Discover Mechanical Engineering - Meet the Editor-in-Chief for Discover Mechanical Engineering
Professor Lucas FM da Silva, Editor-in-Chief
"Mechanical engineering is about designing almost anything from medical devices or sports equipment to car engines, airplanes, or electrical power plants. Mechanical engineering deals with everything that moves, including the human body. It uses knowledge of physics, mathematics and materials, and concepts such as force, energy and motion to design and manufacture mechanical systems that affect virtually every aspect of our lives. It thus has a decisive contribution to develop the economy, increasing security, and contributing to the development of individuals and societies. Discover Mechanical Engineering is about all this and much more in a new and exciting format. Researchers who want to make a difference and publish rapidly will choose this new journal."
Lucas FM da Silva is Full Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP). He obtained his PhD in structural adhesive bonding of composites from the University of Bristol (United Kingdom) in 2004 and Aggregation from FEUP in 2011.
Prof. da Silva leads the Advanced Joining Processes Unit (AJPU) of the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering (INEGI), composed of approximately 40 post-doc, doctoral students and master student members. The work includes the development of welded joints, joints by plastic deformation and adhesively bonded joints. The research methodology is based on the mechanical characterization of materials and joints in terms of strength and fracture, modelling with analytical models and finite elements supported by careful experimental tests. The technology developed in the group is transferred to national and international companies as much as possible.
Prof. da Silva has coordinated about 20 research projects mostly funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Commission. He published about 350 articles from the Web of Science, nearly 40 books on materials and joining processes and has an h-index of 60 according to Scopus database. He organizes international conferences on joining technologies, materials and structures, manufacturing, machine design and education.