Senior scientist Yi Shouliang leaves US Department of Energy for China
scientist Yi Shouliang has returned to
China to take up a new role at
Sichuan University , after permanently leaving the US where he previously worked at the federal government's Department of Energy.
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The career decision, which follows this year's escalating
China-US tensions , saw him leave his
academic role as adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh after less than 12 months and dissolve his commercial ventures.
Previously, he was a principal scientist and project leader at the DOE's National
Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) where he focused on the Water-Energy Programme but resigned in June 2023 after five years at the helm.
He then founded American Sustainable Membrane Technology, serving as its CEO.
At NETL, Yi's research focused on developing novel membranes and adsorption materials for the Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) programme and water management initiatives.
Senior scientist Yi Shouliang has left the US where he was working as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh to return to China. Photo: TNS
The circumstances surrounding his departure remain undisclosed and there are no listed records of Yi as a chief researcher on the DOE and NETL's official websites, despite his lengthy tenure. His name now only appears in patent filing and project proposals.
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