Dr. Yao is an associate professor in the Dept. of Electrical Engineering at University at Buffalo, and joined the department as an assistant professor in Fall 2015. Before joining UB, she was a research engineer with the University of Dayton Research Institute during the summer of 2015. She was a recipient of the 2016 US Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship award to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH. In 2012, she was a research intern at the power electronics group at ABB Corporate Research Center. 

Her current research interests include microgrid control and protection, high voltage dc transmission, modular multilevel converter, and advanced renewable energy integration. Much of her work has focused on the dc arc faults in power electronics systems, including arc characteristic modeling, fault detection, and impact study to controller and system stability. Her research also includes power electronics circuits in high power and high voltage applications, especially Modular Multilevel Converter and its applications in HVDC and power supply of fusion power plant. 

• PhD, Electrical Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2015
• MS, Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China, 2010
• BS, Electrical Engineering, Xi;an Jiaotong University, China, 2007