XiaoYu Wu (He/Him)

Professor XiaoYu Wu’s research group, Greener Production @ Waterloo combines expertise in thermal science, material engineering and techno-economics to develop sustainable technologies for energy conversion and chemical production. Both experimental and numerical methods will be applied to develop a fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics in the processes. Thermo-electro-chemical processes is of interest to maximize system versatility. The kinetics and reaction mechanisms can be obtained from high throughput benchtop reactors and physical models. System-scaled numerical analysis will be used to investigate the optimal operating conditions and the energy-chemical integration. Techno-economic assessment will also be explored to evaluate the costs. These findings will accelerate the material development and process optimization and facilitate the commercialization of these technologies. The goal is to utilize renewable resources and improve global living standards.

Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, XiaoYu was a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he also obtained his Ph.D. degree. He has published papers in journals such as Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, AIChE Journal and ChemSusChem. He serves as the Guest Associate Editor in an open-access journal Frontiers in Energy Research for a theme collection of “Sustainable Hydrogen for Energy, Fuel and Commodity Applications.”

• Hydrogen production

• Ammonia economy

• Energy storage

• Techno-economic assessment

• Sustainability

• Oxygen transport membrane reactor

• Thermochemical redox kinetics

• CO2 capture and utilization

• Solid oxide electrochemical cells

• 2017, Doctorate Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

• 2012, Master of Science Thermal & Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, China

• 2009, Bachelor of Science (BS) Energy & Environment System Engineering, Chu Ko-Chen Honors College & Zhejiang University, China

• 2025 Outstanding Performance Award, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo

• 2023 Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology Research Leaders Award

• 2023 Top Downloaded Paper in Advanced Functional Materials

• ME 250 - Thermodynamics 1
  • Taught in 2023, 2024
• ME 353 - Heat Transfer 1
  • Taught in 2021, 2022
• ME 651 - Heat Conduction
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2024
• ME 659 - Energy and Environment
  • Taught in 2020
• MTE 309 - Introduction to Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
  • Taught in 2022, 2023
• SYDE 381 - Thermodynamics
  • Taught in 2023

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• D. Ding, X.Y. Wu, “Evaluating the Economic and Carbon Emission Reduction Potential of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle-to-Grid,” DeCarbon, 7 2025 100096

• C. Cunanan, M. Jain, A.D. Nimubona, X.Y. Wu, “Cost benefit analysis of grid-based electrolytic ammonia production across Canadian provinces,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 99 2025 793-807

• S. Skribbe, M. Liu, S. Patel, M.J. Rix, F. Bensebaa, L. Mak, X.Y. Wu, “The levelized cost of carbon abatement (LCCA) in substituting conventional ammonia production with power-to-ammonia for fertilizer, hydrogen and export,” Applied Energy, 373 2024 123859

• D. Ding, X.Y. Wu, “Hydrogen fuel cell electric trains: technologies, current status, and future,” Applications in Energy and Combustion Science, 7 2024 100255

• M.A. Giovanniello, X.Y. Wu, “Hybrid lithium-ion battery and hydrogen energy storage systems for a wind-supplied microgrid,” Applied Energy, 345 2023 121311

• C.J. Cunanan, C.A.E. Casas, M. Yorke, M. Fowler, X.Y. Wu, “Design and analysis of an offshore wind power to ammonia production system in Nova Scotia,” Energies, 15(24) 2022 9558

• M. Jain, R. Muthalathu, X.Y. Wu, “Electrified ammonia production as a commodity and energy storage medium to connect the food, energy, and trade sectors,” iScience, 25 (8) 2022 104724

• G. Chen, A. Feldhoff, A. Weidenkaff. C. Li, S. Liu, X. Zhu, J. Sunarso, K. Huang, X.Y. Wu, A. F. Ghoniem, W. Yang, J. Xue, H. Wang, Z. Shao, J.H. Duffy, K.S. Brinkman, X. Tan, Y. Zhang, H. Jiang, R. Costa, K. A. Friedrich, R. Kriegel, “Roadmap on Sustainable Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conducting Membranes,” Advanced Functional Materials, 32 (6) 2022 2105702

• Research team uses idle trucks to power the grid
• Using ammonia to push hydrogen as an alternative fuel
• Engineering researchers awarded almost $1.5 million
• Transitioning to a net-zero economy
• Lessons learned: undergraduate student contributes to green energy research
• Researchers awarded $874,000 for tools, equipment