2025 AWARDS

Academician Jien-Wei Yeh

The World’s First and Only “Father of High-Entropy Alloys”

Forges the Strongest High-temperature Metal on Earth

Publishing Breakthrough Materials Ahead of Europe, the U.S., and Japan — an Astonishing Debut

 

In the fictional plots of Marvel movies, Captain America’s shield and the rare resource that the nation of Wakanda fiercely protects —Vibranium alloy — are said to possess the hardest metal on Earth. However, in real life, Distinguished Research Chair Professor — Dr. Jien-Wei Yeh of National Tsing Hua University — has in fact invented a metal claimed to be the strongest high-temperature alloy on Earth that resists high temperatures, corrosion, and radiation, which is of “High Entropy Alloys (HEAs)” bringing an epoch-making breakthrough to 21st-century materials science. Dr. Yeh has also been hailed as the “Father of High-Entropy Alloys.”

Traditional alloy design typically uses one principal element as the base and adjusts it with small amounts of other elements; however, Dr. Yeh broke with conventional thinking and was the first to propose a brand-new materials design concept focused on “multiple principal elements.” He successfully developed high-entropy energy, military industry, and electronics.

In 2006, Dr. Yeh proposed 4 core effects of high-entropy materials:

(1) the high-entropy effect, which makes the formation of solid solution phases easier when multiple elements are mixed;

(2) the lattice distortion effect, where different atomic sizes and element interactions produce severe lattice distortion and strain compared to traditional alloys, affecting overall properties such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, hardness, and strength;

(3) the sluggish diffusion effect, whereby competition among multiple elemental atoms and lattice distortion hinder atomic diffusion, slowing phase transformations and changes in properties, thereby promoting high-temperature stability of the materials;

(4) the cocktail effect, in which the characteristics of various elements, interactions among elements, and structural factors together influence different material properties — by designing appropriate compositions and processing, synergistic enhanced properties and diversified applications can be achieved.

Combining these 4 core effects, Dr. Yeh established a complete physical-metallurgy framework for high-entropy alloys, which has become the theoretical basis for global research on high-entropy materials. These theories have been widely cited by the international academic community and have become important tools for predicting material properties and designing new structural alloys, greatly advancing materials science. In 2024, Dr. Yeh was invited by Nature Reviews Chemistry to publish a perspective review article, Clarifying the Four Core Effects of High-Entropy Materials, which systematically elaborated the 4 core effects of high entropy materials and clarified academic debates on certain effects, consolidating the authority of his theory in the international academic community.

According to Stanford University’s statistics based on Scopus citation data, Dr. Yeh ranked second in the world for scientific influence in the materials field from 2021 and 2025. He was also invited to serve as one of the editors-in-chief of the journal High Entropy Alloys & Materials. In 2024, he received the IMRC Outstanding Contribution Award at the 32nd IMRC in Cancun, Mexico; the conference specially organized a “High-Entropy Materials Symposium” to honor him, which became the most popular session, fully demonstrating his leadership in the international materials field.

Dr. Yeh has long been committed to teaching at National Tsing Hua University, nurturing countless outstanding students and becoming an important mainstay of Taiwan’s academia and industry. In addition, he actively promotes industry academia collaboration, successfully translating experimental results into commercially promising technologies and products, injecting strong momentum into industry.

Dr. Yeh is not only a pioneer in materials science but also an important promoter of strengthening Taiwan’s research capacity and international visibility. He stated: “Following others only decorates what’s already there and has limited research value; only continuous innovation can realize the greatest research value.” This spirit of persistent innovation is Dr. Yeh’s most precious inspiration to Taiwan, to science, and to the future.

 

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