The ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) is an annual flagship conference organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). It is one of the premier gatherings for researchers, engineers, and professionals in the fields of design, engineering, and technology. The conference serves as a global forum for presenting and discussing the latest developments in theory, methodology, tools, and applications across a wide array of disciplines.

Hosted within the ASME IDETC conference series is the Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Sound (VIB), which held its 36th annual meeting during 2024 in Washington, DC, USA. This conference covered a broad spectrum of topics related to vibratory systems including those at emerging frontiers of science and engineering, as well as traditional fields where mechanical vibrations are essential. VIB provides a setting for dissemination and discussion of the state of the art of modeling, analysis, and experimentation in all aspects of vibration and noise research.

The 36th VIB conference featured over 90 paper and abstract submissions including those co-listed with the collaborating conference, The International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control (MSNDC). Submissions spanned 14 unique technical areas, including contact dynamics and jointed structures; dynamics of biological, bio-inspired, and biomimetic systems; and dynamics and waves in solids, acoustic metamaterials, and architected materials. VIB featured several prominent keynote speakers, including Dr. Norbert Hoffmann, Dr. Serife Tol (recipient of the C. D. Mote, Jr. Early Career Award), and Dr. Jiong Tang (recipient of the N. O. Myklestad Award). The inaugural Mary Baker Industrial Achievement award was presented to Diana Trujillo, who delivered an inspired keynote titled “Us as One: Leading Teams and Exploring Space Together.” In addition, VIB hosted two special initiatives with the joint support of ASME and the Technical Committee of Vibration and Sound (TCVS). This included the Undergraduate Research Symposium, which aimed at increasing the participation of undergraduate researchers within the ASME community, and the Industrial Panel, which focused on developing and strengthening bonds between academic researchers and their industrial counterparts.

This Special Issue of the ASME Journal of Vibrations and Acoustics aims to showcase the most outstanding contributions in the field of vibrations and acoustics presented at the 36th annual ASME IDETC VIB conference. All papers were reviewed by multiple international experts, leading to the selection of papers spanning a wide range of topics including wave energy harvesting, dynamic characterization of tensegrity structures, novel vibration absorption systems, nonlinear normal modes, and other topical areas concerning vibrations and acoustics.

The organizers of this Special Issue would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief of the ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Professor Michael J. Leamy, as well as the former Editor-in-Chief, Professor Christopher Rahn, for giving us the opportunity to publish this collection. We would also like to thank the production team of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for their assistance. Finally, we would like to thank all the authors for their contribution to this Special Issue, as well as the reviewers for their help in vetting and improving the scientific quality of the included papers.