Christopher Yang, Ph.D.

Christopher Yang

Research Scientist

Christopher Yang is a research scientist working within the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways program at ITS-Davis and a Faculty member in the Transportation Technology and Policy graduate program. His research focuses on analysis of alternative fuels and advanced vehicles and their role in reducing transportation greenhouse gas emissions, with an emphasis on hydrogen and electricity supply and infrastructure.
 
Current research projects include (1) infrastructure modeling of electricity and hydrogen supply to understand the implications (i.e.  supply mix, cost and emissions) of increasing use of these energy carriers as transportation fuels; (2) energy system modeling to understand the role of technologies and energy resources across many end-use and supply sectors in achieving very deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in California (i.e. CA-TIMES model) and (3) the broader role of transportation in meeting these emissions targets.

He is a co-director for infrastructure system analysis research within the STEPS/NextSTEPS program.

Previous Experience
Research Associate – National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC.  Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship working with the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) (2002-2003).
Graduate Student Researcher – Princeton University.  Materials research on composite polymer membranes for fuel cells operating at elevated temperatures and reduce humidity.  (1998-2003)
Visiting Researcher – CNR-ITAE, Messina, Italy.  Summer visiting researcher at Italian National Laboratory in Messina researching medium temperature fuel cell (DMFC and PEMFC) membranes (2000).
 
Education
Ph.D. 2003. Princeton University. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.  Dissertation research: Composite polymer membranes for high temperature fuel cell operation.
MS. 1998. Stanford University. Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Water and Environmental Engineering.
BS. 1996. Stanford University. Earth Systems, Environmental Sciences and the Biosphere.
 
Other Interests
Chris grew up in Newark, Delaware.  In his spare time, he enjoys backpacking, rock climbing/bouldering, playing tennis, playing guitar, cooking, home improvement projects and hanging out with his wife and kids.
Research Interests & Expertise
  • Infrastructure analysis of hydrogen and electricity for vehicle fuels
  • Role of transportation alternative fuels and advanced vehicles in reducing energy system greenhouse gas emissions
  • Energy system modeling for policy analysis