I engineer batteries for
range
Welcome to Sam Yip's personal website!
I discover, research, and create materials for energy storage systems.
On the side, I am exploring how AI can accelerate materials discovery.
Professional
What I work on
Electrochemistry
Data Science
Material Development & Characterization
Automation & AI for Science
I am a materials scientist and engineer with 4+ years of experience in materials & process development and failure analysis for energy storage systems. Currently, I work as a Battery Electrode Engineer at Tesla, supporting the scale-up of dry electrode technology. Before Tesla, I worked at Blue Current and developed silicon-composite anodes for next-generation solid-state batteries. I obtained my M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, where my graduate research focused on plasma processing of solid-state LLZO electrolytes with Prof. Reinhold Dauskardt and Prof. Yi Cui. Across these roles, I have built a wide-ranging skill set spanning electrochemistry, materials synthesis, degradation analysis, and characterization.
Materials are like people - it's their defects that make them interesting.
Think of boron dopants turning inert silicon into a semiconductor, or carbon interstitials turning soft iron into hardened steel - these fascinate me. But I do not stop at the classical definition of a defect (dislocations, vacancies, interstitials, etc.). Dopants, additives, and engineered interfaces are defects too - each one deliberately breaks what was once a "perfect" structure, unlocking a new property and a new system waiting to be discovered. Exploring and understanding this space, which holds infinite possibilities, is the path I want to keep pursuing. Turning what I find into impactful products is my goal.
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2025 - Present San Diego, CA
Tesla
Battery Electrode Engineer
Lead the R&D pouch production team at Tesla San Diego, delivering over 600 cells a month with a team of eight technicians. Develop a systematic post-mortem analysis matrix for pouch cells, accelerating material selection, electrode processing, and scale-up.
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2024 - 2025 Hayward, CA
Blue Current
Battery Engineer
Commissioned an X-ray scanning system and developed a cell qualification method for defect detection. Applied battery data science to correlate early cell failure, particularly lithium plating, with measurable signals in cycling data.
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2022 - 2024 Stanford, CA
Stanford University
Graduate Researcher, Dauskardt & Cui Research Groups
Developed an open-air plasma process for solid-state electrolytes in lithium metal batteries. The aim was to open a path to roll-to-roll manufacturing of solid-state electrolyte at speed and scale.
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2024 Spring San Carlos, CA
Joby Aviation
Cell Test Engineering Intern
Benchmarked and cycle-tested cells from 20+ global vendors against eVTOL use cases. Built an incoming-cell quality control SOP for identifying electrolyte leakage.
Personal
The Random Gallery
Outside of work, you will usually find me with a flute in hand - I have played in a wind ensemble for eight years - or on the tennis court with friends. I also love to travel, always chasing the next place worth exploring.
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