Stanford engineer among Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers
Xiaolin Zheng, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers for her work developing “solar stickers,” flexible, decal-like solar panels that can be peeled off like Band-Aids and stuck to virtually any surface, from papers to window panes.
The stickers convert the same amount of energy as their rigid counterparts but are lighter and cheaper to produce.
“As a pioneering product, the solar sticker has positioned its creator among the world's top young innovators,” Foreign Policy said. “And Zheng argues that the flexible adhesive revolution is only just starting.”
Foreign Policy publishes an annual list of people who have made a measurable difference in politics, business, technology, the arts, the sciences and more. “We look at the year’s biggest stories and scout the weird and arcane from obscure journals,” the editors wrote.
David Lobell, associate professor of Environmental Earth System Science at Stanford, was also named to the list “for helping farmers feed the world.”
In addition to Zheng and Lobell, this year’s list includes Pope Francis, Secretary of State John Kerry, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and National Security Administration leaker Edward Snowden.
Zheng’s work on the solar stickers also earned her a spot on Technology Review’s 2013 list of top young innovators.