Special Issue: Feature Papers in Eng 2023

1. Introduction

The aim of this third Eng Special Issue is to collect experimental and theoretical re-search relating to engineering science and technology. The topics included in Eng are as follows: electrical, electronic, and information engineering; chemical and materials engineering; energy engineering; mechanical and automotive engineering; industrial and manufacturing engineering; civil and structural engineering; aerospace engineering; biomedical engineering; geotechnical engineering and engineering geology; and ocean and environmental engineering. Many of these topics have been selected with the idea of contributing to the circular economy and sustainable development. Therefore, these aspects are being addressed from various points of view and have the support of the field of engineering and its applications. The following editorial presents a representative selection of these articles published in our journal in 2023.

Legislative requirements and the principles of the circular economy and sustainable development make waste valorization the best strategy for its management. The biodegradable fraction of industrial waste is a sustainable source of biomass, optimizing its management through energy recovery, reducing the amount of waste to be managed (and its economic costs), minimizing the environmental impact and health risks, and reducing the high dependence on industries on primary sources and fossil fuels [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Although traditional sources of biomass, such as wood, crops, agricultural and forestry residues, and food and municipal wastes, are renewable, sustainable, and profitable, they compete with food, and their energy processes release waste into the environment. On the other hand, there is also a non-biodegradable fraction of industrial waste. If its composition is taken into account, in many cases it is considered an inorganic waste. Here, its valorization is not as standardized as the biodegradable fraction, since the energy aspect is rarely taken into account, and it is the possible applications that give rise to the interest in valorizing this material, rather than depositing it in landfills [8].

Other topics discussed in this Special Issue are as follows:

–

Amazon natural fibers for application in engineering composites and sustainable actions [9,10,11,12].

–

Rheological behavior of modern cementitious materials [13,14,15].

–

Vibration monitoring techniques for predictive maintenance of rotating machinery [16,17].

–

Integrating multi-criteria decision-making methods with sustainable engineering [18,19].

These topics allow for greater discussion among potential readers. For more information, please see the Contributions.

2. Overview of the Published Articles

This Special Issue contains 34 papers, including eight reviews, published by several authors interested in cutting-edge developments in the field of engineering. The authors are from 25 countries, including Australia, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Montenegro, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Taiwan, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, and Yemen.

3. Conclusions

The articles published in this Special Issue present important advancements in the field of this journal. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the authors, who have contributed to this Special Issue, and I would also like to thank the managing editors and reviewers who contributed by improving the papers. I hope that the included articles are interesting and inspiring for readers, especially young scholars who are eager to learn about recent advances and contribute future research to the field.