Van der Zande named Highly Cited Researcher for fourth time

Nine researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2022 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list—including MechSE’s Arend van der Zande. This marks his fourth year on the list, having been listed in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

The list recognizes research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence – reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade. This year’s list includes 6,938 individuals from around the world whose papers rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science.

Van der Zande’s research focuses on the mechanics of nanostructures and leveraging the unique properties of nanomaterials for next-generation technologies like biosensors, quantum systems and wearable electronics. He is a group lead in the Illinois Material Research Science and Engineering Center, and recently won the 2022 Society of Engineering Science Young Investigator Medal. He is the youngest U. of I. faculty member to be named to this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list.

The highly cited Illinois researchers this year are: crop sciences and plant biology professor Elizabeth Ainsworth, natural resources and environmental sciences professor Kaiyu Guan, materials science and engineering professor Axel Hoffmann, atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain, materials science and engineering professor emerita Jennifer A. Lewis, plant biology professor Donald Ort, psychology professor Brent Roberts, and mechanical science and engineering professor Arend van der Zande. Psychology professor emeritus Ed Diener, who is deceased, is also on this year’s list.