We’ve been discussing progress a lot lately in the industry. We’re seeing gradual progress in the U.S. manufacturing recovery. We’re seeing it in the finishing industry as well. We’re also seeing progress in the steps we’re taking to improve the NASF.
One of these steps is improving Plating & Surface Finishing. The publication’s legacy and distinguished past speaks for itself. Now, as stewards of its future, its continuity and well-being is up to us.
With changes to the industry in recent years and the right-sizing of the organization, the future of P&SF has arguably been in question. But even with various challenges the magazine has faced, its technical content has remained solid under the very able efforts of our editor, Jim Lindsey, whose work has been of immense value to the industry over time.
With this as a backdrop, we’re looking to make productive changes. Our ultimate objective is to return to a hard copy publication with a strong following and readership. We’re committed to that. In the meantime, we’re committed to maintaining P&SF’s quality, improving its format and readability and strengthening its distribution and relevance for the surface finishing community and beyond.
That’s why we’ve partnered with Gardner Publications to assist us in transforming the magazine in the coming year. Our work with Gardner and our launch this month of P&SF in a new E-magazine format is the first phase of a step-by-step, incremental turnaround for the publication.
NASF will remain in charge of all articles and editorial content. Don Kline and his staff at Gardner will handle the technology platform and the so-called “content management system” to upgrade accessibility and improve distribution.
You’ll notice that under the new format, the articles are definitely easy to access and the content is well-organized. Our aim is also to allow readers the ability to easily download and print full copies.
You’ll also get the impression that the topics and headlines will get before a much wider potential readership, and you’ll be right. With these and other features, the possibility of bringing back our advertising strength will also be a more realistic goal under our new partnership.
We’ve also recently announced that we’ll also be forming a magazine task group to address two things. First, we’d like to solicit feedback from our readers on how the immediate changes are working. Second, we’d like to consider appropriate next steps in the transformation of P&SF. Here, we’ll review and make recommendations on content, the magazine’s role in industry promotion and marketing, new areas for potential coverage and other topics.
In this way, we can ensure that P&SF meets the needs of the industry and the finishing supply chain, and be relied upon as a valued resource for coverage of technical, management and policy issues facing the industry.
We look forward to taking our next steps on what will assuredly be progress ahead.
An AESF Foundation summer research grant provided an excellent opportunity for a PhD student to learn how to use chemical engineering fundamentals to scientifically characterize an electroplating process through integrated dynamic modeling and simulation, and how to develop digital twin (DT)-based virtual plant that can be of any process configuration. This is a critical step for the investigation of new technology development for smart and sustainable manufacturing in the surface finishing industry.
The NASF-AESF Foundation Research Board selected a project on electrodeposition toward developing low-cost and scalable manufacturing processes for hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysis cells for clean transportation and distributed power applications. During the reporting period, efforts were focused on planning the overall project work, with the eventual goal of manufacturing an improved design for a Solid oxide fuel cell anode supported flat tube (SOFC).
