She is active in a number of technical societies and professional associations, including MRS, AVS, ASM and APEGS and has published 136 papers in reputed refereed Journals.

Prof. Yang has developed strong expertise in the synthesis, structures, properties and correlation between structures and properties on various kinds of advanced materials and hard coatings including diamond, diamond-like carbon, nanocomposite Ti-B-N, WC-Co, amorphous and quasicrystal thin films/coatings, carbon nanostrucutres, ceramics and ceramic-based composites through her broad interdisciplinary training and extensive research experience in China, Austria, Germany, Japan and Canada. With the successful award of Canada Research Chair in 2005, she has built up a new laboratory in surface engineering and is leading a new research program in the area of nanostructured thin films/coatings. Currently she is directing many research projects and orchestrating coordinated collaborative research with many researchers possessing national and international reputations.