Editor, Ali Memari shared his experiences in the structural and architectural engineering fields, and plans as new JAE editor, with ASCE Publications. Memari, Ph.D., P.E., F. ASCE, is professor and Bernard and Henrietta Hankin Chair in Residential Building Construction, and Director of the PHRC at Pennsylvania State University.

ASCE Publications: What separates this journal from others that cover architecture?

Ali Memari: Founded in 1995, JAE is the first journal to provide a scholarly medium for the relatively new and expanding multidisciplinary field of Architectural Engineering, which encompasses various specialty areas and disciplines involved in the building life cycle. Building design, construction, operation, retrofit, and demolition involves various applications of knowledge, principles, methods and means related to a variety of fields, such as Architecture, Civil/Structural Engineering, Mechanical/HVAC, Electrical/Lighting, Plumbing, Construction Management, Building Materials/System Manufacturing, and Finance. JAE was created to offer opportunities for contributions that can integrate relevant aspects from these varied fields to help advance the state of the art, knowledge and understanding in building systems. For this reason, JAE is a unique journal and is the first in this field.

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

Ali Memari: JAE is the journal where new knowledge, innovation, experience, technology, processes, methods, and state-of-the-art reviews are shared with the readership with an interest in buildings from the perspective of Architecture, Engineering, Science, and Technology. As advancements are made in related fields, and as new and emerging areas of R&D affect building planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance, we hope that authors find JAE as their first choice to publish and document their scholarly works and technical contributions.

The list of topics of interest is exhaustive, but perhaps the following broad areas have a special place in JAE: natural and man‐made hazard resistance and resiliency, energy efficiency, sustainability and life cycle assessment, building science, renewable energy generation, healthy indoor air and environment, building information modeling, smart building technologies, innovative construction materials, prefabricated and modular construction, and additive manufacturing. JAE is the journal where contributions in any of these general areas and relevant subtopics with potential application to all types of buildings are welcome.

ASCE Publications: What are the biggest challenges facing architectural engineers and researchers today / in the coming years?

Ali Memari: The practice of Architectural Engineering can be considered to include any Architecture, Engineering, Materials/Systems Manufacturing, and Construction services provided in the making of buildings. The expectations of building owners from new buildings are much higher than decades ago and are partly driven by demand for high performance, safety, serviceability, sustainability, durability, resiliency, and affordability. To address such high standards while being competitive, Architectural Engineers need to employ the most advanced technologies and tools for modeling, simulation, analysis, design, optimization, material and system selection, and construction techniques and management.

Today’s buildings are expected to be environmentally friendly, intelligent, and provide a long list of the desirable attributes, which require the use of innovative materials, design concepts, sensors, feedback mechanisms, and control systems. Building codes mainly target safety aspects and require provisions to minimize collapse and loss of life under extreme loading conditions. As a result, there is a growing tendency for adoption of performance-based design standards that provide reduced levels of damage and improved serviceability. This in turn would demand manufactured building components and systems that can deliver the expected performance.

ASCE Publications: What inspired you to become a Civil Engineer? What drew to be an editor?

Ali Memari: Architectural Engineering is focused on buildings that are designed by teams that would include Architects, Structural Engineers, HVAC/Mechanical Engineers, and Electrical/Lighting Engineers. Whereas Civil Engineering addresses all types of infrastructures such as roads, highways, bridges, dams, airports, water and wastewater treatment plants, factories, transmission towers, and of course, all types of buildings. My passion was to become a Structural Engineer who would design buildings and bridges, and that led me to choose Civil Engineering as my major in college. Development of infrastructure systems such roads and bridges, and construction of safe and durable homes and other buildings are fundamental for prosperity of societies; and are key areas under the broader Civil Engineering field. While all my degrees are in Civil Engineering with emphasis in Structures, my faculty life has been both in Architectural Engineering and Civil Engineering Departments.

My involvement with JAE as an Associate Editor goes back since 2014 when I started the Special Section (now called Special Collection) on Housing and Residential Building Construction as part of JAE. The success of this experience helped me transition to the new position of JAE Editor. I was drawn into the bigger responsibility because I could see this position giving me the opportunity to go beyond residential buildings and help advance and impact the broader building construction industry through knowledge sharing and technology transfer.

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

Ali Memari: Since there are several different types of articles that the ASCE journals can accept, JAE also publishes these well‐defined types that include Technical Papers, Technical Notes, and Case Studies, as the main types. The majority of articles, however, are Technical Papers, and we expect these original articles to include new knowledge, understanding, and/or data generated through laboratory testing, modeling techniques, mathematical derivation, computer simulation, or surveys.

The results of the studies presented are expected to contribute to advancement of the state of knowledge or practice related to building life cycle phases including planning, analysis/design, construction, maintenance, operation, retrofit, demolition, or recycling. Given the field of Architectural Engineering has a strong practice orientation, inclusion of practical example applications or technology transfer in Technical Papers is of particular interest. Furthermore, the readership of JAE highly values Case Study Papers and also State-of-the-Art review papers.

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

Ali Memari: My goal is to help enhance the journal to be recognized as the preferred journal where readers can find articles on the most recent innovations, advancements, emerging topics and issues, and in short best up‐to‐date technical contributions related to all types for buildings. I have invited a distinguished team of Associate Editors to work with me in this endeavor to attract contributions from both academia and industry authors and to make the journal a forum for knowledge sharing and technology transfer. I would like to see articles in the journal have real impact on the high-performance building design and construction industry toward advancing the state-of‐the‐art in areas such as energy efficiency, sustainability, health and comfort of occupants, environmentally friendly materials, natural and man‐made hazard resistance and mitigation, affordability, and construction technology, to name a few.

ASCE Publications: Can you offer advice for new researchers?

Ali Memari: If by new researchers, it is meant junior faculty in our universities or junior researchers in our research centers and institutes, I am not in a position to give advice to these researchers. They are experts in their fields and know what they need to work on and publish about. As far as the choice of publication type is concerned, I suggest they consider writing a state‐of‐the‐art paper every now and then, as these papers are highly in demand and the authors get the much-needed visibility.

The other point I make is that while many authors would like to see their papers published quickly, the fact is that a thorough review process by a few very busy experts in the field who can offer substantial review comments and constructive criticism of their paper, that make their paper better, is always time‐consuming and there is no shortcut. The relevance of the readership and audience of the journal and the journal’s preference for quality over quantity, instead of the speed of review process should ideally be the main factor to choose a journal for publication, as this will allow their work to have more impact. I hope that this journal can provide the unique medium and platform for authors to share their contributions with a global audience, have a desirable impact and make a difference in the future of building industry.

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