Jul 27, 2022

UCLA Samueli Newsroom

Chang-Jin “CJ” Kim, the Volgenau Chair in Engineering and a distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has joined the founding editorial team of Droplet as an editor-in-chief. The journal will be published by Wiley in partnership with Jilin University in China and is the first publication to focus specifically on droplets and bubbles as they relate to a wide range of disciplines. 

 Droplet, which published its first issue in July 2022, is an open-access journal aimed at filling a scholarly void by providing a multidisciplinary platform for studies that feature droplets as an integral part of the research. The journal will highlight a variety of droplet-related topics, including “the design, synthesis, fabrication, characterization, manipulation, control, application and commercialization of structures, devices and systems that involve droplets and related objects from microscopic to macroscopic scales.”

The online journal, which is currently slated for quarterly publication and may eventually become bimonthly, has shared a short video to highlight the topics it will cover.

“Droplet is centered on droplets and bubbles, encompassing a wide range of disciplines from science to engineering,” Kim said. “In other words, it will publish basic science of droplets on one end as well as manufacturing technology that uses droplets on the other end. The goal is to collect studies from a wide range of disciplines in which droplets play a key role rather than the usual way of collecting a range of studies within a certain discipline.”

Kim’s research looks closely at how droplets interact among themselves and with solid surfaces. He has previously published breakthroughs on using electric signals to move droplets and creating “superomniphobic” surfaces that repel all liquids.

Among Kim’s many accolades are the Ho-Am Prize in Engineering — South Korea’s most prestigious recognition of accomplishments in science, engineering, medicine, the arts and community service — and the Robert Bosch Micro and Nano Electro Mechanical Systems Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He is also a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, IEEE, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Kim serves as vice chair of academic personnel for the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department.

Sara Hubbard contributed to this story.