Dear authors and readers of JSEE,
It has been a great honor to serve as Editor of the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering. I am looking forward to more time for other academic and personal pursuits but will miss the excitement of editing a journal devoted to a topic of such importance to the lives of our children and their children. I would like to express my gratitude to the JSEE Editorial Board, the Solar Energy Division Executive Committee, Ms. Stephanie Clark, my Editorial Assistant, ASME staff, and, most importantly, the many authors and reviewers who have made this volunteer job such a pleasure. I am very proud of what we have accomplished. Since 2000, the Journal has seen tremendous expansion in the number of papers published and a growing international presence. This remarkable growth has been accompanied by a continued dedication to publishing papers of the highest technical quality. The diversity of topics included in the Journal is one of its strengths. This issue is the first to include an expansion of the title that acknowledges the long standing contributions of the wind energy and building energy conservation research communities.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to the Editorial Board and Guest Editors who have helped focus the Journal on scientifically important topics and upheld its high standards. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Guest Editors for issues of the Journal devoted to a single topic.
• Dr. Edward A. Fletcher, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, edited the May 2001 special issue on solarthermal industrial processes. This issue brings together articles by leading researchers in eleven countries. High-temperature solar chemistry is an area of increasing interest as we seek methods to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and to produce hydrogen using renewable energy.
• Also in 2001, the Journal initiated the annual November issue devoted to wind energy. Associate Editor Dr. Dale Berg of Sandia National Laboratories has been the driving force behind the first four annual wind energy issues. He is now joined by Dr. Panagiotis (Takis) Chaviaropoulos at the Center for Renewable Energy Sources in Pikermi, Greece. Takis and Dale are committed to making the JSEE the world’s premiere technical wind-energy journal. Because of the growth in number of wind energy papers, the regular May issue of the Journal will devote a section to wind energy beginning in May 2005. The issue will feature papers from the Special Topic Conference “The Science of Making Torque from Wind,” held at Delft University, The Netherlands, in April 2004.
• In 2002, Dr. Robert Pitz-Paal at the German Aerospace Center and Associate Editor for Solar Thermal Power organized a special issue on global R&D and demonstration projects of solar thermal power. There is encouraging news for commercialization of the technology in several countries.
• Dr. Agami Reddy, Associate Editor for Conservation and Solar Buildings, edited the August 2004 special issue “Emerging Trends in Commercial Building Design, Diagnosis, and Operation.” The issue includes papers on recent concepts in solar building design, operation of solar integrated photovoltaic systems, calibrated simulation of energy use in buildings, building commissioning, active and passive methods of controlling building loads, and issues in indoor air quality and mitigation techniques.
• The most recent special issue published in August 2004 departs from the tradition of issues dedicated to a specific topic and includes a collection of papers from the solar research community in Israel. Dr. Abraham Kribus, Associate Editor for Solar Collectors, and professor at Tel Aviv University was Guest Editor.
Most of the papers in the Journal are included in traditional issues of the Journal, which reflect the great diversity of solar energy engineering. I am continuously impressed with the ideas and quality of R&D described in these papers. On behalf of the Journal, I thank the many authors who submit their papers for review and to those of you who have tirelessly devoted your time to reviewing papers. The list of reviewers in the first issue of every volume is a small token of appreciation.
Every year brings changes to the Journal Editorial Board. Associate Editors whose terms ended in December 2004 are Dr. Agami Reddy, who served three years as Associate Editor for Conservation and Solar Buildings and Dr. Mitchell Olszewski, who served the maximum six years as Associate Editor for Thermal Storage. We welcome two new Associate Editors. Dr. Gilles Flamant (Solar Chemistry and Bioconversion), and Dr. Kelly Kissock (Conservation and Solar Buildings) will begin their three-year terms Jan. 1, 2005. Dr. Flamant is head of the Processes Materials and Solar Energy Laboratory at the French Center National de la Recherche. Dr. Kissock is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Industrial Assessment Center at the University of Dayton. We are very fortunate that Dr. Moncef Krarti (Fundamentals & Theory) has agreed to continue for a second 3-year term.
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Aldo Steinfeld assumed the Editor position January 1, 2005. Dr. Steinfeld has served as Associate Editor in the area of Solar Chemistry and Bioconversion for the past four years. He is Associate Professor at the ETH - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and Head of the Solar Technology Laboratory at the Paul Scherrer Institute. He has authored over 70 research articles in scientific journals. The Journal is in good hands.
Jane H. Davidson Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Editor, Jan. 1, 2000–Dec. 31, 2004
Dear authors and readers of JSEE,
As the new Editor, I commit to maintain the current high standards of the Journal. Additionally, I plan to further improve its impact, expand into emerging areas, and continue the publication of special issues dedicated to specific topics. I am looking forward to working closely with the Editorial Board composed of internationally recognized experts in their topical areas. On behalf of them, I would like to thank Dr. Jane Davidson for her outstanding service as Editor for the past five years.
Aldo Steinfeld Associate Professor of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH–Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich/ Paul Scherrer Institute, Editor
