It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as the Editor-in-Chief for the ASME Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage over the last eight years. Even though this role has been demanding and time-consuming at times, working with a team of such exceptionally talented colleagues has made it a pleasure.
After taking over the ASME Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology in 2015, we worked with ASME to broaden the scope of our journal. In 2016, we renamed our journal the ASME Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, expanded the editorial board, and strategized new initiatives such as a social media campaign, invited review papers and high-interest research papers, and initiated collaborations with key conferences and journals to publish special issues and special sections in emerging areas and current areas of high interest to the readership. As a result of these efforts, we increased our journal's impact factor from 0.7 in 2015 to a 2023 journal impact factor of 2.7. This success would not have been possible without everyone's help—thank you and congratulations!
The ASME Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage published 11 special issues and special sections on emerging areas such as battery safety and thermal management, 2D materials for energy storage, electro-chemo-mechanics—the complex coupling of mechanics and electrochemistry, degradation prediction and recycling, and anion exchange membranes. These special issues had the privilege of collaborating with some of the top conferences and journals in the field, including the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), the Automotive & Battery Safety Conference (ABSC), the Workshop on Exchange Membranes for Energy Applications (EMEA), the Symposium on Modeling and Experimental Validation of Fuel Cells (MODVAL), and ASME Applied Mechanics Reviews.
The journal also organized three bi-annual special issues in 2018, 2020, and 2022 to highlight emerging investigators in electrochemical energy of conversion and storage. Emerging investigators invited to contribute are typically in the early stages of their independent careers (within about 12 years following graduation with a doctorate degree), and have demonstrated potential for high impact in the field. A number of emerging investigators are now internationally recognized highly-cited researchers, holders of distinguished professorships, fellows of their professional societies, and serve on our editorial board.
The journal metrics indicate what we have achieved. The future of the journal will be up to us. The strength of a journal is in its editorial team, the ASME publishing team, authors, reviewers, collaborators, and readership. We have a world-class team that has been very proactive to ensure the timely review of manuscripts without compromising quality, leading new initiatives including the organization of special issues and invited articles in emerging areas, engaging readership through social media and public relations activities to attract the best authors and editorial team members. The timely recruitment of editorial team members and authors is one of the key factors to ensure future success. We are in an excellent position for future growth because of a significant increase of engineers and scientists that work on electrochemical energy conversion and storage.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the excellent support provided by the ASME publications staff, particularly Philip DiVietro (retired), Colin McAteer (retired), Judith Sierant (deceased), Erica Hodge, Tamiko Fung, and Beth Darchi. The continued guidance and support provided by the ASME Advanced Energy Systems Division's Executive Committee and the ASME Technical Committee for Publications and Communications are greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank the previous editor, Nigel M. Sammes, former associate editor Kenneth L. Reifsnider, and former editor of the ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Lee S. Langston, for their initial guidance and advice.
On July 1, 2023, Dr. Partha Mukherjee has taken over as our next Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Mukherjee has served as an associate editor and guest editor for the ASME Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, and is an active researcher and recognized leader in the field. I am confident that our journal's excellent reputation and prestige will be upheld with Dr. Mukherjee at the helm along with the dedicated group of associate editors.
