December 1, 2020

Two Texas ASE/EM faculty members have been named Highly Cited Researchers according to the Highly Cited Researchers 2020 list from the Web of Science Group and Clarivate. Thomas Hughes and Nanshu Lu were among the 18 researchers named from The University of Texas at Austin.

The highly anticipated annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index.  

The methodology that determines the “who’s who” of influential researchers draws on the data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information™ at Clarivate. It also uses the tallies to identify the countries and research institutions where these scientific elite are based.   

photo of thomas hughesHughes, a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics, is one of the most widely cited authors in computational mechanics. He leads the Computational Mechanics Group at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences where research activities span fundamental mathematical investigations, the development of new and powerful computational methods and algorithms, and engineering and scientific applications.  Current focuses include isogeometric analysis and several health-related topics such as catheter-based nanoparticle drug delivery systems, heart valve flow structure and prostate tumor growth. Hughes has received numerous national and international awards for his research including the SIAM/ACM Prize, the O.C. Zienkiewicz Medal and the A.C. Eringen Medal. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S National Academy of Engineering, the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, the Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Hughes holds the Peter O'Donnell, Jr. Chair in Computational and Applied Mathematics.

photo of nanshu luLu, an associate professor of aerospace engineering, engineering mechanics and biomedical engineering, leads an interdisciplinary research group that conducts research at the convergence of the design, manufacture and human validations of soft wearable electronics. Representative work from her group includes a cost-effective cut-solder-paste” digital manufacturing method for disposable electronic-tattoos; wireless and modular e-tattoos to record human vital signs; graphene-based imperceptible and ultra-conformable e-tattoos; and adhesion and conformability between soft electronics and bio-tissues. She has over 14,000 citations and has published more than 90 peer reviewed journal articles. She has given over 130 invited talks at major conferences and research institutes and has two issued and four pending patents. Lu has received numerous awards for her working including the NSF CAREER, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program awards, the MIT Technology Review 35 under 35 award, the 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, the iCANx/ACS Nano Rising Star lectureship, and the NetExplo Grand Prix. She is a fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM). Lu holds the Temple FDN Endowed Teaching Fellowship in ENG # 1.