As a society publication, Optical Materials Express (OMEx) continues to evolve to meet the needs of its growing community. We regularly review and revise the topical coverage and expand the editorial board to ensure representation in all relevant fields. The board has been working tirelessly to ensure that manuscripts are processed in a timely way, but also to define important new areas and directions for the Journal.

In this context, I am very happy to announce the appointment of Dr. Alessandro Salandrino as our new Deputy Editor. Alessandro takes over from Dr. Juejun Hu whose term ended recently, and we thank JJ heartily for his long and excellent service.

Alessandro served as an outstanding OMEx Associate Editor from 2015-2019, and returns this year in this leadership role to help steer the Journal and further enhance its position as a leading publication in optics and material science. He has already started to help with special initiatives, including our latest review of the topic categories. I look forward to working with Alessandro in the years to come and to continuing to encourage, with his help, the growth and development of our Journal.

Welcome back Alessandro!

Alessandro Salandrino received his Laurea degree in electrical engineering with a specialization in Applied Electromagnetics, from the University of Roma Tre, Italy, and his Ph.D. in optics and photonics from CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida, USA. Shortly thereafter, he joined the department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California Berkeley, USA as a postdoctoral research associate. He is currently an associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Kansas, USA. His research interests are in nanophotonics, with a particular emphasis on nanostructured systems such as metamaterials and plasmonic devices. Among his main contributions to the field of nanophotonics are the invention of a far-field subdiffraction imaging system known as “Hyperlens”, and the introduction of Airy plasmons, a class of diffraction-free surface plasmon polaritons. He is the author of 21 peer-reviewed articles and holds three U.S. Patents.