In December 2017, Y.T. Cheng was elected to the National Academy of Inventors. Although NAI comprises over 900 Fellows representing 250 research universities and nonprofit research institutes, Cheng is the first from UK to receive the honor.
Prior to joining the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2008, Cheng spent 20 years as a technical fellow and laboratory group manager for engineered surfaces and functional materials at the General Motors R&D Center. Additionally, he has 48 U.S. patents, several of which have been utilized by General Motors. Cheng’s connections to the automotive industry have put him in a unique position to advance battery technology for electric vehicles. One particular area that should intrigue electric vehicle owners is “fast charging.”
“With current batteries, it might take hours to fully charge a car,” says Cheng. “But what if you could go from 20%-80% in 15 minutes instead of charging it all the way to 100%? Well, if that’s possible, then you could go to a charging station, have a coffee, and go. So we are exploring new materials and structures that will help with ‘fast charging.’”
In addition, Cheng’s research group is working on lowering the cost of manufacturing batteries.
“These are all areas of need we hear from industry. We have very good capabilities on campus and at the UK Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER). By working closely with industry we can help solve their problems.”
Professor Yang-Tse Cheng’s group is developing, in collaboration with automobile companies and National Labs, new materials and manufacturing processes to make batteries with higher energy and power density, greater safety, and lower cost.
Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage
Nanostructured Materials
Ph.D., Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology
M.S., Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology
B.S., Physics/Mathematics, California Institute of Technology
2008 – present Professor of Materials Engineering, Chemical and Materials Engineering Dept.
2008 – present Participating Faculty, NSF/UK IGERT Program on Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices
2008 – present Faculty Member, UK Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing
2008 – present Faculty Member, UK Center for Advanced Materials
2008 – present Participating Faculty: The Power and Energy Education Institute at the University of Kentucky
2008 – present Participating Faculty, Kentucky-Argonne Battery Manufacturing R&D Center
2004 – Present Guest Professor, Institute of Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
2002 – 2009 Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Mechanical, Automotive & Materials Engineering, University of Windsor
2003 – 2007 Visiting Professor, Brown University, Division of Engineering
Spring 2006 Professor of Industrial Engineering and Materials Engineering, Purdue University
2004 – 2008 Technical Fellow, General Motors Research and Development Center
2003 – 2006 Lab Group Manager, Engineered Surfaces and Functional Materials, General Motors Research and Development Center
1999 – 2003 Lab Group Manager, Engineered Surfaces and Tribology, General Motors Research and Development Center
2001- 2004 Senior Staff Research Scientist, General Motors Research and Development Center
1992 – 2001 Staff Research Scientist, General Motors Research and Development Center
1987 – 1992 Senior Research Scientist, General Motors Research and Development Center
