Keywords:
design engineering, mechanical engineering
Topics:
Design engineering, Mechanical engineering, Engineering teachers

Colleagues,

Included in this issue is a guest editorial by Professor John Uicker, who provides a personal perspective on the memory of leaders in mechanical design research. This November issue concludes our 2004 publication year, which was the first to consist of six bimonthly issues containing over 120 technical papers. During this year the number of submitted manuscripts is on track to reach 380, while at the same time our Associate Editors have reduced the review process to less than four months. In order to provide access to JMD papers that are in press, we have prepared a web page http://mae.eng.uci.edu/jmd/forthcomingissues.html. These papers are the most recent contributions to mechanical design research. It is a service to both the journal and our authors, if these papers are included in references for new manuscripts. The ASME publication committee has agreed to special features for next year that will reduce this production backlog. I am pleased to introduce three new Associate Editors. Individually, they have already served our research community in significant leadership roles. They are: Thomas Chase, University of Minnesota, for the Mechanisms and Robotics Technical Area. Shapour Azarm, University of Maryland, for the Design Automation Technical Area. Larry Howell, Brigham Young University, for the Mechanisms and Robotics Technical Area. Their photographs and short biographies follow. I am honored that they have agreed to join in maintaining and enhancing the stature of the Journal of Mechanical Design.

J. Michael McCarthy

University of California, Irvine

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Thomas ChaseDr. Chase is a Professor and Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. His primary interests are mechanism synthesis, machine element design, database design for computer aided engineering, and the design of apparatus for high energy physics experiments. Dr. Chase received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1984. He chaired the Design Engineering Division in 2002-03, the Mechanisms Committee in 1993-94, and the Design Engineering Technical Conferences in 1994.
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Shapour Azarm Dr. Shapour Azarm is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. His expertise is in the area of design optimization and selection. He was formerly Conference and Paper Review Chair of the ASME Design Automation Conference and Chair of the ASME Design Automation Committee. He is currently serving in the ASME Design Engineering Division’s Executive Committee. Dr. Azarm is a Fellow of the ASME.
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Larry L. Howell Larry L. Howell, Ph.D., P.E. is Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University. He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation Career Award and is a director of the Utah Center of Excellence for Compliant Mechanisms. A pioneer in the area of compliant mechanisms, including compliant microelectromechanical systems, he has published a book and over 100 papers, and has 17 patents issued or pending. He was an engineer on the YF-22, and an engineer with Engineering Methods. He received his B.S. from Brigham Young University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University.
Copyright © 2004
 by ASME