[3] Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Yokochi was a breaststroke swimmer who broke many Portuguese swimming records.

One of his most famous achievements was when he broke both the 100 m and 200 m. He competed in many international competitions such as the European Championships and Olympics whilst representing S.L.

After the completion of his degree, he joined the chemistry faculty at Oregon State University where he was a research professor working in the area of chemical crystallography.

From 2004-2017 he was a professor in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University.

Yokochi's current research focuses primarily on problems encompassing advanced functional materials and energy problems including the development of nanocomposite materials, the thermochemical production of hydrogen[broken anchor], the storage of renewable energy using flow batteries, and the development of methodology to avoid biofouling on devices deployed in the ocean.