The end of 2002 brings about several changes to the Journal of Fluids Engineering. First, several Associate Editors have completed their terms and new ones have joined us. I would like to express my gratitude to the departing Associate Editors, whose valuable and thankless service is critical for the success of the Journal. Bruno Schiavello has served for two consecutive terms, and Dr. James Bridges, Prof. George Karniadakis, Prof. Yoichiro Matsumoto, and Lisa Mondy have each completed a three-year term. Prof. Yoshinobu Tsujimoto also competed a three-year term, but graciously accepted my request to stay on the Editorial board for another term. He will continue providing his unique expertise, which combines applications and theoretical modeling of complex (single phase and cavitating) turbomachinery flows.
Four new Associate Editors have joined us, and I would like to introduce and welcome them. Dr. Fernando Grinstein from the Naval Research Laboratory is an expert in computational fluid mechanics, and has done substantial research in computations of turbulent shear flows. Dr. Grinstein was also a primary driving force behind the special issue on applications of Large Eddy Simulations (LES). Prof. Sivaramakrishnan Balachandar from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an accomplished expert in applications of Direct Numerical Simulations to modeling of heat transfer, structure and stability of wakes and boundary layers, and flows around bluff bodies. He will join the multiphase flow group and will provide essential support for the growing number of papers involving computational aspects in this area. Prof. Kyle Squires from Arizona State University has substantial experience in applications, Large Eddy Simulations, and evaluation of associated subgrid stress models. He has also been involved in the modeling of solid-particle flows, and in applications of CFD in separated flows. His wide range of experience will support both the extensive activity involving turbulence modeling and the multiphase group. We are also happy to have Prof. Dennis Siginer, the Dean of Engineering at Wichita State University, on board. He has made substantial contributions to the areas of rheology of nonlinear materials, flow and heat transfer in non-Newtonian flows and flows in porous media. I am happy that this distinguished group has agreed to join us, and am looking forward to working with them, taking advantage of their expertise and willingness to contribute.
Second, during 2002 JFE had parts of three issues dedicated to specific topics. Initiated and organized by Prof. Karniadakis, the March issue contained eight solicited papers dedicated to uncertainty in numerical analysis. In the June issue, we presented a series of eleven papers dealing with pump flows. These papers were selected and recommended by Dr. Adiel Guinsberg and Dr. Paul Cooper from papers presented at a symposium on pump flows that they had organized. They also assisted us in the expedited review process. The December issue contained a collection of papers on applications of Large Eddy Simulations. These papers were selected by Dr. Grinstein and Prof. Karniadakis, who also oversaw the review process. It is evident that such special issues greatly enhance the quality of the Journal, and improve the service that we provide to the community. We would like to thank our colleagues who initiated and contributed to these efforts, and hope to continue to offer these special sections on other topics.
Third, starting from January 2003, JFE is being transitioned from a quarterly (four issues per year) to a bimonthly, i.e., to six volumes per year. The number of pages allocated to the Journal has also been increased by about 15%, enabling us to increase the number of published papers and accommodate the increased number of submitted manuscripts.
Fourth, a primary concern is to support the authors with reliable, efficient and expedited service. In order to reduce the review time and provide closer monitoring of the review process, ASME has developed an on-line manuscript submission and review system. This new system has been in development and testing for several months, and has been made available for trial to several journals, including JFE. Authors are welcomed to submit papers at http://journaltool.asme.org effective immediately. We hope that the new journal tools will improve the service that we provide to the authors, and that adapting to it will cause few problems. For the time being, authors are also welcomed to submit their papers as before, either by e-mail or as hard copies. Once we get accustomed to this system, we believe that the review process will be significantly improved and expedited.
Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Laurel Murphy, the Editorial Assistant of JFE. As all of you who have communicated with our office over the past few years already know, Laurel is the primary driving force that actually makes the Journal function. In addition to managing the office, she supports several of the Associate Editors with communications/administration, helps me in finding referees for papers with uncommon topics, reviews and helps many authors to improve the style of papers, and nags me (as well as other people involved with the Journal) when certain tasks need to be performed. We are lucky to have her.