Dr Yang Xiao

Dr. Yang Xiao received his PhD degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Sheffield, UK in 2021.

He joined the School of Engineering at the University of Leicester in Dec 2023 as a Lecturer in Engineering (Electrical & Electronics). He is the Deputy Director of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering discipline at the University of Leicester. Prior to his current position, he worked as lecturer in School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Senior Research Engineer at Dyson Technology, Ltd, UK. 

He has more than 10 years of experience in the research of electrical machines from large scale >100MW level generators for hydro generation & pumped storage through high torque density and fault-tolerant traction motors in Electric Vehicles and Full-Electrical Planes to ultra-high-speed machines for energy storage and domestic appliances. He leaded more than 5 projects collaborating with industry for research and development of novel electrical machine design & drives and most of them have been successfully commercialized.

During the course of his academic and industrial career, he has 20 granted US/EU/China patents. He has also published more than 40 papers, and many of them in leading IEEE Transaction/IET Proceeding Journals. He has received several Best Paper/Best Presentation Awards from international conferences including ICPRE 25 SMART 24 ISEEIE 24 ICPRE 23 and CEFC 16.

He lead 1 invited keynote speech in IEEE SCEMS 25 and participated in 2 invited keynote speeches in Intermag 21 and CIEEC 21 and a tutorial in ISEEIE 24. He organise and serve as special session chair in ICEM 26, ECCE-Euro 25, ICEM 24, and session chair in many conferences. He also serves as organising committe member and co-chairs in IET ICTEES 26, ICTEES 25, and IEEE ISEEIE 24. He serves as Reviewer of leading IEEE Trans. & IET Proc. journals including IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., and IEEE Trans. Power Electron, and also seves as Leading Guest Editors in Special issues of Energies and Electronics. He is the panel member of IEEE Transportation Electrification Council UK & Ireland Chapter.

He actively engages with learned society and undertakes several roles:

• Deputy Director of MEng/BEng Electrical & Electronic Engineering Programme,
• Librarian Officer, School of Engineering,
• Editor, IEEE Trans. Energy Conversion (2024-present),
• Editor, IEEE Trans. Transportation Electrification (2026-present).

My current research interests including

1. AI-enhanced Data-driven and Physics-informed Technology for the Design and Optimization of Electrical Machine Systems
2. LLM-assisted Engineering Design and Manufacturing for Electrical Machine Drives
3. Sustainble, Reusable and Curiosity-aware Design and Manufacturing of Electrical Machine Drives 
4. Advanced Electrical Machine Design and Control for Electrified Transportation: All-Electric Aircrafts & Electrical Vehicle
5. Design and Manufacturing Techniques of Ultra-High Speed Electrical Machine in Intelligent Energy Storage and Domestic Appliance(6) High Power Density and High Precision Motor Drives for Humanoid Robots and Robotic Arms
6. Development and Application of Novel Electromagnetic Materials in Electrical Machines

I have lead up to £500k research projects as PI or Co-I:

(1) AI-driven recyclable motor drives design (UKRI)

(2) EMagents - local LLM AI agents for intelligent and sustainable electrical machine drives (Innovate UK) 

(3) Recyclable motor drives for electrified transportation (UKRI)

(4) AI-assisted high-speed machine design and optimization (UoL-CSC)

(5) AI-aided motor design and optimization (Industry)

(6) High power density and lightweight permanent magnet (PM) machine for electrical aviation (Industry)

(7) Ultra-high efficiency PM machine (Industry)

(8) Active energy router through doubly-fed induction machine and reusable battery package (Industry)

(9) Novel compact PM motor for robotic arms (Industry)

Publication List

2026

[1] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, X. Lyu, D. Liang, B. Ji and R. Wang, “Torque Ripple Suppression in Asymmetric Interior Permanent Magnet Machine with Dual-layer Rotor Topology,” IEEE Trans. Transportation Electrification, early access. doi: 10.1109/TTE.2026.3713082.

[2] M. Xia, Y. Shen, Y. Dong, and Y. Xiao*, “Rotor Topology Optimization for Interior Permanent Magnet Machines Considering Manufacturability,” IEEE Trans. Transportation Electrification, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 4219-4230, June 2026

[3] F. Huang, Y. Ma, Y. Li, J. Guo, X. Li and Y. Xiao*, “A battery energy storage system integrated with multi-phase multi-port machine for inertia support,” International Conference on Transport Electrification and Energy Storage (ICTEES 2025), Leicester, UK, 2026, pp. 89-93.

[4] Y. Xiao*, X. Lyu, J. Zhang, A. Yu, Y. Zheng, and R. Wang, “1 MW-Class High-Speed Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines for Electrical Aviation Propulsion,” Electronics, vol. 15, pp. 1163, March 2026, doi: 10.3390/electronics15061163

[5] L. Liu, Y. Ma, L. Sun, H. Kang, K. Shuai, Z.Q. Zhu, and Y. Xiao*, “Efficient multi-objective optimization of an asymmetric rotor IPMSM with hybrid poles.” IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 2311-2323, April 2026.

[6] Z. Li, L Liu, Y. Xiao, Y. Ma, et al. “Multi-objective optimization of permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance machine based on dual-driven model with search space reduction method.” Electric Power Systems Research 250 (2026): 112159.

2025

[1] Liyang Liu, Zequan Li, Haoyu Kang, Yang Xiao, Lu Sun, Hang Zhao, Z.Q. Zhu, Yiming Ma, Review of surrogate model assisted multi-objective design optimization of electrical machines: New opportunities and challenges, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 215, 2025, 115609.

[2] S. Wang, Z.Q. Zhu, Y. Xiao, D. Liang. “Analysis of Torque Characteristics in Dual Three-Phase PMSMs with Asymmetric IPM Rotors”. Energies, 18, 5477, 2025.

[3] X. Chen, X. Zhang, X. He, J. Yang, Y. Xiang and Y. Xiao, "A Modified Three-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Converter for a Low Carrier Ratio," 2025 10th International Conference on Power and Renewable Energy (ICPRE), Hangzhou, China, 2025, pp. 366-370.

2024

[1] M. Xia, J. Li and Y. Xiao*, "Manufacturability Oriented Topology Optimization of Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor," 2024 International Conference on Electrical Machines (ICEM), Torino, Italy, 2024, pp. 1-6.

[2] Y. Xiao*, R. Wang, B. Ji, Y. Ma and Z. Q. Zhu, "A Novel Dual-Layer Asymmetric Interior Permanent Magnet Machine with High Torque Density and Low Torque Ripple," 2024 Third International Conference on Sustainable Mobility Applications, Renewables and Technology (SMART), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2024, pp. 1-7. (Best paper award)

[3] X. Zhang, Y. Ma, Y. Li, Y. Shen, J. Hou and Y. Xiao*, "Electromagnetic Design of Ultra-high Efficiency Permanent Magnet Machines with Integrated Drives," 2024 International Symposium on Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering (ISEEIE), Leicester, United Kingdom, 2024, pp. 177-181. (Best paper award)

[4] Y. Xiao*, R. Wang, L. Liu, et al, “Novel Modular-Rotor Asymmetric Permanent Magnet Generators for Wind Power Generation” International Joint Conference on Energy, Electrical and Power Engineering (CoEEPE), Nanning, China, Nov. 2024, pp 529-534

[5] L. Liu, Y. Ma, K. Shuai, Y. Xiao, H. Kang, Z. Ou, H. Zhao, “A Comparative Study of V-shaped IPMSMs with Asymmetric and Symmetric Rotors,” 2024 The 9th International Conference on Power and Renewable Energy (ICPRE), Guangzhou, China, 2024, pp. 108-113.

2023

[1] L. Liu, Y. Ma, R. Wang, Z. Li, Y. Xiao and H. Zhao, "Analytical Model Transfer-Based Surrogate-Assisted Design Optimization for SPMVM Using Structural Similarity," 2023 26th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Zhuhai, China, 2023, pp. 4060-4064.

[2] Y. Ma, L. Sun, Y. Xiao, J. Wang, J. Liu and L. Zhou, "Analytical Model of Doubly-fed Induction Generator-motors for Full-region Operation Analysis," 2023 26th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Zhuhai, China, 2023, pp. 4472-4476.

[3] Y. Xiao, Y. Xiao*, Y. Ma, R. Wang, J. Wang and L. Zhou, "Comparison between Surface-mounted and Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines for Low Voltage Regulation Applications," 2023 26th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Zhuhai, China, 2023, pp. 4081-4086.

[4] L. Liu, Y. Ma, R. Wang, Z. Li, Y. Xiao and H. Zhao, "Analytical Model Transfer-Based Surrogate-Assisted Design Optimization for SPMVM Using Structural Similarity," 2023 26th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Zhuhai, China, 2023, pp. 4060-4064. (Best paper award)

2022

[1] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, G. W. Jewell, J. T. Chen, D. Wu and L. M. Gong, "Influence of Armature Reaction on Magnetic-Field-Shifting Effect in Asymmetric Interior Permanent Magnet Machines," in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 1475-1488, June 2022.

[2] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, G. W. Jewell, J. T. Chen, D. Wu and L. M. Gong, "A Novel Asymmetric Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine," in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 3370-3382, May-June 2022.

[3] Y. Ma, J. Wang, Y. Xiao*, L. Zhou and Z. Q. Zhu, "Two-Level Surrogate-Assisted Transient Parameters Design Optimization of a Wound-Field Synchronous Machine," in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 737-747, March 2022.

[4] Y. Ma, Y. Xiao*, J. Wang and L. Zhou, "Multicriteria Optimal Latin Hypercube Design-Based Surrogate-Assisted Design Optimization for a Permanent-Magnet Vernier Machine," in IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 1-5, Feb. 2022.

[5] Z. Q. Zhu and Y. Xiao, "Novel Magnetic-Field-Shifting Techniques in Asymmetric Rotor Pole Interior PM Machines With Enhanced Torque Density," in IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 1-10, Feb. 2022.

[6] Feng J, Xu P, Zhu Z, Wang S, Shao B, Xiao Y, Guo S, Li Y, Feng S. Comparative study of dual 3‐phase permanent magnet machines with coil span of two slot‐pitches. IET Electric Power Applications. 2022 Dec;16(12):1426-38.

2021

[1] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, G. W. Jewell, J. Chen, D. Wu and L. Gong, "A Novel Spoke-Type Asymmetric Rotor Interior Permanent Magnet Machine," in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 4840-4851, Sept.-Oct. 2021.

[2] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, S. S. Wang, G. W. Jewell, J. Chen, D. Wu and L. Gong, "A Novel Asymmetric Interior Permanent Magnet Machine for Electric Vehicles," in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 2404-2415, Sept. 2021.

[3] Ma Y, Wang J, Xiao Y*, Zhou L, Kang H. Transfer learning‐based surrogate‐assisted design optimisation of a five‐phase magnet‐shaping PMSM. IET Electric Power Applications. 2021 Oct;15(10):1281-99.

[4] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, G. W. Jewell, J. Chen, D. Wu and L. Gong, "A Novel Asymmetric Rotor Interior Permanent Magnet Machine With Hybrid-Layer Permanent Magnets," in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 5993-6006, Nov.-Dec. 2021.

2020

[1] Y. Xiao, Z. -Q. Zhu, J. -T. Chen, D. Wu and L. -M. Gong, "A Novel Asymmetric Rotor Interior PM Machine with Hybrid-layer PMs," 2020 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Detroit, MI, USA, 2020, pp. 4029-4035.

[2] Y. Xiao, Z. -Q. Zhu, J. -T. Chen, D. Wu and L. -M. Gong, "A Novel Spoke-type Asymmetric Rotor Interior PM Machine," 2020 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Detroit, MI, USA, 2020, pp. 4050-4057.

[3] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, J. T. Chen, D. Wu and L. M. Gong, "A Novel Asymmetric Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine," 2020 International Conference on Electrical Machines (ICEM), Gothenburg, Sweden, 2020, pp. 26-32.

[4] Y. Xiao, Z. Q. Zhu, J. T. Chen, D. Wu and L. M. Gong, "A Novel V-shape Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine with Asymmetric Spoke-type Flux Barrier," 2020 International Conference on Electrical Machines (ICEM), Gothenburg, Sweden, 2020, pp. 382-388.

Prior to 2020

[1] Xiao Y, Zhou L, Wang J, Liu J. Design and performance analysis of magnetic slot wedge application in double‐fed asynchronous motor‐generator by finite‐element method. IET Electric Power Applications. 2018 Aug;12(7):1040-7.

[2] Y. Ma, L. Zhou, J. Wang, J. Zhao, L. Shentu and Y. Xiao, "A New Parameters Identification Method for Novel Synchronous Condenser Based on Particle Swarm Algorithm and Wavelet Transform," 2018 21st International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Jeju, Korea (South), 2018, pp. 593-597.

[3] F. Wang, L. Zhou, J. Wang, Y. Xiao, J. Zhou and L. Shentu, "A Novel Dual-Stator Permanent Magnet Vernier Machine with Magnets in Rotor and Both Stators," 2018 21st International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Jeju, Korea (South), 2018, pp. 197-201.

[4] R. Yang, L. Zhou, J. Wang, Y. Xiao and Z. Ling, "Performance calculation for a canned solid-rotor induction motor with squirrel-cage," 2017 20th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2017, pp. 1-5.

[5] Xiao, Y.; Zhou, L.; Wang, J.; Yang, R. Finite Element Computation of Transient Parameters of a Salient-Pole Synchronous Machine. Energies2017, 10, 1015.

[6] K. Tang, L. Zhou, J. Wang, Y. Xiao and S. Wang, "Rotor design and optimization of the single-phase line-start synchronous reluctance motor," 2017 20th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2017, pp. 1-4.

[7] Y. Xiao, L. Zhou, J. Wang and R. Yang, "Transient parameters calculation of salient-pole synchronous machine by finite element analysis," 2016 IEEE Conference on Electromagnetic Field Computation (CEFC), Miami, FL, USA, 2016, pp. 1-1.

I warmly welcome PhD students, Postdocs, and Visiting Researchers on topics falling within my current research interests.

For PhD students

I am recruiting talented PhD students who have interests in electrical machine, power electronics and power systems. A candidate is expected to have a master's degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Control (Automation), Computer Science, Physics, and other related disciplines.

The research topics for potential PhD students include but are not limited to:

1. AI-enhanced Data-driven and Physics-informed Technology for the Design and Optimization of Electrical Machine Systems
2. LLM-assisted Engineering Design and Manufacturing for Electrical Machine Drives
3. Sustainble, Reusable and Curiosity-aware Design and Manufacturing of Electrical Machine Drives 
4. Advanced Electrical Machine Design and Control for Electrified Transportation: All-Electric Aircrafts & Electrical Vehicle
5. Design and Manufacturing Techniques of Ultra-High Speed Electrical Machine in Intelligent Energy Storage and Domestic Appliance
6. High Power Density and High Precision Motor Drives for Humanoid Robots and Robotic Arms
7. Development and Application of Novel Electromagnetic Materials in Electrical Machines

For applicants requiring a scholarship to fund their research and support their living in the UK, I would be happy to support the application.  

I plan to recruit several PhD students with potential fundings in topics as follows, plesae reach out for more details.

(1) Advanced electrical machine design for electrified aircrafts (University scholarship/External scholarships)

(2) Data-driven design methodology considering multi-physics for electrical machine drives (University scholarship/External scholarships)

(3) Ultra-high speed and high performance machine design (Industry sponsership)  

For Postdoctoral researchers  

I am very happy to host Postdocs researchers to apply for Postdocs followships. The next available opportunity is Marie-curie individual fellowship. Please reach out for discussion if you are interested.

For Visiting students

My teamwarmly welcome short-term (up to 1 year) visiting PhD and Master students across the world. The team is current hosting visiting students or short-term internship visiting students from leading universities in EU, China and South Korea.

EG2212 Electrical Machines and Drives

EG4211-EG7034 Advanced Electrical Machine

EG4231-EG7231 Real-time Simulation for Industry 4.0

EG4221-EG7035 Advanced Electronically Controlled Drives

EG3005 Third Year Project

EG7020 MSc Project

EG7302 Engineering Management Project