Xizheng Wang Honored as New Energy Innovator

July 31, 2024 - The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has honored Xizheng Wang, UCI assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, as an early career innovator. She and 22 others were selected for the Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy 2024 (IGNIITE 2024) program.

The young innovators were honored in a ceremony hosted by ARPA-E and the National Academies of Sciences on July 9. They will each receive about $500,000 in federal funding to advance their research.

“I am very proud to join the first cohort of this exciting program,” said Wang. “I hope to build a future where hydrogen production is affordable, sustainable and no longer dependent on rare and expensive platinum-group metals as catalysts. I am deeply grateful for the support from ARPA-E, which will ignite my career and vision for a robust and sustainable supply chain for clean energy.”

Wang’s research focuses on developing an ultra-fast electrified vapor deposition method for the manufacturing of platinum-group, metals-free high entropy nanomaterials as a catalyst for hydrogen production. Her research aims to improve the energy efficiency, economics and scale-up robustness of clean hydrogen production, which would address sustainability challenges associated with critical materials.

IGNIITE 2024 aims to empower early-career scientists and engineers to convert disruptive and unconventional ideas into impactful new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications.

- Natalie Tso