Principal Investigator

Biography

Hyun-Wook Lee is currently a Professor in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). He received his B.S. in Advanced Materials Engineering from Sejong University in 2007. After receiving his Bachelor of Engineering degree, he continued his graduate studies at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) under the direction of Prof. Do Kyung Kim. He received his Masters of Science and Ph. D. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2009 and 2012. During his Masters and Ph. D. degree studies, his research focused on the synthesis of nanomaterials and Li-ion batteries. In 2012, he moved to a postdoctoral position at Stanford University under the supervision of Prof. Yi Cui. At that time, he carried out research on Prussian Blue open framework structures for Na-ion batteries and in situ/operando transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation on battery electrodes under electrochemical reactions. His research group at UNIST pursues innovations in lithium/sodium-ion batteries, operando imaging observation, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, Prussian Blue-type redox systems, and electrochemically thermal energy harvesting. His published works in this field have been cited more than 25,000 times, and he was selected as a Highly Cited Researcher in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 by Clarivate Analytics.

Professional Experience

• Professor, 09.2024 - present: School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, UNIST, Ulsan, Korea

• Associate Professor, 03.2020 - 08.2024: School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, UNIST, Ulsan, Korea

• Assistant Professor, 01.2016 - 02.2020: School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, UNIST, Ulsan, Korea

• Postdoctoral Scholar, 06.2012 - 12.2015: Materials Sci. & Eng., Stanford University, CA, USA [Supervisor: Prof. Yi Cui]

• Postdoctoral Scholar, 02.2012 - 05.2012: Materials Sci. & Eng., KAIST, Daejeon, Korea [Supervisor: Prof. Do Kyung Kim] 

• Advisory Board of iScience [Impact factor (2024): 4.1], 01.2018 - present (link)

• Editorial Board Member of Transactions of Tianjin University [Impact factor (2024): 8.5], 01.2020 - present (link)

• Young Editorial Board Member of Battery Energy [Impact factor (2024): 9.9], 03.2022 - present (link)

• Editorial Board Member of Nano Research Energy [CiteScore (2024): 41.4], 01.2023 - present (link)

Education

• Ph.D. 02.2009 - 01.2012: Materials Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea

• M.S. 03.2007 - 01.2009: Materials Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea

• B.S. 03.2000 - 02.2007: Advanced Materials Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea

Selected Awards/Honors

1. Highly Cited Researcher, HCR, global top 1% citation, Clarivate Analytics (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024)

2. UNIST Rising-star Distinguished Professor, the highest honor the university can bestow on faculty members under the age of 45 (2022-present)

3. Member of Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology (Y-KAST) (2024-present)

4. The National Research Foundation (NRF) Postdoctoral Fellowship (2012-2013)

5. Best Doctoral Dissertation Award in Department of Materials Science and Engineering, KAIST (2012)

Selected Invited Talks 

• 1. The Materials Research Society (MRS) Meeting Invited Talks, (2021 fall, 2022 spring)

  2. The Electrochemical Society (ECS) Meeting Invited Talks, (2016, 2019)

  3. Pacific Rim Conference of Ceramic Societies, (PACRIM13, PACRIM14)

  4. International Conference on Electrochemical Energy Science and Technology (EEST 2018), Niagara Falls, Canada (2018.08.16).

  5. UK-Korea Symposium on Lithium and Sodium Batteries, London, UK, (2016.01.19).

  6. The Electrical Energy Storage Applications and Technologies (EESAT), 2015 Technical Conference, Portland, USA, (2015.09.22).

  7. Faraday Discussion 176: Next-Generation Materials for Energy Chemistry, Xiamen, China, (2014.10.28).

Professional Activities

- Conference Organizer:

1. Symposium EN14-Materials Science and Device Engineering for Safe and Long-Life Electrochemical Energy Storage, 2018 MRS Spring Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, USA

- Peer reviewer of journals including: Nature, Nature Energy, Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Chemistry, Nature Communications, Joule, Chem, Matter, iScience, Science Advances, Chemical Reviews, Chemical Society Reviews, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, ACS Energy Letters, Energy & Environmental Science, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Materials Horizons, Materials Today, Chemistry of Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Energy Storage Materials, Nano Energy, Nanoscale, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Communications, Small, Electrochemistry Communications, Electrochimica Acta, ChemSusChem, etc.

- Memberships: Electrochemical Society (ECS), Materials Research Society (MRS).