We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Actuators (ISSN: 2076-0825). 

Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley is the Minta Martin Professor and former chair (2012–2021) of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on smart materials and structures, as well as composite and additively manufactured cellular materials and structures, for actuation and occupant protection systems in aerospace and automotive applications. Dr. Wereley has published extensively on these topics, including over 275 journal articles and 22 patents. He was awarded the ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Prize and the SPIE Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Wereley is a Fellow of AIAA, ASME, IOP, RAeS, SPIE and VFS, and a Lifetime Member of SAMPE. He holds a BEng from McGill University, and MS and PhD degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Actuators and Editor-in-Chief of SAMPE Journal.

With these achievements, we are confident that Actuators will thrive under Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley’s leadership. 

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Editor-in-Chief?
I have served on the Editorial Board of Actuators almost from its launch. I am honored to work with Editor-in-Chief Prof. Kenji Uchino, a world authority in piezo-electric devices, and the Editorial Board composed of a great many excellent and accomplished researchers. I will work hard to ensure that Actuators continues to serve our scientific and engineering community with integrity and distinction.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
Actuators will continue its focus on publishing highly innovative and impactful articles in all aspects of actuator theory, design, fabrication, and applications. The goal of this editorial team is to ensure that Actuators is the publication venue of choice for scholars and researchers in the field. This will be achieved by continuing to encourage dissemination of research results through the open access model and by supporting authors with outstanding author services, which is a hallmark of MDPI.  

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
Actuators is the key technology that enables action and work achieved by all systems operating in the field. Navigating the trade-off in actuation systems between minimizing weight, cost, and power draw, while maximizing actuation force (i.e., block force) and free displacement, continues to be the key goal. Also, applying actuation systems to maximize performance via control, sensing, and intelligence will continue to be a key enabling focus. Finally, the development of new and novel actuation modes and materials must continue to be a focus to address these technological needs. 

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
MDPI has been the leading innovator in open access publishing. I published my first paper with MDPI in 2014, and I have continued to publish with MDPI since then. In my experience, author support at MDPI is outstanding at all stages of review, article publication, and dissemination. Also, open access publishing is the optimal way to disseminate and ensure equal access globally to research results and scholarly writings. 

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley as our second Editor-in-Chief, and wish him every success in his new position.