Announcements

MDPI is pleased to announce that we now display the co-authors’ email addresses in addition to the corresponding author’s email address on the webpage of published papers, protected by Captcha. For more information about this change, please visit the journal’s instructions for authors page. 

We believe this change will facilitate academic discussions and advance our cause of open science and research. The corresponding authors are responsible for communicating with their co-authors and indicating in our system (https://susy.mdpi.com/) if co-authors would prefer for their email addresses not to be displayed.

On 9 February 2023, Clarivate, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics, added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science platform, streamlining the research process by allowing researchers to locate and link to preprints alongside other trusted content in the database.

The Preprint Citation Index will act as a bridge to connect cutting-edge preprints with peer-reviewed journal articles published within the Web of Science Core Collection. Alerts can be easily set to monitor new research across several repositories and authors will also be able to include preprints on their Web of Science Research Profile to more accurately display their various research outputs.

As of its launch, the Preprint Citation Index will provide nearly two million preprints from various repositories, including MDPI’s own Preprints.org.

MDPI's Preprints Platform – Preprints.org

To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform. Preprints.org accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level Metrics and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints.

During submission to any MDPI journal, authors have the option to share their research as a preprint. After an initial screening, the manuscript is available online in 48 hours or less. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited, providing authors maximum visibility.

We invite you to join the ranks of the over 100k researchers using Preprints.org and share your research.

For more information, please visit Preprints.org.

We are pleased to announce that Technologies (ISSN: 2227-7080) was selected for coverage in the Scopus indexing database in January 2023. We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to all of the authors, reviewers, and editors who have contributed to this journal and helped us to accomplish this achievement.

At the same time, Technologies continues to be covered in ESCI (Web of Science), where its Journal Citation Indicator (JCI, 0.71) corresponds to a ranking of 48/175 (Q2) in the “Engineering and Multidisciplinary” category.

The journal provides an advanced forum for the latest technological studies of both researchers and professionals in an array of related disciplines. It publishes reviews, regular research papers, communications, perspectives, and viewpoints, as well as Special Issues on particular subjects.

To make the most of this opportunity, we would like to invite you to submit your research to the journal. If you have a paper concerning any topic within the scope of the journal, please submit it here.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Technologies Editorial Office

Conference: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2023)

Date: 29 May–2 June 2023
Place: London, UK

Machines (ISSN: 2075-1702) will be attending ICRA 2023 as an exhibitor. This meeting will take place from 29 May to 2 June 2023 in London, UK.

The largest and most prestigious event of the year in the robotics and automation calendar, the 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) will bring together the world's top academics, researchers, and industry representatives. With the conference taking place in the UK for the first time, London will provide the perfect backdrop to this world-class event.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Machines;
• Sensors;
• Actuators;
• Applied Sciences;
• Electronics;
• Robotics;
• Systems;
• JSAN;
• Technologies;
• Inventions;
• Designs;
• Drones;
• JMMP;
• Telecom;
• AI;
• Automation.

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 and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://www.icra2023.org/.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the MDPI Special Issue Mentor Program.

This program will enable early career researchers (who must hold a Ph.D. in a related field) to experience editing a Special Issue in MDPI journals, under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience, and to cultivate their ability to edit scientific research.

The mentee’s responsibilities include:

• Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Issue;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of Guest Editors;
• Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue together with the mentor.

The mentor’s responsibilities include:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Performing editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications, both of which must be carried out in a timely manner;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
• Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions with the assistance of mentees.

Certificates and awards:
After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Editorial Office of a journal you choose, and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. The full list of MDPI journals is as follows: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, we will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.

MDPI has just become the first open access (OA) publisher to reach the milestone of one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon! We are proud to share this special moment with the global scientific community.

This landmark has been reached thanks to the immeasurable support of more than 600,000 expert reviewers, 66,000 editorial board members and 6700 hard-working colleagues across MDPI’s global offices.

Within more than 25 years of publishing, our journals received 2.1 million manuscripts and generated 4.6 million peer review reports to get to one million papers published.

Reaching the milestone of one million articles published reinforces our mission to remove any existing barriers and to make scientific research accessible to all. Since its inception, MDPI’s goal has been to create reliable processes to make science open. This is a path towards facilitating the dissemination of novel insights in scientific communities.

Regular feedback from authors and reviewers shows that our service is greatly appreciated and needed. At the same time, the feedback helps us identify areas for further improvement.

As it stands, a significant share of published research findings remain closed access. More than half of the content published with the most well-known legacy publishers stays behind a paywall, and that is not including articles published in hybrid OA journals, or made available months or years after publication.

A new policy announced by the US administration in August 2022 requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication. While the new policy does not mandate articles be published under an open access license, it is aligned with the open access movement in removing all barriers to research. Similarly, some of the most advanced research institutions in the world intend to have all funded research articles published in open access by 2025.

MDPI is proud to be the leading agent of the transition to open access.

"Thanks a Million" to all the contributors!

We are currently recruiting Editorial Board Members (EBMs) for MDPI journals indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) in Web of Science. In particular, we are looking for experts who are interested in aiding in the development of our journals and safeguarding the scientific quality of the published findings.

Journals currently listed in the ESCI will receive an Impact Factor in June 2023, according to the changes announced by Web of Science (Clarivate). Therefore, this is an excellent time to become an Editorial Board Member for one of these fast-developing journals.

If you are interested in sharing your expertise in one of the journals listed below, please send us an application using this link.

The Editorial Office of the journal will contact you once the application has been approved.
Editorial Board Members are responsible for academic decisions on manuscripts in their field of expertise, will edit Special Issues, and may be invited to review manuscripts. The initial term lasts for two years, after which it can be renewed, and entails the following:

• Prescreening and making decisions on new submissions related to your research interests;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue during your term on a topic related to your research interests (or supervising Special Issues related to your research field);
• Providing input or feedback regarding journal policies;
• Helping to promote the journal among your peers or at conferences;
• Attending Board meetings to suggest journal development strategies;
• Reviewing manuscripts.

Editorial Board Members are entitled to a full waiver on one publication per year in the journal that they serve and need to be experts in their fields.

The list of ESCI journals can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals/esci.

Please find the list of ESCI journals, categorized by subject, for which we are recruiting Editorial Board Members below.

We are pleased to announce that the website of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation has been revamped! For the past couple of months, our UX UI team and front-end developers have been working hard to launch the website in time for the opening of the Sustainability Awards nominations.

The website is not the only thing that has had a remodeling. Indeed, the format of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award (ESLA) has been updated. ESLA is now a competition open to individual researchers or start-ups founded by researchers under the age of 35. Nominee applications will go through 2 rounds of selection until the final 3 are decided. The finalists will then be invited to give pitch presentations during the Award Ceremony to win either first place (10,000 USD) or runner-up (2 x 5000 USD).

The World Sustainability Award, on the other hand, remains the same: a total prize money of 100,000 USD is up for grabs by senior individual researchers or groups of researchers from the international research community.

Nominations for both the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader award are now open! Check out our new website for more information on how to nominate.

Conference: The 13th China Satellite Navigation Conference
Date: 16–18 November 2022
Place: Beijing, China

Sensors (ISSN: 1424-8220) will be attending the 13th China Satellite Navigation Conference as an exhibitor. This meeting will take place from 16 to 18 November in Beijing, China.

The China Satellite Navigation Conference (CSNC) is an open academic exchange platform. It aims to strengthen academic innovation and promote the cooperation and exchange of satellite navigation systems, strengthen technological innovation and promote the engineering construction of satellite navigation systems, strengthen theoretical innovation and promote the progress of satellite navigation theories, and strengthen application innovation and promote the scientific development of satellite navigation industry. The conference has been successfully held for 12 years and has produced a large number of excellent results in academic, technical, theoretical, application, and talent aspects.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Sensors;
• Remote Sensing;
• Atmosphere;
• Aerospace;
• Technologies;
• Drones;
• Signals;
• Smart Cities;
• AI;
• Geomatics.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to start an online conversation with us (booth #B18). Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference and virtual booth, please visit the following website: https://www.beidou.org/annualmeeting.html.

1. “Comparison of Time Delay Estimation Methods Used for Fast Pipeline Leak Localization in High-Noise Environment”
by Kousiopoulos, G.-P.; Papastavrou, G.-N.; Kampelopoulos, D.; Karagiorgos, N. and Nikolaidis, S.
Technologies 2020, 8(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies8020027
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/8/2/27

Highlights:

• An acoustic method is described for pipeline leak localization;
• Cross-Correlation and Generalized Cross-Correlation techniques are used;
• Accelerometer sensors are used;
• The paper studies the relationship between the measurement duration and execution time of the method;
• The authors develop a statistical algorithm to deal with the stochastic (non-deterministic) nature of leak signals.

2. “Analog Realization of Fractional-Order Skin-Electrode Model for Tetrapolar Bio-Impedance Measurements”
by Alimisis, V.; Dimas, C.; Pappas, G. and Sotiriadis, P. P.
Technologies 2020, 8(4), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies8040061
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/8/4/61

Highlights:

• Cole models are employed for the electrode and skin cells;
• Inverse Follow the Leader Feedback (IFLF) is employed and a custom versatile topology proposed;
• Bio-impedance behaviors up to 10 kHz are captured;
• A tunable active integrated circuitry block (90 nm technology) is built to emulate the tetrapolar bio-impedance measurement setup.

3. “The Influence of Smart Manufacturing towards Energy Conservation: A Review”
by Terry, S.; Lu, H.; Fidan, I.; Zhang, Y.; Tantawi, K.; Guo, T. and Asiabanpour, B.
Technologies 2020, 8(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies8020031
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/8/2/31

Highlights:

• Smart Manufacturing combines multiple technologies, including Cyber-Physical Systems, Internet of Things, Robotics/Automation, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Computing;
• Today's products made using Smart Manufacturing Technologies require 50% to 75% less energy than large-scale manufactured goods;
• Digital thread/twin technology provides manufacturers with the information needed to form intelligent solutions to reduce energy use.

4. “ExerTrack—Towards Smart Surfaces to Track Exercises”
by Fu, B.; Jarms, L.; Kirchbuchner, F. and Kuijper, A.
Technologies 2020, 8(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies8010017
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/8/1/17

Highlights:

• The paper proposes embedded capacitive proximity sensing integrated into a fitness mat to track and monitor exercise, which successfully recognize up to eight different whole-body workout exercises;
• An evaluation study involving nine participants is conducted as a proof-of-concept. Data augmentation methods are introduced that can increase data diversity and broader generalizability for human-activity recognition in quantified-self exercises, and the authors further justify the model architecture and training strategy for reproducibility.

5. “Design, Construction and Tests of a Low-Cost Myoelectric Thumb”
by Ayvali, M.; Wickenkamp, I. and Ehrmann, A.
Technologies 2021, 9(3), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies9030063
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/9/3/63

Highlights:

• The authors develop a low-cost myoelectric thumb;
• Freely available 3D printing models and software can serve as a basis for further research;
• By implementing feedback, the myoelectric thumb can be used as a low-cost prosthesis.

6. “Investigation of Methods to Extract Fetal Electrocardiogram from the Mother’s Abdominal Signal in Practical Scenarios”
by Sarafan, S.; Le, T.; Naderi, A. M.; Nguyen, Q.-D.; Kuo, B. T.-Y.; Ghirmai, T.; Han, H.-D.; Lau, M. P. H. and Cao, H.
Technologies 2020, 8(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies8020033
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/8/2/33 

Highlights:

• Various methods, including the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), template subtraction (TS), independent component analysis (ICA), and their combinations, are rigorously investigated using data from the PhysioNet 2013 Challenge;
• Data with added Gaussian and motion noise, which mimic a practical scenario, are utilized to examine the performance of different algorithms;
• Different algorithm combinations are proposed and tested, yielding promising results;
• A comprehensive performance metric, including the F1 score, computational complexity (i.e., execution time and allocated memories), and noise robustness, is used to assess performance.