Yao Weiguang is the Sr. Director for Asia Pacific R&D; he is responsible for building core and business-aligned research capabilities at Dow, reporting to Theresa Kotanchek, global technology director, Asia Pacific. Yao is based in Shanghai.

Yao joined Dow in April, 2007. Before joining the company, Yao was general manager of Pacific Technology for Momentive Performance Material (formerly GE Toshiba Silicone). Yao has held key technology positions within GE Plastics and Advanced Materials for the past seven years, including general manager of Pacific Technology for GE-Toshiba Silicones, manager of the Technology Center for GE Plastics, Japan; manager of Pacific Noryl technology for GE Plastics, and compounding specialist and team leader for Pacific Noryl technology, GE Plastics. In his roles, Yao was involved in new product and application development to grow markets in the Pacific and globally. 

Yao is a graduate of Yamagata University in Japan with a doctorate in polymer science and engineering, a master degree in chemical engineering from East China University of Science and Technology, and a bachelor degree in physics from Yancheng Normal University in China.  He holds 11 patents and is the author of numerous publications.