World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Materials Science
China
2026
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Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
China
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

D-Index
131
Citations
73998
World Ranking
13
National Ranking
2

Materials Science

D-Index
136
Citations
78204
World Ranking
269
National Ranking
76

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Materials Science in China Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in China Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Materials Science in China Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in China Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Materials Science in Singapore Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in Singapore Leader Award
  • 2019 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2018 - Member of Academia Europaea
  • 2018 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2017 - Theodore von Karman Medal
  • 2015 - William Prager Medal
  • 2015 - Nadai Medal, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
  • 2012 - Member of the National Academy of Engineering For contributions to micromechanics of thin films and hierarchically structured materials.
  • 2011 - Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • 2003 - Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • 1995 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

Overview

Huajian Gao is affiliated with Tsinghua University in China and has an extensive research record primarily in the fields of Engineering and Materials Science. Their work spans several subfields such as Materials Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Biomedical Engineering, and Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

The scientist's research topics cover a diverse array of areas including Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions, Microstructure and mechanical properties, Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials, Advanced Materials and Mechanics, Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications, Graphene research and applications, and High Entropy Alloys Studies.

Some notable recent publications by Huajian Gao include:

  • Technology Roadmap for Flexible Sensors, 2023, ACS Nano
  • Heterostructured materials: superior properties from hetero-zone interaction, 2020, Materials Research Letters
  • Mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of gradient nanostructured metals and alloys, 2020, Nature Reviews Materials
  • A universal interface for plug-and-play assembly of stretchable devices, 2023, Nature
  • Nanoparticle elasticity regulates phagocytosis and cancer cell uptake, 2020, Science Advances

Frequent co-authors collaborating with Huajian Gao include Guijin Zou, Brian W. Sheldon, Xiaoyan Li, Changhong Linghu, and Christos E. Athanasiou.

Huajian Gao's publications have appeared most often in the following venues:

  • Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids
  • SSRN Electronic Journal
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Nature Communications
  • arXiv (Cornell University)

The scientist has received multiple awards and honors, including:

  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2019
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018
  • Member of Academia Europaea, 2018
  • Theodore von Karman Medal, 2017
  • William Prager Medal, 2015
  • Nadai Medal, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2015
  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering, 2012, for contributions to micromechanics of thin films and hierarchically structured materials
  • Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2011
  • Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2003
  • Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1995

Best Publications

  • Indentation size effects in crystalline materials: A law for strain gradient plasticity

    William D. Nix;Huajian Gao

  • Mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity— I. Theory

    H. Gao;Y. Huang;W. D. Nix;J. W. Hutchinson

  • Materials become insensitive to flaws at nanoscale: lessons from nature.

    Huajian Gao;Baohua Ji;Ingomar L. Jäger;Eduard Arzt;Eduard Arzt

  • Mechanics of receptor-mediated endocytosis

    Huajian Gao;Wendong Shi;Lambert B. Freund

  • A review on mechanics and mechanical properties of 2D materials—Graphene and beyond

    Deji Akinwande;Christopher J. Brennan;J. Scott Bunch;Philip Egberts

  • Dislocation nucleation governed softening and maximum strength in nano-twinned metals

    Xiaoyan Li;Yujie Wei;Yujie Wei;Lei Lu;K e Lu

  • Physical Principles of Nanoparticle Cellular Endocytosis.

    Sulin Zhang;Huajian Gao;Gang Bao

  • Evading the strength–ductility trade-off dilemma in steel through gradient hierarchical nanotwins

    Yujie Wei;Yongqiang Li;Lianchun Zhu;Yao Liu

  • Effect of single wall carbon nanotubes on human HEK293 cells.

    Daxiang Cui;Furong Tian;Cengiz S. Ozkan;Mao Wang

  • Mechanical properties of nanostructure of biological materials

    Baohua Ji;Huajian Gao

  • Heterostructured materials: superior properties from hetero-zone interaction

    Yuntian Zhu;Kei Ameyama;Peter M. Anderson;Irene J. Beyerlein

  • The Effect of Nanotube Waviness and Agglomeration on the Elastic Property of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Composites

    Dong Li Shi;Xi Qiao Feng;Yonggang Y. Huang;Keh Chih Hwang

  • Mechanics of morphological instabilities and surface wrinkling in soft materials: a review

    Bo Li;Yan-Ping Cao;Xi-Qiao Feng;Huajian Gao

  • Extra strengthening and work hardening in gradient nanotwinned metals.

    Zhao Cheng;Zhao Cheng;Haofei Zhou;Qiuhong Lu;Huajian Gao

  • Mechanics of hierarchical adhesion structures of geckos

    Huajian Gao;Xiang Wang;Haimin Yao;Stanislav Gorb

  • Graphene microsheets enter cells through spontaneous membrane penetration at edge asperities and corner sites

    Yinfeng Li;Hongyan Yuan;Annette von dem Bussche;Megan Creighton

  • Mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity—II. Analysis

    Y. Huang;H. Gao;W.D. Nix;J.W. Hutchinson

  • Geometrically necessary dislocation and size-dependent plasticity

    Huajian Gao;Yonggang Huang

  • Size-dependent elastic properties of a single-walled carbon nanotube via a molecular mechanics model

    Tienchong Chang;Huajian Gao

  • Mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of gradient nanostructured metals and alloys

    Xiaoyan Li;Lei Lu;Jianguo Li;Xuan Zhang

  • A conventional theory of mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity

    Y. Huang;S. Qu;K. C. Hwang;M. Li

Frequent Co-Authors

Yonggang Huang
Yonggang Huang Northwestern University
Xiaoyan Li
Xiaoyan Li Tsinghua University
Xi-Qiao Feng
Xi-Qiao Feng Tsinghua University
Xinghua Shi
Xinghua Shi Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yong-Wei Zhang
Yong-Wei Zhang Institute of High Performance Computing
William D. Nix
William D. Nix Stanford University
Baohua Ji
Baohua Ji Zhejiang University
Eduard Arzt
Eduard Arzt University of California, San Diego
Yujie Wei
Yujie Wei Chinese Academy of Sciences

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