Announcements

MDPI will be attending the 2025 International Conference on Electronics Packaging and iMAPs All Asia Conference (ICEP-IAAC 2025) in Nagano, Japan, which will take place from 15 to 19 April 2025. ICEP is Japan’s largest international conference on electronic packaging, attracting more than 360 attendees and hosting roughly 35 technical sessions. The conference comprises technical sessions covering a wide range of topics including advanced packaging, design, modeling and reliability, emerging technologies, high-speed, wireless components, interconnections, materials and processes, optoelectronics, power electronics integration, and thermal management. 

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

• Electronics;
• Applied Sciences;
• Chips;
• Hardware;
• Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Analyses;
• Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications;
• Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks;
• Materials;
• Micromachines;
• Technologies. 

If you are planning to attend the above conference, please visit our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about this conference, please visit the following website: https://www.jiep.or.jp/icep/.

Throughout history, engineering has played an essential role in development and human welfare. Ensuring that future generations of engineers and scientists will be able to design solutions for local and global challenges is critical.

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development on March 4th aims to raise awareness of the role of engineering in modern life, which is essential to mitigate the impact of climate change and advancing sustainable development, especially in Africa and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This year’s theme is “Unleashing the Power of Engineers to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.

Sustainability has always been a core value of MDPI, starting with the collection and preservation of rare chemical samples that started in 1996 and led to the first journal, Molecules (ISSN: 1420-3049). As a global enterprise, it is our duty to advance responsible practices that will ensure a bright future for our planet. MDPI’s commitment to sustainability is focused on open access publishing that promotes content related not only to environmental sustainability, but to all 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) defined by the UN.

To commemorate this special day, we invite you to explore a curation of insightful journals, articles, and Special Issues in the field of engineering. By sharing these findings, we hope to inspire the next generation of engineers, elevate engineering capacities, and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Vastness of Tribology Research Fields and Their Contribution to Sustainable Development”
by Enrico Ciulli
Lubricants 2024, 12(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants12020033

“Steam Explosion-Based Method for the Extraction of Cellulose and Lignin from Rice Straw Waste”
by Víctor M. Serrano-Martínez, Henoc Pérez-Aguilar, María Pilar Carbonell-Blasco, Francisca Arán-Ais and Elena Orgilés-Calpena
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(5), 2059; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14052059

“Green-Powered Electric Public Mobility: Integrating Urban and Interurban Routes—A Case Study Analysis”
by Alessandro Franco, Giovanni Lutzemberger, Marco Giorgio Bevilacqua, Francesco Giuseppe Quilici and Matilde Vezzani
Electricity 2024, 5(2), 254–270; https://doi.org/10.3390/electricity5020013

“Evaluating Sustainable Practices for Managing Residue Derived from Wheat Straw”
by Harikishore Shanmugam, Vijaya Raghavan, Rajinikanth Rajagopal, Bernard Goyette, Linxiang Lyu, Siyuan Zhou and Chunjiang An
Bioengineering 2024, 11(6), 554; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering11060554

“A Telemetric Framework for Assessing Vehicle Emissions Based on Driving Behavior Using Unsupervised Learning”
by Auwal Sagir Muhammad, Cheng Wang and Longbiao Chen
Vehicles 2024, 6(4), 2170–2194; https://doi.org/10.3390/vehicles6040106

Special Issues:

“Advances in Energy Harvesting Technologies for Wearable Devices”
by Minki Kang and Woon-Hong Yeo
Micromachines 2024, 15(7), 884; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15070884

“Integration of Smart Cities and Building Information Modeling (BIM) for a Sustainability Oriented Business Model to Address Sustainable Development Goals”
by Zhen Liu, Yixin Liu and Mohamed Osmani
Buildings 2024, 14(5), 1458; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14051458

“Synergistic Applications of Graphene-Based Materials and Deep Eutectic Solvents in Sustainable Sensing: A Comprehensive Review”
by Rossella Svigelj, Rosanna Toniolo, Cristina Bertoni and Alessandro Fraleoni-Morgera
Sensors 2024, 24(8), 2403; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24082403

“Sustainable Power Generation Expansion in Island Systems with Extensive RES and Energy Storage”
by Emmanuel Karapidakis, Christos Kalogerakis and Evangelos Pompodakis
Inventions 2023, 8(5), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions8050127

“Modeling the Global Annual Carbon Footprint for the Transportation Sector and a Path to Sustainability”
by Vikram Mittal and Rajesh Shah
Modelling 2023, 4(2), 264–282; https://doi.org/10.3390/modelling4020015

Special Issues:

MDPI is pleased to share a significant milestone in its mission to advance scholarly research and promote the dissemination of knowledge—300+ MDPI journals are now indexed in Web of Science (WoS). This milestone highlights the global recognition, interdisciplinary impact and enhanced visibility of our journals. It also reflects our adherence to rigorous editorial standards, scientific integrity, and our mission to foster open scientific exchange in all forms, across all disciplines. 

To explore the full list of our journals indexed in WoS, please visit https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals/wos. Beyond expanding the coverage of our publications in the leading academic databases, we are dedicated to ensuring that our journals are included in as many scope-specific databases as possible. This increases the visibility of our authors’ work and extends the reach of their significant data. 

This milestone would not have been possible without the efforts and expertise of our academic editors, reviewers and authors. Their commitment and collaboration have been instrumental in creating an inclusive, accessible, and impactful publishing platform. We also extend our gratitude to the global research community for their trust as we continue to break new ground in academic publishing. This milestone is not just a celebration of MDPI’s progress but also recognition of the collective strides made by researchers worldwide. 

As we celebrate this remarkable accomplishment, MDPI remains steadfast in its commitment to open access publishing and ensuring that high-quality research reaches and inspires a global audience.

Conference: The 72nd JSAP Spring Meeting 2025
Date: 14–17 March 2025
Location: Noda City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

MDPI will be attending the 72nd JSAP Spring Meeting 2025, which will be held from 14 to 17 March 2025 in Noda City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Hosted by the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP), one of Asia’s most prominent academic organizations in applied physics, the conference serves as a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration. With a focus on themes such as quantum technology, nanomaterials, optoelectronics, renewable energy systems, and biophysics, the event features keynote speeches, technical sessions, poster presentations, and an exhibition showcasing innovative technologies. The JSAP Spring Meeting is renowned for highlighting Japan’s leadership in applied physics research and its integration with global industrial trends. The 2025 program includes special sessions on sustainable technologies and AI-driven material discovery, reflecting the urgent need for science-based solutions to global challenges. This prestigious event brings together global researchers, engineers, and industry experts to share cutting-edge advancements in applied physics and related fields.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

• Applied Sciences;
• Atoms;
• Entropy;
• Eng;
• Photonics;
• Sensors;
• Chips;
• Electronics;
• Micromachines;
• Condensed Matter;
• Magnetism;
• Physics.

If you are planning to attend the conference, we encourage you to visit our booth and speak to our representatives. We are eager to meet you in person and assist you with any queries that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the official website: https://meeting.jsap.or.jp/english.

We are pleased to announce that the 2nd International Conference on AI Sensors and Transducers (AIS 2025) will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 29 July to 3 August 2025. This conference is organized by MDPI’s journals Sensors, AI Sensor, Micromachines, Chemosensors, and Robotics. Building on the success of our previous conference in Singapore, this event promises to be an exciting platform for exploring cutting-edge advances and fostering collaboration in the rapidly evolving field of AI, sensors, and transducers. We expect that the AIS 2025 will host over 600 participants from around the world.

Conference Chairs:

• Prof. Dr. Toshihiro Itoh, Department of Precision Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan;
• Prof. Dr. Sang-Woo Kim, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Korea;
• Prof. Dr. Chengkuo Lee, Director of Center for Intelligent Sensors and MEMS; Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Topics of Interest:

• S1. Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) and MicroTAS;
• S2. Biosensors and Biomedical Devices;
• S3. In-Body IoT Sensing Technology, Electroceuticals and Neural Interfaces;
• S4. Nanophotonics and Metasurface;
• S5. Acoustic, RF, THz Metamaterials and AI-Enabled Metamaterials;
• S6. Neuromorphic Computing, In-Memory Computing and Applications;
• S7. Photonics Integrated Circuits (PICs) and Novel Materials;
• S8. Enabling Technology for Photonic Neural Networks (PNNs) and Applications;
• S9. In-Sensor Computing and Enabling Technology for Edge Computing;
• S10. MEMS/NEMS Sensors;
• S11. Semiconductor Sensors, Photodetectors and CMOS MEMS;
• S12. Piezoelectric MEMS and Resonators—FBAR, SAW and pMUT;
• S13. Piezoelectric Transducers and Energy Harvesters;
• S14. Ferroelectric/Perovskite/2D Materials Thin Film and Applications;
• S15. Gas Sensors and Chemosensors;
• S16. Triboelectric Nanogenerators and Self-Powered Sensors;
• S17. Energy Harvesting Technology and Applications;
• S18. Flexible, Stretchable and Wearable Sensors;
• S19. Wearable AI Sensors;
• S20. AI-Enhanced Tactile Sensors and e-Skin;
• S21. Haptic Technology and Applications;
• S22. Advanced Sensors for Robots and Autonomous Systems;
• S23. Intelligent Sensors and AI-Enhanced Humanoids;
• S24. Enabling Technology for Digital Twin, Metaverse and Smart Sensing Systems;
• S25. AIoT Technology and Applications;
• S26. Sensors for Applications in Agriculture, Aquaculture, Food Technology (A2FT) and Harsh Environment;
• S27. Industry Forum and Commercialization of Sensors and Transducers;
• S28. Regular Symposium.

Guide for Authors:

Please click the button to submit your abstract before 10 May 2025.

Please click the button to register for this event.

For any enquiries regarding the event, please contact ais2025@mdpi.com.

We look forward to seeing you at AIS 2025.

MDPI, a pioneer in scholarly open access publishing, and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), Singapore, proudly announce the successful conclusion of the first edition the MDPI Early Career Researcher Awards. The awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to medical and biomedical research, were presented to six exceptional researchers during an awards ceremony held at LKCMedicine HQ Building on 28 November 2024.

Honoring Excellence in Research

The awards recognize exceptional postdoctoral researchers and Ph.D. students who have demonstrated outstanding originality, innovation, and impact in their respective fields. We are honored to announce the winners of the 2024 edition:

Early Career Researcher (Postdoc) Award:

• Dr. Theresia Handayani Mina, “Adiposity and Metabolic Health in Asian Populations: An Epidemiological Study Using Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry in Singapore”;
• Dr. Erfan Rezvani Ghomi, “Wound Healing Improvement by Novel Aligned Antimicrobial Nanofibrous 3D Scaffolds”;
• Dr. Yadollah Ranjbar Slamloo, “Functional Alterations of The Prefrontal Circuit Underlying Cognitive Aging in Mice”.

Early Career Researcher (Ph.D.) Award:

• Pritisha Rozario, “Mechanistic Basis for Potassium Efflux-Driven Activation of the Human NLRP1 Inflammasome”;

• Michelle Law Cheok Yien, “Chikungunya Virus Nonstructural Protein 1 is a Versatile RNA Capping and Decapping Enzyme”;
• Yin Ruoyu, “The Use of Digital Mental Health and Wellbeing Tools in Older Adults: A Mixed Method Study”.

Our collaboration highlights a shared commitment to recognizing exceptional talent and research within the academic community, addressing today’s healthcare challenges, and inspiring continued innovation.

Looking Ahead to 2025

Building on the success of the first edition, MDPI and LKCMedicine are excited to announce that the 2025 MDPI Early Researcher Awards will continue to celebrate excellence and innovation in medical research. The next edition promises to expand its scope, introducing new categories and providing even greater recognition for impactful research.

Further details on the 2025 awards, including nomination criteria and timelines, will be shared in the coming months. We remain committed to fostering a culture of research excellence and collaboration within the global scientific community.

In order to specifically develop different research areas and attract more high-quality papers, under the guidance of the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Ai-Qun Liu, Micromachines (ISSN: 2072-666X) has established a new Section and appointed three Section Editors-in-Chief.

New Section:

• “Optical MEMS and Photonic Microsystems”

Introduction of Section Editors-in-Chief

Name: Prof. Dr. Huikai Xie, Section Editor-in-Chief of “Optical MEMS and Photonic Microsystems”
Affiliation: School of Information and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: MEMS; CMOS-MEMS sensors; micromirrors; microactuators; piezoelectric MEMS microspeakers; pMUTs; photoacoustic microscopy; optical endomicroscopy

Name: Prof. Dr. Eiichi Tamiya, Section Editor-in-Chief of “Biosensors”
Affiliation: ¹ Advanced Photonics and Biosensing Open Innovation Laboratory, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Photonics Center, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Osaka, Japan;
² SANKEN-The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Suita 567-0047, Osaka, Japan
Interests: nanobiotechnology; advanced biosensor; bioMEMS; cell-based device; biosensors for IoT

Name: Dr. Mohsen Akbari, Section Editor-in-Chief of “Biofabrication and Tissue Engineering”
Affiliation: Laboratory for Innovations in Microengineering (LiME), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V9P 0C8, Canada
Interests: drug delivery; biomaterials; tissue engineering

We warmly welcome these three scholars in their roles as Section Editors-in-Chief, and we look forward to the continued success of Micromachines. We are confident that they will help in continuing to raise the prestige and quality of Micromachines while maintaining the efficiency of manuscript processing that authors have come to expect. We look forward to their contributions to the journal.

For more information about our Editorial Board, please visit
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/micromachines/editors.

Micromachines Editorial Office

Conference: The 32nd Korean Conference on Semiconductors (KCS 2025)
Date: 12–14 February 2025
Location: Jeongseon, Republic of Korea

MDPI will be attending the 32nd Korean Conference on Semiconductors (KCS 2025), which will be held from 12 to 14 February 2025, as an exhibitor, and we welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

The conference is organized by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. The theme of KCS 2025 is “Future Normal in Semiconductor”. “Future Normal” represents the enduring standards and transformative trends that will define the future, remaining relevant even a decade from now. It embodies the pursuit of groundbreaking insights and influential innovations in semiconductor research, shaping the trajectory of the industry and providing a visionary roadmap for the future.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Electronics;
• Materials;
• AI;
• Applied Nano;
• Applied Sciences;
• Ceramics;
• Chips;
• Electronic Materials;
• Energies;
• Eng;
• Hardware;
• Inventions;
• Micromachines;
• Sensors;
• Technologies.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to start an online conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person at booth #32 and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: http://kcs.cosar.or.kr/2025/index.jsp.

Nine new journals covering multiple subjects launched their inaugural issues in December 2024. We are excited to be able to share with you the newest research rooted in the value of open access.

We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all of the Editorial Board Members, and each journal will ensure its high-quality output by using excellent editorial and rigorous peer-review processes, to ensure that the articles achieve high impact and visibility.

Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.

Journal	Founding Editor-in-Chief	Journal Topics (Selected)
	Prof. Dr. Zhaoyang Dong City University of Hong Kong, China Editorial | View inaugural issue	energy storage technologies; energy storage system management; energy storage applications; strategies in renewable energy generation grid integration; distributed storage systems; economics and markets for energy storage View journal scope | Submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Yang-Hui He 1. London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Royal Institution, UK 2. University of Oxford, UK Editorial | View inaugural issue	Euclidean geometry; differential geometry; algebraic geometry; complex geometry; discrete geometry; computational geometry; geometric group theory;  convex geometry View journal scope | Submit an article
	Dr. Michel Planat Université de Franche-Comté, France Editorial | View inaugural issue	differential topology; algebraic topology; manifold topology; homology theory; low-dimensional topology; fuzzy sets View journal scope | Submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Rashid Al Abri 1. Sultan Qaboos University, Oman 2. Oman Medical Association, Oman Editorial | View inaugural issue	clinical practices as well as research and innovation in medical education, risk management in healthcare, and patient safety View journal scope | Submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Ecevit Bilgili* New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA *Prof. Dr. Ecevit Bilgili passed away before the completion of the inaugural issue. His dedication and vision for JPBI will always be remembered and serve as a guiding inspiration. Editorial | View inaugural issue	early drug discovery and development; product characterization and pre-clinical testing; drug delivery systems and drug design; active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production View journal scope | Submit an article
	Dr. Weiyong Liu Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China Editorial | View inaugural issue	theories, methodologies, technologies, and applications in the fields of laboratory medicine and clinical chemistry View journal scope | Submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar University of Granada, Spain Editorial | View inaugural issue	scientometrics; informetrics; bibliometrics; altmetrics; webometrics; research evaluation View journal scope | Submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Fei Fan Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China Editorial | View inaugural issue	regional growth theory and methods; regional system modeling and optimization; regional development policy; regional spatial evolution; environmental policy and instrument choice View journal scope | Submit an article
	Dr. Kevin Cianfaglione Université Catholique de Lille, France Editorial | View inaugural issue	wild species and their habitats; wild environments and biodiversity; natural environment management; wild land preservation View journal scope | Submit an article

We wish to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. You are welcome to send an application here, or contact the New Journal Committee (newjournal-committee@mdpi.com) if you would like to create more new journals.