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Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

D-Index
84
Citations
23211
World Ranking
158
National Ranking
79

Materials Science

D-Index
84
Citations
23425
World Ranking
2280
National Ranking
659

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in United States Leader Award
  • 2020 - Member of the National Academy of Engineering For contributions bridging nanoscale experimentation and atomistic simulations.
  • 2019 - Member of Academia Europaea
  • 2019 - William Prager Medal
  • 2013 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2004 - Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

Overview

Horacio D. Espinosa is affiliated with Northwestern University in the United States. Their research spans across engineering and materials science, with significant contributions in subfields such as materials chemistry, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, biotechnology, and biomaterials.

Their scholarly work covers various main topics including microbial inactivation methods, microfluidic and bio-sensing technologies, machine learning in materials science, advanced materials and mechanics, CRISPR and genetic engineering, calcium carbonate crystallization and inhibition, and graphene research and applications.

Espinosa's recent publications include:

  • Recent Advances and Applications of Machine Learning in Experimental Solid Mechanics: A Review, 2023, Applied Mechanics Reviews
  • Machine learning assisted design of shape-programmable 3D kirigami metamaterials, 2022, npj Computational Materials
  • Folding at the Microscale: Enabling Multifunctional 3D Origami-Architected Metamaterials, 2020, Small
  • Scaling up single-cell mechanics to multicellular tissues - the role of the intermediate filament-desmosome network, 2020, Journal of Cell Science
  • High Throughput and Highly Controllable Methods for In Vitro Intracellular Delivery, 2020, Small

Frequent co-authors working alongside Espinosa include Prithvijit Mukherjee, Cesar A. Patino, Nicolas A. Alderete, Nibir Pathak, and Hanxun Jin.

Espinosa's research has been published extensively in venues such as Small, arXiv (Cornell University), Advanced Materials, Experimental Mechanics, and npj Computational Materials.

Recognition for their scientific career includes:

  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2020) for contributions bridging nanoscale experimentation and atomistic simulations
  • Member of Academia Europaea (2019)
  • William Prager Medal (2019)
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2013)
  • Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2004)
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

Best Publications

  • Measurements of near-ultimate strength for multiwalled carbon nanotubes and irradiation-induced crosslinking improvements.

    Bei Peng;Mark Locascio;Peter Zapol;Shuyou Li

  • On the mechanics of mother-of-pearl: a key feature in the material hierarchical structure

    F. Barthelat;H. Tang;P.D. Zavattieri;C.-M. Li

  • Merger of structure and material in nacre and bone - Perspectives on de novo biomimetic materials

    Horacio D. Espinosa;Jee E. Rim;Francois Barthelat;Markus J. Buehler

  • An Experimental Investigation of Deformation and Fracture of Nacre–Mother of Pearl

    F. Barthelat;H. D. Espinosa

  • A grain level model for the study of failure initiation and evolution in polycrystalline brittle materials. Part I: Theory and numerical implementation

    Horacio D. Espinosa;Pablo D. Zavattieri

  • Elasticity size effects in ZnO nanowires--a combined experimental-computational approach.

    Ravi Agrawal;Bei Peng;Eleftherios E. Gdoutos;Horacio D. Espinosa;Horacio D. Espinosa

  • Nanoelectromechanical contact switches

    Owen Y. Loh;Horacio D. Espinosa

  • Plasticity size effects in free-standing submicron polycrystalline FCC films subjected to pure tension

    H.D. Espinosa;B.C. Prorok;B. Peng

  • An electromechanical material testing system for in situ electron microscopy and applications

    Yong Zhu;Horacio Dante Espinosa

  • Tablet-level origin of toughening in abalone shells and translation to synthetic composite materials

    Horacio Dante Espinosa;Allison L. Juster;Felix J. Latourte;Owen Y. Loh

  • A methodology for determining mechanical properties of freestanding thin films and MEMS materials

    H.D Espinosa;B.C Prorok;M Fischer

  • Mechanical properties of nacre constituents and their impact on mechanical performance

    François Barthelat;Chun-Ming Li;Claudia Comi;Horacio D. Espinosa

  • Giant piezoelectric size effects in zinc oxide and gallium nitride nanowires. A first principles investigation.

    Ravi Agrawal;Horacio D. Espinosa

  • A Review of Mechanical and Electromechanical Properties of Piezoelectric Nanowires

    Horacio Dante Espinosa;Rodrigo A. Bernal;Majid Minary-Jolandan

  • Grain level analysis of crack initiation and propagation in brittle materials

    P.D Zavattieri;H.D Espinosa

  • A thermal actuator for nanoscale in situ microscopy testing: design and characterization

    Yong Zhu;Alberto Corigliano;Horacio D Espinosa

  • Ultrahigh Strength and Stiffness in Cross‐Linked Hierarchical Carbon Nanotube Bundles

    T. Filleter;R. Bernal;S. Li;Horacio Dante Espinosa

  • Experimental-computational investigation of ZnO nanowires strength and fracture.

    Ravi Agrawal;Bei Peng;Horacio D. Espinosa

  • Materials science and fabrication processes for a new MEMS technology based on ultrananocrystalline diamond thin films

    Orlando Auciello;James Birrell;John A Carlisle;Jennifer E Gerbi

  • Design and Operation of a MEMS-Based Material Testing System for Nanomechanical Characterization

    H.D. Espinosa;Yong Zhu;N. Moldovan

Frequent Co-Authors

Yong Zhu
Yong Zhu North Carolina State University
Pablo D. Zavattieri
Pablo D. Zavattieri Purdue University West Lafayette
Tobin Filleter
Tobin Filleter University of Toronto
Francois Barthelat
Francois Barthelat University of Colorado Boulder
SonBinh T. Nguyen
SonBinh T. Nguyen Northwestern University
Nicola Pugno
Nicola Pugno University of Trento
Orlando Auciello
Orlando Auciello The University of Texas at Dallas
John A. Kessler
John A. Kessler Northwestern University
George C. Schatz
George C. Schatz Northwestern University
Jiaxing Huang
Jiaxing Huang Northwestern University

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