Steve Freear passes the torch on to new Editor-in-Chief of IEEE TUFFC

[mks_col] [mks_one_half] [caption id="attachment_6503" align="aligncenter" width="215"] Steven Freear : IEEE Trans UFFC Editor-In-Chief from 2013-2018[/caption] [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] [caption id="attachment_6504" align="aligncenter" width="211"] Peter A. Lewin : IEEE Trans UFFC Editor-In-Chief in 2019[/caption] [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col]

As the New Year starts and after 6 years of serving as the Editor-in-Chief of UFFC Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, Steven Freear will pass on the torch to Peter A. Lewin.

Steven Freear : IEEE Trans UFFC Editor-In-Chief from 2013-2018

Steven Freear (IEEE S’95–M’97–SM’11) earned his doctorate in 1997 and subsequently worked in the electronics industry for seven years as a medical ultrasonic system designer. He was appointed Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) and then Professor with the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Leeds, Leeds, UK., in 2006, 2008 and 2016, respectively. In 2006, he formed the Ultrasound Group, specializing in both industrial and biomedical research. In 2014, he was appointed Visiting Professor with the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. He is an External Examiner to undergraduate programs in Electronic Engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast, U.K. His main research interest is concerned with advanced analog and digital signal processing and instrumentation for ultrasonic systems. He teaches digital signal processing, VLSI and embedded systems design, and hardware description languages at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has been Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control since 2009, and was Editor-In-Chief from 2013-2018.

Outstanding service to the society

Under Steve Freear’s leadership, the impact factor increased by 80% to 2.704. The submission to publication time was halved to 13 weeks. Steven oversaw the return of publication services to IEEE in 2015, helping to halve the publication costs. He also implemented Early Access so that articles can be rapidly cited once accepted. Team leadership was also key as he worked together with all the dedicated Associate Editors to help build a stronger and more vibrant journal.

Steve’s arduous work, his passion for the Journal and commitment were recognized by the Society at the most recent IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, October 22-25, 2018 in Kobe, Japan, where he was awarded the prestigious UFFC-S Outstanding Service Award.

Steven has been working closely with Peter Lewin for the past year to ensure the seamless transition of editorship and has every confidence that the journal will go from strength to strength under Peter’s distinguished leadership.

Peter A. Lewin : IEEE Trans UFFC Editor-In-Chief in 2019

Peter is currently R.B. Beard Distinguished University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering at Drexel University, Philadelphia. He is also Director of the Ultrasound Research and Education Center in The School of Bioengineering, Bioscience and Health Systems at Drexel University.

Peter is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America. He is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) and served as a Chair (1997-1999) of the AIUM's Technical Standards Committee. In addition, he is a member of the honorary Society Tau Beta Pi and serves as a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Most recently, he was elected as a resource member of the prestigious Franklin Institute Science and Awards Committee, Philadelphia, and in April of 2018 received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Philadelphia Section Benjamin Franklin Key Award. The award recognizes outstanding technical innovations, which contributed to intellectual, industrial, and economic development, and demonstrated human benefits. Outside of science Peter’s interests include reading and swimming, and he thoroughly enjoys classical music and theater.

Vision for the Journal’s future

Peter’s background brings multidisciplinary experience to the Transactions; his areas of expertise - in addition to sensors, instrumentation, and measurement techniques - entail ultrasonics, material science, acousto-optics and ferroelectric materials. He also brings translational expertise – his industrial experience involved instrumentation and sensors design in the field of air and underwater acoustics and design of both piezoelectric, piezopolymer and fiber optic hydrophones. His current research activities are focused on theranostic applications of ultrasound, especially healing of chronic wounds.

Peter’s immediate goal is to capitalize on Steve’s accomplishments, sustain and further increase the Journal’s reputation and Impact Factor in Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control fields. Peter recognizes the immense challenges that will be encountered on the path to meet these goals. In particular, the advent of open access journals and the development of fierce international competition will require strong and sound strategy.

Peter plans to reinforce regularly appearing Special Issues and high quality review papers on emerging topics identified in close collaboration with the Associate Editors to further enhance the reputation of the Journal. He will reach out to scholars presenting at events such as the Ultrasound Industry Association and actively pursue topics worthy of particular attention. He aims to make the transactions the home journal for research on ultrasonic devices with clinical potential to capture emerging developments on a variety of ultrasound and piezoelectric devices with preliminary or pre-clinical data. Peter’s overarching goal is to make the Journal of even stronger interest in the field and the publication of choice for authors working in all areas developed within the UFFC Society.