The 30th anniversary of Prof. Arun S. Mujumdar’s editorship of Drying Technology

We are pleased to dedicate this special issue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the editorship of Prof. Arun S. Mujumdar.

As the special issue to celebrate an important milestone of both the journal and the editor-in-chief, we feel it appropriate to include here the brief history of the journal and how Prof. Mujumdar has been nurturing it from the start. Although there exist some earlier editorials and write-ups on both of these important stories,^[1,2] not much has dwelled deeper into the real birth of the journal and the true historical involvement of our current chief.

After two successful events in the International Drying Symposium (IDS) series in Montreal in 1978 and 1980, Dr. Maurits Dekker, then the Chairman of Marcel Dekker, Inc., invited Prof. Mujumdar in early 1982 to start the journal, mainly to substitute the various book series (e.g., Drying of Solids, Advances in Drying) Prof. Mujumdar had edited at that time. Unconvinced of the ability to locate adequate manuscripts of archival quality from the English-speaking nations (or authors), Prof. Mujumdar declined the initial invitation. Dr. Dekker then turned to Prof. Carl W. Hall, then at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), who eventually agreed to serve as the founding editor of the journal. Prof. Hall naturally invited Prof. Mujumdar to assist him—the invitation was accepted at this time.

Only two issues of the journal were published in 1982–1983, without the privilege of today’s word processing capability; all articles were prepared from camera-ready manuscripts. In fact, when one of us (SD) joined the band in late 1997, that was still the way the journal was produced! Readers familiar with the Internet and word processors at their fingertips may find it difficult to imagine the fun we had at that time! Upon Prof. Hall’s retirement in 1988, Prof. Mujumdar took up the editorship. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw Prof. Mujumdar edit the journal by inviting many authors to contribute articles, which often required major revision, rewriting, re-typing, and reviewing by snail mail. This was in part due to the fact that there were not many active academic researchers in drying in the Western hemisphere. Drying research and development was not at that time recognized as a viable and challenging research area—hardly any funding was available to conduct drying research; the field was indeed dry! Most researchers were behind the Iron Curtain; geopolitical issues and lack of networking/telecommunication facilities indeed hampered the progress of the field and the journal. On a side note, it is interesting that the word symposium, which Prof. Mujumdar picked for his successful conference series, has its root from Greek symposion or symposio, which means “to drink together.” How a party (where people drink together) is “dry” is still a mystery. We also note, however, that “dry” and “wet” are relative terms, which make the subject even more interesting!

The 1990s saw a rise in drying activity in various parts of the globe. By 2005, manuscript overflow required more pages per issue and the journal has moved from two thin, camera-ready typed issues in 1982–83 to 16 oversized typeset issues in 2011. Today, only 40% of the submissions are accepted for peer review; naturally not all reviewed manuscripts are accepted for eventual publication.

Advances in computational sciences, both hardware and software, and analytical instruments and chemical analysis technologies have given both breadth and depth to the present drying research. Even after three decades, however, the inherent challenges remain. Globalization is the key to success in this endeavor as it promotes innovation, divergent thinking and creativity while lowering the cost of human and financial resources required for effective research and development. In addition, as an applied discipline, the role of industry cannot be overemphasized in formulating the problems to be tackled, so that the solutions can be transferred to industrial technology. Such academia-industry collaboration is indeed the topic of many previous editorials appearing in this journal.^[3,4] When compared to the pre-IDS era, industrial knowledge of drying technologies is now at a much higher level, leading to careful selection of drying systems and optimized operation as well. It will not be long before at least some dryers are miniaturized and become smart as artificial intelligence (AI) develops rapidly along with real-time sensor technologies needed to monitor the real-time properties of moist solids that are controlled. This is a massive challenge, but it is doable with the current levels of development in basic sciences.

This journal has provided researchers with a common platform to share and transfer their knowledge freely around the globe. The excellent work of senior drying researchers from the non-English-speaking world became available to the rest of the world, thanks in part to IDS and this journal. The journal will of course continue to perform this important role in the years to come.

Finally, we personally would like to suggest that Professor Mujumdar’s contribution to the community goes far beyond the establishment and running of the journal. The IDS series has been a happy place and indeed a family environment for researchers and students. Today, many of us have a much more diversified field of research than drying technology. However, we still maintain active in an area of drying to continue to be a part of this great family. We sincerely consider Professor Mujumdar to be a parent of the family. His being there every time has had an amazing effect on us in the sense of security in the fast-paced world in which we now find ourselves—a real spectacle in today’s world! We thus whole-heartedly wish Prof. Arun Mujumdar all the best on his 30th anniversary as the editor-in-chief of Drying Technology and hope that he will continue his active role for many more years.