS) — Student Member (through 2027)

MEDIA COVERAGE

Why LLZTO is the Secret to Super-Fast EV Charging — UC Riverside (Feb 2026)
Cool Battery Power — UC Riverside News (Oct 2025)
ECE PhD Student Wins Materials Research Student Talk Award — UCR ECE Department (May 2023)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Low Thermal Conductivity and Lattice Anharmonicity of NaSICON-type Solid Electrolyte Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂ Tungsten (Nov 2025) Wang, Y., Jia, Q., Li, S., Shi, L., Li, Y., & Chen, X.
Glass-like thermal transport in polycrystalline perovskite lithium-ion conductor Li₃/₈Sr₇/₁₆Hf₁/₄Ta₃/₄O₃ Chemical Communications (Sep 2025) [Front Cover] Wang, Y., Jia, Q., Li, S., Shi, L., Li, Y., & Chen, X.
Origin of intrinsically low thermal conductivity in a garnet-type solid electrolyte: Linking lattice and ionic dynamics with thermal transport PRX Energy (Jul 2025) Wang, Y., Su, Y., Carrete, J., Zhang, H., Wu, N., Li, Y., Li, H., He, J., Xu, Y., Guo, S., Cai, Q., Abernathy, D. L., Williams, T., Kravchyk, K. V., Kovalenko, M. V., Madsen, G. K. H., Li, C., & Chen, X.
Enhanced magnon thermal transport in yttrium-doped spin ladder compounds Sr₁₄₋ₓYₓCu₂₄O₄₁ Journal of Applied Physics (Jul 2024) Li, S., Guo, S., Wang, Y., Li, H., Xu, Y., Carta, V., Zhou, J., & Chen, X.
Thermal properties and lattice anharmonicity of Li-ion conducting garnet solid electrolyte Li₆.₅La₃Zr₁.₅Ta₀.₅O₁₂ Journal of Materials Chemistry A (Jun 2024) Wang, Y., Li, S., Wu, N., Jia, Q., Hoke, T., Shi, L., Li, Y., & Chen, X.
Size-dependent magnon thermal transport in a nanostructured quantum magnet Cell Reports Physical Science (Mar 2024) Guo, S., Li, H., Bai, X., Wang, Y., Li, S., Dunin-Borkowski, R. E., Zhou, J., & Chen, X.
Crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of layered van der Waals semimetal ZrTiSe₄ Chemistry of Materials (Sep 2022) Xu, Y., Barani, Z., Xiao, P., Sudhindra, S., Wang, Y., Rezaie, A. A., Carta, V., Bozhilov, K. N., Luong, D., Fokwa, B. P. T., Kargar, F., Balandin, A. A., & Chen, X.
Single crystal growth and electrochemical studies of garnet-type fast Li-ion conductors Tungsten (Sep 2022) Wang, Y., & Chen, X.