Leyuan Zhang, a materials science and engineering graduate student in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, received the prestigious MRS Graduate Student Award for best materials science graduate research at the 2020 Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting. Leyuan is the only graduate student from UT Austin this year.
As the top honor for graduate students in materials research community, the award is intended to honor and encourage graduate students whose academic achievements and current materials research display a high level of excellence and distinction. MRS seeks to recognize students of exceptional ability who show promise for significant future achievement in materials research and education.
Leyuan won this award for his research works on designing organic nanomaterials for large-scale energy storage systems based on flow batteries, working with his supervisor Professor Guihua Yu (Yu Research Group). As a graduate student in the materials science and engineering program in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, he has published research on several prominent scientific journals, including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Chem, Joule, Energy & Environmental Science, Accounts of Chemical Research. His research has been featured in many science and technology media outlets, including the most recent work on organic dye molecules for grid-scale storage being featured by Cockrell School.
