Assistant Professor
Office:
Email: meiqi.yang@ubc.ca.
Research Summary
Wastewater treatment, Resource recovery, Membrane separation, Interfacial solar evaporation
Education
Rice University, 2026, Postdoctoral Associate
Princeton University, 2025, Ph.D.
Yale University, 2019, MSc
Shandong University, 2018, BSc
Research interests + projects
My research group integrates advanced materials and process engineering to develop scalable, high-performance solutions for wastewater treatment and resource recovery.
Our work spans three interrelated areas:
- Design advanced membranes for selective resource recovery
We design and test new membrane that can selectively capture valuable elements from water. Our goal is to uncover precise structure–performance relationships and accelerate the development of next-generation membranes tailored to specific molecules and ions. - Develop innovative processes for sustainable mineral and metal extraction
Our group engineer energy‐efficient workflows to recover critical minerals and metals from low‐grade or complex wastewater streams by conducting reactor‐scale tests and pilot‐scale prototypes. We integrate techno‐economic and life‐cycle analyses to ensure our processes are both cost‐effective and environmentally responsible. - Build simulation environment for wastewater treatment and resource‐recovery systems
We construct serious of simulations of treatment facilities by integrating sensor networks, data assimilation methods, and predictive analytics. These platforms support real‐time monitoring, advanced process control, and proactive maintenance, paving the way for fully adaptive and resilient water infrastructure.
Awards and honours
Capees-Elsevier Outstanding Graduate Student Award, 2025
National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Entrepreneur Lead, 2025
The Thomas J. Nelson *68 and Mary Baker Nelson SEAS Fellowship, 2021
Scholarly and professional activities + affiliations
Selected publications + presentations
Yang, Kaijie, Meiqi Yang, Hongxu Chen, Sunxiang Zheng, Aashish Khandelwal, Rodney D. Priestley, and Zhiyong Jason Ren. “Interfacial solar evaporation transforms brine mineral recovery.” Science Advances 11, no. 38 (2025): eadx3242.
Chen, Xi†, Yang, Meiqi†, Sunxiang Zheng, Fernando Temprano-Coleto, Qi Dong, Guangming Cheng, Nan Yao, Howard A. Stone, Liangbing Hu, and Zhiyong Jason Ren. “Spatially Separated Crystallization for Selective Lithium Extraction from Saline Water.” Nature Water (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00131-3
Yang, Meiqi, Sunxiang Zheng, Fernando Temprano-Coleto, Howard A. Stone, and Zhiyong Jason Ren. “High efficiency selenium recovery via reactive evaporation driven by wood-based evaporator.” Chemical Engineering Journal (2025): 169106.
Yang, Meiqi, Boyang Li, Shuke Li, Qi Dong, Zhennan Huang, Sunxiang Zheng, Ying Fang et al. “Highly Selective Electrochemical Nitrate to Ammonia Conversion by Dispersed Ru in a Multielement Alloy Catalyst.” Nano Letters (2023). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c01978