The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation of the papers published in the journal.

We are honored to present the winners announced for the year 2022 in the engineering category, who were selected from extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Actuators:

• “Two-Way and Multiple-Way Shape Memory Polymers for Soft Robotics: An Overview”
  by Giulia Scalet
  Actuators 2020, 9(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9010010

• “Low-Cost, Open-Source Mechanical Ventilator with Pulmonary Monitoring for COVID-19 Patients”
  by Leonardo Acho, Alessandro N. Vargas and Gisela Pujol-Vázquez
  Actuators 2020, 9(3), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9030084

• “Styrenic-Rubber Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Inherent Stiffness Compensation”
  by Giacomo Moretti, Luca Sarina, Lorenzo Agostini, Rocco Vertechy, Giovanni Berselli and Marco Fontana
  Actuators 2020, 9(2), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9020044

Applied Sciences:

• “Chromium(III) Removal from Wastewater by Chitosan Flakes”
  by Loris Pietrelli, Iolanda Francolini, Antonella Piozzi, Maria Sighicelli, Ilaria Silvestro and Marco Vocciante
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(6), 1925; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10061925

• “Unravelling the Environmental Application of Biochar as Low-Cost Biosorbent: A Review”
  by Antía Fdez-Sanromán, Marta Pazos, Emilio Rosales and María Angeles Sanromán
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(21), 7810; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10217810

• “Observation of Potential Contaminants in Processed Biomass Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy”
  by Jingshun Zhuang, Mi Li, Yunqiao Pu, Arthur Jonas Ragauskas and Chang Geun Yoo
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(12), 4345; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10124345

• “Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis 2020: Where We Stand”
  by Angelo Iacobino, Lanfranco Fattorini and Federico Giannoni
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(6), 2153; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10062153

• “Real-Time Remote Maintenance Support Based on Augmented Reality (AR)”
  by Dimitris Mourtzis, Vasileios Siatras and John Angelopoulos
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(5), 1855; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10051855

• “Dielectric Elastomer Actuator for Soft Robotics Applications and Challenges”
  by Jung-Hwan Youn, Seung Mo Jeong, Geonwoo Hwang, Hyunwoo Kim, Kyujin Hyeon, Jihwan Park and Ki-Uk Kyung
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(2), 640; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10020640

• “Low-Cost Biochar Adsorbents for Water Purification Including Microplastics Removal”
  by Virpi Siipola, Stephan Pflugmacher, Henrik Romar, Laura Wendling and Pertti Koukkari
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(3), 788; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10030788

• “Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AISI 316L Produced by Directed Energy Deposition-Based Additive Manufacturing: A Review”
  by Abdollah Saboori, Alberta Aversa, Giulio Marchese, Sara Biamino, Mariangela Lombardi and Paolo Fino
  Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(9), 3310; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10093310

Buildings:

• “Humans-as-a-Sensor for Buildings—Intensive Longitudinal Indoor Comfort Models”
  by Prageeth Jayathissa, Matias Quintana, Mahmoud Abdelrahman and Clayton Miller
  Buildings 2020, 10(10), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10100174

• “Circular Building Design: An Analysis of Barriers and Drivers for a Circular Building Sector”
  by Jouri Kanters
  Buildings 2020, 10(4), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10040077

• “Building Information Modelling (BIM) to Enhance Occupational Safety in Construction Activities: Research Trends Emerging from One Decade of Studies”
  by Mario Fargnoli and Mara Lombardi
  Buildings 2020, 10(6), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10060098

• “A SWOT Analysis of the Use of BIM Technology in the Polish Construction Industry”
  by Krzysztof Zima, Edyta Plebankiewicz and Damian Wieczorek
  Buildings 2020, 10(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10010016

• “Durability and Climate Change—Implications for Service Life Prediction and the Maintainability of Buildings”
  by Michael A. Lacasse, Abhishek Gaur and Travis V. Moore
  Buildings 2020, 10(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10030053

• “Worker 4.0: The Future of Sensored Construction Sites”
  by Diego Calvetti, Pedro Mêda, Miguel Chichorro Gonçalves and Hipólito Sousa
  Buildings 2020, 10(10), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10100169

Fluids:

• “A Review of Topology Optimisation for Fluid-Based Problems”
  by Joe Alexandersen and Casper Schousboe Andreasen
  Fluids 2020, 5(1), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5010029

• “On the Deterministic Prediction of Water Waves”
  by Marco Klein, Matthias Dudek, Günther F. Clauss, Sören Ehlers, Jasper Behrendt, Norbert Hoffman and Miguel Onorato
  Fluids 2020, 5(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5010009

• “On the Effect of Block Roughness in Ogee Spillways with Flip Buckets”
  by Rasoul Daneshfaraz, Amir Ghaderi, Aliakbar Akhtari, Silvia Di Francesco
  Fluids 2020, 5(4), 182; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5040182

JMSE:

• “Marine Application of Fiber Reinforced Composites: A Review”
  by Felice Rubino, Antonio Nisticò, Fausto Tucci and Pierpaolo Carlone
  J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8010026

• “Numerical Simulation of Large Wave Heights from Super Typhoon Nepartak (2016) in the Eastern Waters of Taiwan”
  by Shih-Chun Hsiao, Hongey Chen, Han-Lun Wu, Wei-Bo Chen, Chih-Hsin Chang, Wen-Dar Guo, Yung-Ming Chen and Lee-Yaw Lin
  J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8(3), 217; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8030217

• “Development of Deterministic Artificial Intelligence for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV)”
  by Timothy Sands
  J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8(8), 578; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8080578

Lubricants:

• “Effective Application of Solid Lubricants in Spacecraft Mechanisms”
  by Jeffrey R. Lince
  Lubricants 2020, 8(7), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants8070074

• “High-Rate Laser Surface Texturing for Advanced Tribological Functionality”
  by Jörg Schille, Lutz Schneider, Stefan Mauersberger, Sylvia Szokup, Sören Höhn, Johannes Pötschke, Friedemann Reiß, Erhard Leidich and Udo Löschner
  Lubricants 2020, 8(3), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants8030033

Micromachines:

• “Size Sorting of Exosomes by Tuning the Thicknesses of the Electric Double Layers on a Micro-Nanofluidic Device”
  by Satoko Fujiwara, Kyojiro Morikawa, Tatsuro Endo, Hideaki Hisamoto and Kenji Sueyoshi
  Micromachines 2020, 11(5), 458; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11050458

• “Additive Manufacturing of Sub-Micron to Sub-mm Metal Structures with Hollow AFM Cantilevers”
  by Giorgio Ercolano, Cathelijn van Nisselroy, Thibaut Merle, János Vörös, Dmitry Momotenko, Wabe W. Koelmans and Tomaso Zambelli
  Micromachines 2020, 11(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11010006

• “A Robotic Biopsy Endoscope with Magnetic 5-DOF Locomotion and a Retractable Biopsy Punch”
  by Manh Cuong Hoang, Viet Ha Le, Kim Tien Nguyen, Van Du Nguyen, Jayoung Kim, Eunpyo Choi, Seungmin Bang, Byungjeon Kang, Jong-Oh Park and Chang-Sei Kim
  Micromachines 2020, 11(1), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11010098

• “Development of Fully Flexible Tactile Pressure Sensor with Bilayer Interlaced Bumps for Robotic Grasping Applications”
  by Lingfeng Zhu, Yancheng Wang, Deqing Mei and Chengpeng Jiang
  Micromachines 2020, 11(8), 770; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11080770

• “A mm-Sized Free-Floating Wireless Implantable Opto-Electro Stimulation Device”
  by Yaoyao Jia, Yan Gong, Arthur Weber, Wen Li and Maysam Ghovanloo
  Micromachines 2020, 11(6), 621; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11060621

Processes:

• “Advanced Bioethanol Production: From Novel Raw Materials to Integrated Biorefineries”
  by Aleta Duque, Cristina Álvarez, Pablo Doménech, Paloma Manzanares and Antonio D. Moreno
  Processes 2021, 9(2), 206; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9020206

• “An Overview on Fault Diagnosis, Prognosis and Resilient Control for Wind Turbine Systems”
  by Zhiwei Gao and Xiaoxu Liu
  Processes 2021, 9(2), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9020300

• “Role of Microalgae in the Recovery of Nutrients from Pig Manure”
  by Ana Sánchez-Zurano, Martina Ciardi, Tomás Lafarga, José María Fernández-Sevilla, Ruperto Bermejo and Emilio Molina-Grima
  Processes 2021, 9(2), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9020203

• “Applying Lean Six Sigma Methodology to a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility: A Case Study”
  by Brian Byrne, Olivia McDermott and John Noonan
  Processes 2021, 9(3), 550; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9030550

Sensors:

• “YOLO-Tomato: A Robust Algorithm for Tomato Detection Based on YOLOv3”
  by Guoxu Liu, Joseph Christian Nouaze, Philippe Lyonel Touko Mbouembe and Jae Ho Kim
  Sensors 2020, 20(7), 2145; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20072145

• “Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Solutions: A Review”
  by Corina Covaci and Aurel Gontean
  Sensors 2020, 20(12), 3512; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20123512

• “Applications of Graphene Quantum Dots in Biomedical Sensors”
  by Bhargav D. Mansuriya and Zeynep Altintas
  Sensors 2020, 20(4), 1072; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20041072

WEVJ:

• “Beyond the State of the Art of Electric Vehicles: A Fact-Based Paper of the Current and Prospective Electric Vehicle Technologies”
  by Joeri Van Mierlo, Maitane Berecibar, Mohamed El Baghdadi, Cedric De Cauwer, Maarten Messagie, Thierry Coosemans, Valéry Ann Jacobs and Omar Hegazy
  World Electr. Veh. J. 2021, 12(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj12010020

• “An Overview of Parameter and Cost for Battery Electric Vehicles”
  by Adrian König, Lorenzo Nicoletti, Daniel Schröder, Sebastian Wolff, Adam Waclaw and Markus Lienkamp
  World Electr. Veh. J. 2021, 12(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj12010021

About MDPI Awards:

In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.

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