UCLA Materials Scientist and Fuel Cell Catalyst Innovator Yu Huang Receives 2025 Global Energy Prize
This article was originally published by UCLA Samueli Newsroom.
Yu Huang, a professor of materials science and engineering, as well as chemistry and biochemistry, and holder of the Traugott and Dorothea Frederking Endowed Chair at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has been awarded a 2025 Global Energy Prize for her pioneering work in the field of catalyst development. She is the first UCLA faculty member and the first woman to win the award in the non-conventional energy category since the prize was established in 2003.
Huang in the organization’s announcement on July 9, 2025, said:
I’m deeply honored and truly humbled to receive this prestigious award from the Global Energy Association,
“My group develops designer catalysts and, more importantly, we work to bridge the gap between discovery and deployment, turning new materials into working for energy conversion and storage.”
The Global Energy Association, which administers the annual prizes, selected a trio of 2025 awardees for their work advancing energy-related science and technology. Huang was honored for her “innovations in the field of catalyst development, which significantly improve the profitability, durability and performance of fuel cells.”
Huang joined UCLA in 2006 and directs the Huang Research Group, which explores the mechanistic understanding of nanoscale phenomena to address green energy applications in catalysis, fuel cells and materials synthesis. Leveraging the distinctive roles of nanoscale surfaces and interfaces, Huang is creating methodologies and applying them across a wide range of materials and technologies.
She has a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and is a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. She is also a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Among her numerous national and international honors, Huang has received the International Society of Electrochemistry Prize for Experimental Electrochemistry, the International Precious Metal Institute Carol Tyler Award and the National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award. She is a National Academy of Sciences Kalvi Fellow and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Materials Research Society.
Huang has been named a highly cited researcher every year since 2018. Compiled by the international data and analytics firm Clarivate, the annual list identifies scholars who have authored multiple studies that rank in the top 1% of scholarly citations worldwide.
Since its launch 22 years ago, the Global Energy Prize has been bestowed on 53 scientists from 16 countries. Huang will be officially recognized at the association’s October awards ceremony in Moscow, Russia.
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UCLA Materials Scientist and Fuel Cell Catalyst Innovator Yu Huang Receives 2025 Global Energy Prize, source
