Adrian Yao

Adrian Yao is the Founder and Team Lead of STEER, a DOE-funded initiative at Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy and SLAC. STEER focuses on the intersection of engineering, economics, and innovation to guide “what to build, where to innovate, and how to invest.” Prior to Stanford, Adrian spent 8 years in industry as the Founder and CTO of a Li-ion battery startup, EnPower, Inc., where he continues to serve as a board director. After having developed EnPower's technology from lab to pilot and validated performance gains with OEMs and cell makers, EnPower is now scaling domestic cell manufacturing in a multi-MWh manufacturing facility in Indianapolis, IN, spearheading the domestic production of Li-ion cells for high-performance applications. Adrian obtained his B.S. in Material Science & Engineering from Rice University in Houston, TX and is simultaneously pursuing his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering at Stanford. Adrian is originally born in Houston, TX but spent the majority of his childhood in Taipei, Taiwan prior to returning to the U.S. in 2010.