Having your work cited by peers as they conduct their own studies is a sign of quality, respect, and success for researchers around the world, regardless of discipline.
Stanford University recently undertook the task of ranking scientists based on the number of citations that they’ve received throughout the course of their careers, coming up with a list of more than 150,000 people representing the top 2 percent of cited researchers in the world.
Of those, 54 current or former faculty members of the Tickle College of Engineering made the list, with 8 being from the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering (MABE).
The citations stretch 56 years from 1964 through 2020.
“We are very proud of the long, successful track record that our faculty have built in establishing themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields,” said Janis Terpenny, dean of the Tickle College of Engineering and Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair at UT. “This recognition is well earned, and I congratulate all who were so honored.”
MABE faculty to make the list are:
| Name | Citation Score | Subject Field (According to the study) |
| Matthew Mench | 3.875465867 | Energy |
| Suresh Babu | 3.848551838 | Materials |
| Tony Schmitz | 3.694875324 | Industrial Engineering and Automation |
| Uday Vaidya | 3.225393219 | Materials |
| Kenneth Kihm | 3.222164727 | Mechanical Engineering and Transports |
| *John Landes | 3.158810413 | Mechanical Engineering and Transports |
| *Jay Frankel | 3.098944456 | Mechanical Engineering and Transports |
| Mohamed Mahfouz | 3.063438756 | Networking and Telecommunications |
*Denotes emeritus status
MABE faculty also stood out with Doug Aaron, Brett Compton, Jim Coder, Zhenbo Wang, Babu, Mahfouz, Mench, Schmitz, and Vaidya making the single year citation list.
“As scientists and researchers, we broaden our understanding of the world and of our disciplines by building on the work of our peers,” said UT Knoxville Vice Chancellor for Research Deborah Crawford. “To have your contributions cited by fellow scientists is incredibly rewarding, and it demonstrates the important discoveries we are making every day here at UT.”