Announcements

We are pleased to announce the newly released 2021 CiteScore (Scopus) of Designs (ISSN: 2411-9660), which has increased from 2.1 to 3.4, ranking the journal:

• 38/115 (Q2) in the “Engineering (miscellaneous)” category;
• 125/338 (Q2) in the “Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering” category;
• 227/601 (Q2) in the “Mechanical Engineering” category.

For more information, please visit the following link: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21101024200.

Designs Editorial Office

The 2021 citation metrics have been officially released in Scopus!

We are pleased to announce that 182 MDPI journals are included, of which:

● 21 journals received their first CiteScore.
● 85% of journals increased their CiteScore from 2020.
● 155 journals (85%) ranked above average, in at least one category.

The following 65 MDPI journals (36%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category:

Source: 2021 CiteScores™ (Elsevier)

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Elisabetta Sieni has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the newly established Section “Bioengineering Design” in Designs (ISSN: 2411-9660).

Name: Dr. Elisabetta Sieni
Email: elisabetta.sieni@uninsubria.it
Affiliation: Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, via Dunant, 3, 21100 Varese, Italy
Homepage: https://www.uninsubria.eu/hpp/elisabetta.sieni
Interests: finite element simulation; electromagnetic device design; optimization; medical application of electromagnetic fields; electroporation; 3D cell culture

Dr. Elisabetta Sieni received a degree in electronic engineering, with a thesis on biomedical engineering; a Ph.D. in bioelectromagnetics and electromagnetic compatibility, with a thesis on magnetic field sources and measurements of electromagnetic fields; and a Ph.D. in information engineering, curricula bioengineering, with a thesis on the use of numerical methods and optimization techniques applied for electromagnetic field computation of biological tissues and hyperthermia with magnetic nanoparticles for tumor treatment, from the Padova University in 2002, 2006, and 2011 respectively.

From 2010 to 2015, she was involved as a post-doctoral researcher with the Department of Industrial Engineering of Padova University. Her post-doctoral studies have focused on the field of electroporation of tumor cells, the development of new electrodes for electroporation, and the electrical properties of tumor tissues. She has also worked in the field of nanoparticles and nanofluids for tumor treatment (magneto fluid hyperthermia). From 2015 to 2018, she was an assistant professor in electrotechnics at Padova University and taught at the Photovoltaic Technologies and Electrotechnics Laboratory. Currently, she is an associate professor in electrotechnics at Insubria University.

She is involved in research projects on the numerical modelization of electric devices for industrial application, the design of biomedical applications of electromagnetic fields, numerical solutions of coupled electromagnetic and thermal problems, the development of optimization algorithms, and the use of magnetic nanoparticles in hyperthermia for tumor treatment and electrochemotherapy. She works on electroporation and she has designed electroporation experiments in 3D cell cultures involving cells and the extracellular matrix.

She has worked on the implementation of optimization algorithms for the design of biomedical devices and the treatment planning of medical therapies. She has built human models for numerical computation and used them for the evaluation of human exposure to electromagnetic fields. She is the author of various papers regarding congress proceedings and in international journals.

Her interests include the design of devices for medical applications, hyperthermia, electrochemotherapy, and electromagnetic field application for tumor treatment.

The following is a short Q&A with Dr. Elisabetta Sieni, who shared with us her vision for the journal and her views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What is your vision for the Section?
In recent years, the design of biomedical applications has received considerable great interest in the scientific community, especially in the global distribution of medical devices and therapies. The pandemic further motivated this existing trend, spurring the global attention to health research in an attempt to improve the diffusion of health culture. The pandemic highlighted the necessity of structuring a global diffusion of devices and therapies and of finding solutions to limit health hazards. This global health idea has encouraged researchers to find methods to diffuse technology using the available resources. The design of new devices and the improvement of existing ones, with a focus on global health, will positively impact the world’s societies.

2. What does the future of this field of research look like?
In recent years, biomedicine and bioengineering have advanced as the average life span has increased, highlighting the important role of health acquired in modern society. Then, the findings of biomedical research have to be disseminated to improve the quality of life of each individual. As such, considerable increases in biomedical research are expected.

3. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
Open access is an interesting opportunity for the diffusion of information at the academic level.

We warmly welcome Dr. Elisabetta Sieni to her role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to her leading Designs to many more milestones.

We are recruiting Reviewer Board Members for Designs (ISSN: 2411-9660). If you are an active researcher in the field and passionate about promoting the publication of cutting-edge research, please contact the Designs Editorial Office (designs@mdpi.com) to apply for this role.

Designs is a peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes research focused on a wide range of engineering design disciplines and industrial applications, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, automation, civil engineering, mechatronics, aerospace engineering, bioengineering, energy engineering, industrial engineering and manufacturing systems.

More information about the journal can be found on our homepage via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/designs/about.

Designs considers submissions focusing on, though not limited to, the following subject areas:

• Mechanical design;
• Mechatronics design;
• Electrical design;
• Electronics design;
• Design automation;
• Aerospace design;
• Civil and infrastructure design;
• Vehicles design;
• Bioengineering design;
• Energy systems design;
• Product design;
• Industrial design;
• Design theory, methodology and management;
• Open source design;
• Design innovation.

The benefits of joining our Reviewer Board are as follows:

• We will announce your entry information on the journal's Reviewer Board;
• Discounts are awarded for comprehensive and timely reviews. These vouchers can be used for all MDPI journals;
• You will receive a personalized reviewer certificate;
• Review frequency is flexible and based on your schedule;
• You can showcase your peer reviews and editorial contributions to our journal.

If you are interested in this position, please send your application, including a full academic CV, to the Designs Editorial Office (designs@mdpi.com). We look forward to our collaboration.

1. ”Smart Monitoring and Controlling of Appliances Using LoRa Based IoT System”
Nur-A-Alam et al.
Designs 2021, 5(1), 17; 10.3390/designs5010017
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5010017

2. “Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on the Physical Infrastructure: Changes and Challenges”
Kareem Othman
Designs 2021, 5(3), 40; 10.3390/designs5030040
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5030040

3. “Using NLP for Fact Checking: A Survey”
Eric Lazarski et al.
Designs 2021, 5(3), 42; 10.3390/designs5030042
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5030042

4. “A Revised PFMEA Approach for Reliable Design of Assembly Activities”
Marcello Braglia et al.
Designs 2021, 5(1), 12; 10.3390/designs5010012
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5010012

5. “Predictive Maintenance Using Machine Learning and Data Mining: A Pioneer Method Implemented to Greek Railways”
Ilias Kalathas et al.
Designs 2021, 5(1), 5; 10.3390/designs5010005
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5010005

6. “Enterprise Design Thinking: An Investigation on User-Centered Design Processes in Large Corporations”
Jieun Kwon et al.
Designs 2021, 5(3), 43; 10.3390/designs5030043
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5030043

7. “Geometrical Optimization of a Venturi-Type Microbubble Generator Using CFD Simulation and Experimental Measurements”
Dillon Alexander Wilson, et al.
Designs 2021, 5(1), 4; 10.3390/designs5010004
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5010004

8. “Cost-Effective Design of IoT-Based Smart Household Distribution System”
Musse Mohamud Ahmed, et al.
Designs 2021, 5(3), 55; 10.3390/designs5030055
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5030055

9. “Spraying Cooling System for PV Modules: Experimental Measurements for Temperature Trends Assessment and System Design Feasibility”
Alberto Benato, et al
Designs 2021, 5(2), 25; 10.3390/designs5020025
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5020025

10. “Le Corbusier’s Urban Planning as a Cultural Legacy. An Approach to the Case of Chandigarh”
Juan-Andrés Rodríguez-Lora, et al
Designs 2021, 5(3), 44; 10.3390/designs5030044
https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5030044

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Ruxandra Botez has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the newly established Section “Vehicle Engineering Design” in Designs (ISSN: 2411-9660).

Name: Prof. Dr. Ruxandra Botez
Email: Ruxandra.Botez@etsmtl.ca
Affiliation: Department of Automated Production Engineering, ETS, 1100 Notre Dame West, Montreal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada
Homepage: www.etsmtl.ca/Professeurs/rbotez/Accueil
Interests: advanced engine technology; engine control strategy; fuel spray; chemical reaction mechanism; machine learning; data analysis

Dr. Ruxandra Botez obtained her Aerospace Engineering degree from the Faculty of Aerospace Design in Bucharest, Romania, in 1984. Ruxandra obtained her Master’s degree in Applied Sciences from École Polytechnique in 1989, and her Ph.D. degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 1994. She worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Auburn University until 1995. Dr. Botez has Aerospace Engineering experience acquired in two Aerospace companies: IAR-Brasov in Romania (1984–1987), and Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal, Canada (1995–1997). Dr Ruxandra Mihaela Botez has been a Full Professor since 1998 at the École de technologie supérieure ÉTS in Montreal, Canada. Ruxandra has also been the Founder and Head of the Laboratory of Applied Research in Active Controls, Avionics and AeroServoElasticity LARCASE since 2003, and the Canada Research Chair Tier 1 Holder in Aircraft Modeling and Simulation Technologies since 2011 at the ÉTS. Within her research projects, more than 264 Bachelor’s internship students, 128 Master’s in Engineering students and 20 Ph.D. Students taught by Dr. Botez have graduated. She is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and Canadian Aeronautical Society Institute (CASI), and Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM).

Dr. Botez and her team work in collaboration with Aerospace companies, research institutes and universities in Canada (Bombardier Aerospace, Bell Helicopter Textron, CAE Inc., CMC Electronics-Esterline, IAR-NRC), in Italy (the University of Naples, University of Bologna, and CIRA), in Romania (INCAS, Military Technical Academy), in Mexico (Hydra Technologies), in Brazil (UNESP), in the USA (NASA) and other countries. Dr. Botez is Editor-in-Chief of the INCAS Bulletin, edited by the National Institute for Aerospace Research Elie Carafoli INCAS in Romania. She and her team have published more than 500 scientific publications, including 162 journal papers, 300 conference proceedings papers and 7 book chapters; they have won more than 50 awards, and their research was mentioned in more than 100 media articles.

The following is a short Q&A with Dr. Ruxandra Botez, who shared with us her vision for the journal and her views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take on the role of its Section Editor-in-Chief?
My expertise is related to Vehicle Design Engineering, more precisely to Airplanes Design, Modeling, and Simulation based on Flight and Wind Tunnel Tests. My role as Section Editor-in-Chief will be to encourage the publication of a maximum number of original papers written in areas related to this Vehicle (aircraft, automotive, trains, etc.) Design Engineering field. In this way, the research and development in this area will advance on an international scale.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
In this Section, recent research in the multidisciplinary areas of vehicle design engineering will be published. In this way, important contributions will be available internationally in this field, that will conduct to high advancements and real applications in these areas at the academic level, as well as at the industrial level.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
The Vehicle Design Engineering has an important place in the future as it will be developed with the ecological and economical aims to reduce fuel consumption and green gas emissions by use of various technologies applied on vehicles and their systems.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?
I believe that the development of Open Access in the publishing field is very important as it gives opportunities to researchers to be informed on all original contributions (numerical and experimental) in fields related to vehicle systems design engineering.

We warmly welcome Dr. Ruxandra Botez in taking up her role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to her leading Designs to many more milestones.

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Joshua M. Pearce has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Designs (ISSN: 2411-9660).

Prof. Dr. Joshua Pearce is the John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation at the Thompson Centre for Engineering Leadership & Innovation. He holds appointments at the Ivey Business School and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Western University in Canada. He runs the Free Appropriate Sustainability Technology research group. His research concentrates on the use of open-source, appropriate technology (OSAT) to find collaborative solutions to problems in sustainability and to reduce poverty. His research spans areas of engineering including solar photovoltaic technology, open hardware design, and distributed recycling and additive manufacturing (DRAM) using RepRap 3-D printing, but also includes policy and economics. His research is regularly covered by the international and national press. According to Elsevier’s citation metrics, last year, he was in the top 0.06% most cited scientists globally and is continually ranked in the top 0.1% for his accessible research on Academia.edu. He is the author of the Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs, Feeding Everyone No Matter What, Create, Share, and Save Money Using Open-Source Projects, and To Catch the Sun, an open-source book on solar energy.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Pearce, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views on the research area and open-access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as the Editor-in-Chief?
Designs satisfies a deep need for a unifying research framework for a wide range of engineering designs from different disciplines and industrial applications. As an ever-increasing list of tasks is automated, the really interesting work of engineers is design, and I think Designs is particularly well placed to explore this academic area.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
As a strong proponent of open source in general and open access in particular, I think open-source designs are clearly the way of the future. My own research interest is in open-source design applied to hardware, which is a young, but rapidly growing field.  Free and open-source technologies are technologies whose design is made publicly available so anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design, software, or hardware based on that design. The tech’s source, the design from which it is made, is available to modify and comes with a license that demands sharing of improvements based on the design. Open-source technology gives people the freedom to control their technology while sharing knowledge and encouraging commerce through the open exchange of designs. Open design is also stellar for STEM education as it cuts costs and makes learning fun again. Because of these reasons, all of my own work is open and free for everyone to use.

Open source is also a flagrantly superior method of tech development, as we all easily build on one another’s work, which is why the majority of big companies are now contributing to open-source projects; it is clearly a major current trend, with 90% of the Fortune Global 500 using it. All supercomputers, 90% of cloud servers, 82% of smartphones, and 62% of embedded systems run on open-source operating systems. More than 70% of “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices also use open-source software. Digital fabrication technologies such as 3D printers have now made open source a reality in the physical world. My own work in free, and open-source hardware indicates it is roughly 15 years behind its software counterpart and growing exponentially. I hope that this meta field can be broadened to cover all the traditional engineering fields (e.g., mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, automation, civil engineering, mechatronics, aerospace engineering, bioengineering, energy engineering, industrial engineering, and manufacturing systems), and we hope to cover this explosion in design innovations in the Designs journal.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
I think we are going to see a lot more computer-supported designs of all kinds, including parametric and customizable designs and AI driven designs, which will provide novelty that none of us can predict. It is an exciting time to be in the innovation design field.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
Even a cursory glance at the statistics and growth in open-access journals shows that it is taking over—although the form that journals will take in the future is still very much up for debate. Most academics understand that when they publish open access, their work is more likely to be read, used, and cited. Frankly, open access speeds scientific progress because of people simply being able to read it. We all know the frustration of finding a paper that has some critical piece of data for our scientific progress which is stalled if we lack access to it. The challenge, of course, is many open-access journals charge article processing charges (APCs), which create a barrier to entry for many scientists, particularly those in the Global South. Even well-funded scientists sometimes need to decide between APCs and hiring another research student. With Designs, we will attempt to keep the APCs as low as possible to help on this front. The reality is that it still costs money to publish a journal, particularly with respect to typesetting. What MDPI does with templates is a good start towards controlling these costs. That said, I think there is some good design work to make open-source templates that cannot be broken that could cut this cost and thus APCs for everyone. I would be interested in publishing an article about that technology! In addition, authors can earn credit towards APCs by reviewing.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Joshua M. Pearce in his new role as Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Designs to many more milestones.

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hassan Khooban has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the newly established Section “Energy System Design” in Designs (ISSN: 2411-9660).

Dr. Khooban received his Ph.D. in power systems and electronics from the Shiraz University of Technology, Shiraz, Iran, in 2017. From 2016 to 2017 he was a Research Assistant at Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, where he conducted research on the advanced control of microgrids and marine power systems. From 2017 to 2018 he was a Postdoctoral Associate at Aalborg University. From 2019 to 2020 he was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, where he is currently an Assistant Professor. He is the Director of the Power Circuits and Systems Research Group. He has authored or co-authored more than 220 publications in journals and international conferences, 3 book chapters, and holds 1 patent; at present, his Google Scholar h-index is 45. His current research interests include control theory and applications in addition to power electronics and its applications in power systems, industrial electronics, and renewable energy systems.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hassan Khooban, who shared with us his vision for the journal and his views on the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take on the role of its Section Editor-in-Chief?
What appealed to me about the journal was primarily its major concern with energy systems, which is not only very close to my own area of research but also a hot topic for research nowadays given the global attempt to provide cleaner and more sustainable sources of energy. What further appealed to me was the journal’s high quality of publications as well as its feature of being open access, which make it a rich source of information for researchers all around the world in the field of energy systems.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
As the Editor-in-Chief of the “Energy System Design” Section, my plan is to promote the citations and impact of the journal by supporting the publication of novel, ground-breaking studies in the field so that the journal will be one of the main sources of information for researchers. In this regard I will try to back the publication of pioneering studies that focus on emerging topics and/or contribute to the promotion of knowledge and understanding of phenomena that are not well-understood in the field, or that offer unorthodox experimental/simulation techniques to be used by other researchers in the field of energy systems.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
As green energy sources replace fossil fuels there is a growing tendency toward the digitalization and smartening of energy systems, so that they become more efficient, cost-effective, and user-friendly. This trend requires interdisciplinary research that involves the combination of various disciplines, from computer science to energy systems and hardware-in-the-loop emulation. Accordingly, I believe that future research in the field of energy systems will be interdisciplinary research that relies on artificial intelligence to design smart power systems that make green energy more readily and efficiently available to all users in all steps of their daily lives, thereby facilitating the transition to renewable energies.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in publishing?
I highly advocate open access publications in the field due to their numerous advantages. On the one hand, it allows knowledge to be shared with researchers from all over the world, thus leading to higher-visibility articles. On the other hand, with new knowledge being available to all researchers for free, they will be more likely to build on it and conduct new studies in the field. Moreover, open access publications will make the results of research studies available to the public as well, thus resulting in the better dissemination of research findings.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hassan Khooban in taking up his role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Designs to many more milestones.

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Wenbin Yu has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the newly established Section “Mechanical Engineering Design” in Designs (ISSN: 2411-9660).

Currently, Prof. Dr. Wenbin Yu is a Full Professor at the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University. Before this, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore for 7 years. He mainly focuses on combustion in engines, electronic control for engines, fluid dynamics and CFD modeling, spray, etc. He has published more than 70 articles and more than 15 patents. He is now a member of the Editorial Board for several international journals. As a reviewer of more than 20 worldwide top journals, he has obtained the Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award in many top journals.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Wenbin Yu, who shared with us his vision for the journal and his views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take on the role of its Section Editor-in-Chief?
Being the Editor-in-Chief is an honor and a responsibility. The first task is to help the journal select high-quality papers and ensure that readers can benefit from them.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
“Mechanical Engineering Design” covers a broad spectrum of practical topics that are of interest to mechanical design, both in industry and academia. It presents archival quality research in the area of both real and virtual mechanical design, publishing high-quality papers with new ideas and perspectives.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
We are facing challenges such as carbon neutrality and emission peaks, which require an increase in the efficiency of many fields. “Mechanical Engineering Design” can definitely help to achieve such goals by investigating research topics such as digital twin design, design optimization, power systems design, etc.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
Open access has become more and more attractive for both industry and academia. I believe that more and more publishers will opt for open access publishing in the future.  

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Wenbin Yu in taking up his role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Designs to many more milestones.

It is our great honor to congratulate the Editorial Board Members and Editors in MDPI's journals who have been distinguished as 2021 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate, according to Web of Science data. We herewith express our gratitude for the immense impact the named researchers continue to make on scientific progress and on our journals' development.

Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited Researchers^TM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 22 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.

The full list of 2021 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed at the following webpage in the Web of Science^TM https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/.

--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.