Meccanica was launched in September 1966 as the official scientific journal of the Italian Association of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. In September 2021 the journal celebrates its 55th anniversary.

The 50th anniversary was celebrated with a Special Issue, where several renowned international and Italian authors contributed with excellent papers covering the wide field of mechanics. The 55th anniversary provides the occasion to look backward to watch the last taken steps and to look forward to foresee the current perspectives.

Since its 50th anniversary, Meccanica became a transformative journal, with a progressive move towards the Open Access option. Open Access makes papers accessible worldwide to all researchers, not only in prestigious institutions, but also in recently established centers in developing countries; it increases the visibility of papers as well as the general impact of the Journal. Furthermore, Open Access has often become mandatory for publishing results of funded research, and Meccanica cannot disregard the possibility to act as a publishing venue for ambitious research and outstanding results.

The Editorial Board has seen a mini-revolution in 2021, following the resignation of the Editor-in-Chief. Professor Luigi Gambarotta, to whom goes the deepest gratitude of the entire Meccanica’s family, has been replaced by professor Anna Pandolfi. The change has been extended to the Managing Editor, professor Andrea Mazzino, who has been replaced by professor Maurizio Quadrio, and to the Assistant editor, professor Marco Lepidi, replaced by Rosalba Ferrari. We sincerely thank Andrea Mazzino and Marco Lepidi, fundamental supports to Luigi Gambarotta, who helped us immensely to achieve a smooth transition to the new Editorial Board.

The Board of Associate Editors has also seen changes, with the resignation of a few Editors due to the other relevant duties and the enrollment of three new members. We would like to say goodbye to Roberto Ballarini, Alessandro Bottaro, Mauro Fabrizio, Ivana Kovacic, Gianpiero Mastinu, Nicolas Moes, and Paul Steinmann, thanking them for the great work done as Associate Editors in the past years, and for keeping Meccanica at a high International level. Meanwhile, we welcome Antonio De Simone, Alessandro Iafrati, Zhongxiao Peng, Stephanos Theodossiades, and Epifanio Virga, who accepted with enthusiasm to join the Associate Editor Board. We wish them all the best for their work.

A thankful thought goes to the Meccanica’s Reviewers, for their generous help in assessing the merits of submitted manuscripts and contributing to their improvement. We conclude by thanking Mrs. Nathalie Jacobs, executive Editor of Meccanica, precious guide for the management of the Journal, always available for suggestions, help, and support.

Wishing to all our authors and readers the best achievements for their research, we will be pleased to receive from them new contributions that will increase the prestige of Meccanica.

Read more: Celebrating Anniversaries of Springer Engineering Journals in 2021. See also Celebrating 55 Years of Meccanica!