On November 14, 2025, at 7:00 PM Beijing time, the inaugural Editorial Board Meeting of Smart Materials and Devices (SMD) was successfully convened. The meeting aimed to review the journal’s progress, align development goals, and strengthen collaboration among Editorial Board Members to support SMD’s long-term growth.

The meeting was hosted by Managing Editor Ms. Cyndi Li and opened with welcome remarks from Editor-in-Chief Prof. Zhong-Yong Yuan. Following the introduction, participating Editorial Board Members briefly shared their academic backgrounds and research areas.

The meeting provided a comprehensive overview of the journal’s current progress, operations, and future development roadmap. Participants engaged in in-depth discussion on key strategies related to content development, international visibility enhancement, and long-term growth. Drawing from their academic backgrounds and editorial experience, the Editorial Board Members offered valuable suggestions covering several areas, including manuscript solicitation, indexing strategy, Special Issue planning, peer-review efficiency optimization, academic branding, and social media communication.

Discussions also emphasized the importance of expanding international collaboration, improving workflow efficiency, strengthening the journal’s visual and publication standards, and broadening its readership and author base.

Several members highlighted the importance of encouraging contributions from early-career researchers by establishing recognition mechanisms, creating opportunities to organize Special Issues, and developing targeted support programs—reinforcing SMD’s commitment to serving as an inclusive and forward-looking scholarly platform.

The meeting concluded with closing remarks from Prof. Yuan, who expressed sincere appreciation for the members’ active participation, constructive insights, and continued dedication. He encouraged Editorial Board Members to remain engaged through manuscript contributions, Special Issue initiatives, community outreach, and academic collaborations.

The successful convening of this meeting not only strengthened shared understanding within the Editorial Board, but also set a clear strategic direction for the journal’s next phase of development. The editorial office extends its heartfelt gratitude to all participating members and looks forward to working together to build SMD into a high-impact, internationally recognized open-access journal in the field of smart materials and related emerging technologies.

Attendee list (listed in no particular order):
• Prof. Zhong-Yong Yuan (Nankai University, China)
• Prof. Guangming Chen (Shenzhen University, China)
• Prof. Yaping Du (Nankai University, China)
• Prof. Jianxin Geng ( Tiangong University, China)
• Prof. Jinhong Guo (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)
• Prof. Sheng Liu (Nankai University, China)
• Dr. Jintao Ren (Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
• Dr. Chaolin Tan (Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), Singapore)
• Prof. Yancheng Wang (Zhejiang University, China)
• Dr. Zhanhua Wang (Sichuan University, China)
• Dr. Jinqiang Zhang (The University of Western Australia, Australia)
• Dr. Jingde Chen (Soochow University, China)
• Dr. Guanglong Ding (Shenzhen University, China)
• Dr. Zaihua Duan (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China)
• Dr. Longfei Han (Shandong University of Science and Technology, China)
• Dr. Xinyang He (Nantong University, China)
• Dr. Chuqiao Hu (Dalian Maritime University, China)
• Dr. Feng Jiang (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
• Dr. Guodong Liu (Beijing Institute of Technology, China)
• Dr. Ning Ma (Dalian University of Technology, China)
• Dr. Zhu Ma (Southwest Petroleum University, China)
• Dr. Shuaishuai Sun (University of Science and Technology of China, China)
• Dr. Zhenhua Tang (Chongqing University, China)
• Dr. Tongfei Tian (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia)
• Dr. Jun Wan (Wuhan Textile University, China)
• Dr. Jinke Wang (University of Science and Technology Beijing, China)
• Dr. Wenhai Wang (Anhui University of Technology, China)
• Dr. Xinzhi Wu (National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan)
• Dr. Tao Xu (Kyoto University, Japan)
• Dr. Bian Yang (Xi’an University of Technology, China)
• Dr. Xuebo Yuan (Southwest Jiaotong University, China)
• Dr. Zhichao Zeng (Nankai University, China)
• Dr. Fei Zhang (Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research Dresden (IPF), Germany)
• Dr. Kai Zhang (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
• Dr. Hongyuan Zhao (Anhui Science and Technology University, China)
• Dr. Jie Zhao (Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China)