Dr. Yuan Cao

Biography

Yuan Cao is an Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, starting in July 2024. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2014 and completed his Master's degree and Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Prior to joining Berkeley, he served as a Junior Fellow at Harvard University from 2021 to 2024. His primary research interests include the electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of low-dimensional materials, employing cross-disciplinary approaches in nanotechnology, metamaterials, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Cao has received several prestigious awards for his contributions to physics, including being featured in Nature's 10 list of 'Physics Breakthrough of the Year' in 2018 for his research on superconductivity in twisted graphene, and being recognized as a 'TIME 100 Rising Star' in 2019. Other accolades include the Sackler Prize in Physics in 2020, the McMillan Award in 2021, and the Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award in 2022. He is actively seeking highly motivated graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to join his team in fall 2024, with a preference for candidates with experience in nanofabrication.

Research Interests