Yating Wan is now an Assistant Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Her expertise lies in Silicon Photonics, with a pronounced focus on the integration of on-chip light sources. She pursued her Ph.D. at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) under Prof. Kei May Lau's guidance, followed by an enriching 6-year postdoctoral stint with Prof. John Bowers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

At the heart of Dr. Wan's research is a vision to revolutionize Silicon Photonics, emphasizing on-chip light source integration. These innovations find applications in diverse arenas such as data communication, optical computing, and quantum information processing. Her dedication is mirrored in her extensive publication record: over 60 peer-reviewed papers. She has notably taken the lead in 23 journals as the first author and 6 as the corresponding author, further supplemented by her 12 first-author conference papers, journal covers, a postdeadline conference paper, and a book chapter.

Outside her immediate research spectrum, Dr. Wan has been a proactive contributor to the broader academic community. She has functioned as the Manager & Column Editor for The LSA Editorial Office in Thuwal and extended her editorial expertise to APL Photonics, elight, and JQE as an Associate Editor. Furthermore, her acumen has been instrumental in her roles as an Associate Guest Editor for JSTQE and a Committee Member for marquee events like 2022&2023 CLEO and IPR. In addition, she has been a referee for a myriad of prestigious journals, spanning IEEE, OSA, and the Nature Publishing Group for more than 100 times.

Her pioneering endeavors, notably in the integration of long-wavelength quantum dot devices on silicon, have earned her widespread acclaim. With a Google Scholar citation count of 2,579 and an h-index of 29, her accolades include the 2016-17 School of Engineering Ph.D. Research Excellence Award from HKUST, 2021 CLEO Tingye Li Innovation Prize, 2022 Rising Stars of Light, 2018 PIERS Young Scientist Award, 2018 Rising Stars Women in Engineering Asia, 2020 Rising Stars Women in EECS, and the 2021 OGC Best Young Scientist Award.