ASCE Publications: How do you differentiate this journal from others in the field?

Ulm: JEM is the prime venue for mechanics as related to civil engineering in the larger sense. I see the mission of JEM to advance the general field of engineering mechanics as well as the field of civil engineering. With climate change posing enormous challenges for engineers, JEM is uniquely positioned to provide new methods to the civil engineering community and lead intellectually; connecting both researchers and professionals.

ASCE Publications: What are the critical topics you want to see covered in the Engineering Mechanics journal?

Ulm: The challenge we face as a society is global warming. It should be noted that it is NOT whether we believe in global warming, it is about what we do about it. That is what engineers do: We, engineers, are in charge of developing new infrastructure, new functions for our societies to address the challenges and perils of global warming in a sustainable way. The topics I am most interested in for JEM, as the peer-reviewed intellectual leader of our profession, revolve around the topic of global warming, and the methods that are required to build safe and functional infrastructures for the 21st century. Let me give you some examples:

• Resilience – as we all know hurricane season is once again upon us. The yearly devastation caused to our communities clearly shows a lack of knowledge how to incorporate resilience into the engineering mechanics practice. There are a wealth of new methods coming from other fields, like statistical physics, which at an atomic scale deal with these uncertainties in a physics sense. I believe there is much to be learned from these physics approaches and bringing them into the toolbox of engineers.
  
  
• Another example is Mechanics-Based Artificial Intelligence: Engineers do many good things through experience – but experience that is rooted in Mechanics and Physics. This is precisely what emerging Artificial Intelligence Methods have the potential to deliver: to link them – by virtue of mechanics and physics – to the engineering problem, and by doing so providing engineers with the wealth of experience based on the laws of physics. This, I believe, will infuse new life to our civil engineering profession for the design of sustainable infrastructure. The place to publish such papers will be JEM.

JEM also has a new section coming out: The Section of Micromechanics and Nanomechanics, dedicated to multiscale materials and structures. This new section perfectly squares with the mission of JEM to provide intellectual leadership for the civil engineering profession, to incorporate all that we have learned at the nano and micro scale into sustainable construction materials and adaptive structures. This journal really bridges the divide between practitioner and academic!

ASCE Publications: What are the biggest challenges facing researchers working on engineering mechanics?

Ulm: Covid-19 has shown us the lack of resilience of our societies and institutions. Institutions struggled to quickly adapt to an imminent threat of health crisis. We face a similar crisis of lack of resilience in of our infrastructure, be this due to hazards (hurricanes, wildfires, flooding) and/or due to the perils of global warming. In some way, as a nation, we pay the price for the lack of funding for civil engineering research of the 1990s and 2000s; and still today research in civil engineering is not at the forefront of our national funding agencies. This needs to change, and hopefully will. Things are moving, but unfortunately very slowly. We, as a society, need to move on swiftly, and find solutions for our infrastructure in the 21st century. The infrastructure bill that just passed through Congress is a step forward for direct works; but we need more funding in these areas in order to prepare our society for the perils of global warming.

ASCE Publications: What inspired you to become a Civil Engineer?

Ulm: My mom was a civil engineer. So, the question of why I became a civil engineer is a question I often debate with my shrink, and I leave it there. But more seriously, my dream as an undergraduate was to become bridge engineer. While I worked on some big bridge and tunneling projects in France in the 1990s, before coming to the United States, I didn’t make it as bridge engineer. Instead, I found my home in research in civil engineering. Really, I like the beauty of mechanics; the richness in simplicity, and the lingua franca of engineering. It is quantitative. As my advisor always told me, the difference between a politician and an engineer is that engineers need to come up with solutions, not just feelings. More generally, engineering mechanics is a universal language with which I can communicate all over the world, irrespective of background, from the worker to the professor… It is this universality of this language that drove me to become editor of the Journal of Engineering Mechanics.

ASCE Publications: What key features do you look for in an article submitted to your journal?

Ulm: When I first open an article, I want to know about the author first and foremost. What makes them tick? Why did they write this article? That is, I am looking for a good story, a clear engineering question, translated into a scientific question and method. Second, I am interested in the author, how they solve the question raised. It is in this combination of “good story” and creativity of solution, where the impact is forged. Engineering impact but also societal impact.

ASCE Publications: What are your aspirations for future of the journal?

Ulm: As an editor I see my role as a steward of this great journal, which has a long tradition in providing intellectual leadership for our profession. We – as a community – have a great editorial board in place which provides enormous service to our community. My first aspiration is to continue with these Associate Editors to ensure intellectual leadership, and pass the journal on, after my tenure, to the next generation.

At the same time, I realize that the challenges of our profession of civil engineers are so great today, that we need to re-kindle the link between the profession and research, so that we can address these challenges. JEM has to play its role in this change, as have all the institutes of ASCE, as well as ASCE’s leadership. We in JEM need to find ways to bring our first-class research results to the ASCE community and specifically the practitioners; and I firmly recommend that JEM be on the monthly reading log of ASCE’s leadership. Only if we make use of this synergy of profession (i.e. ASCE at large) and research (JEM and the many other journals) will we as a profession of engineers be able to address the challenges of global warming, social mobility and equity and so on, which our society faces.

In addition, we should be exploring new means of publicizing our rich content. Student authors are more familiar with alternate forms of communications like You-Tube and SnapChat. We should be urging this younger generation to maximize this resource to bring the profession and the research together; and advance faster together.

ASCE Publications: Any advice for new researchers starting out?

Ulm: I am not sure whether I am the best to give advice, because each time when I start a new research project with one of my graduate students, I feel this rush of adrenaline in my blood (as if it’s the first research project ever), the sleeplessness at night. But I do have a few pieces of advice. DO WHAT YOU LIKE! Figure out what makes you tick! And then put it in words and equations, every day a little bit,…, like a diary… so that when you write your paper, it is YOU, that is: your very best. It’s your story, and a good story is never linear, but full of surprises. Don’t give up because of a bad review; but take it as a means to advance your knowledge. Your story is what counts, and what the profession needs or will need tomorrow! That is why JEM is so critical! Whether you are just starting out, or whether you a senior researcher enjoy feeling the adrenalin rush again.

ASCE Publications: Your thoughts on the peer review process?

Ulm: The peer review process is absolutely critical. A peer review ensures a debate between an author and a community. It is often the first contact; the first feedback beyond an author’s advisor. We do acknowledge that sometimes it can be a long process, understanding a 30-page article does take time, but ultimately that review process helps the author to present their best work. And, as a reviewer you can improve your own writing because you learn to condense a long-developed essay into a concise paragraph.

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