Prof. Yan brings expertise in the field of energy resources and petroleum engineering to the Physical Science and Engineering Division at KAUST as a teacher and the principle investigator of the Deep-Geo Engineering & Modeling Lab (DGYM), an interdisciplinary group focused on physics & data-driven reservoir modeling and simulation. Prior to joining KAUST in 2021, Yan held a postdoctoral research associate appointment in computational earth science with Los Alamos National Laboratories, USA. He brings in-depth industry experience through roles such as reservoir simulation engineer with ConocoPhillips, reservoir engineer and asset reservoir lead with Sanchez Oil & Gas, and senior data scientist with DeepCast. Yan is a member of numerous professional associations, including the Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Geophysical Union and International Society of Porous Media.​

Professor Yan's research is focused on physics- and data-driven modeling for complex subsurface processes pertaining to geo-energy systems and environmental domains. Areas of investigation include reservoir simulation and surrogate modeling for flow and transport in porous media (mainly shale). Research conducted in the DGYM adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating physics with data analytics in geo-energy reservoir simulation, history matching and reservoir optimization. The DGYM group aims to develop advanced physics-driven numerical simulation and data-driven modeling technologies to increase understanding of subsurface processes such as hydrocarbon recovery, geological carbon storage and recovery, and hydrogen storage, with the goal to enhance sustainability of the energy supply and also decrease environmental risks associated with subsurface engineering operations. ​