Abstract
As a multidisciplinary journal that is committed to featuring the top breakthroughs in laboratory, clinical, and broader automation technology, JALA has been fortunate to have published key papers from all over the world. I am pleased to say that recently JALA furthered its roadmap of increasing its international presence through a stellar panel of presentations given by the ALA LabAutomation2010 Innovation Award finalists at the ACHEMAsia Biotechnology Congress in Beijing, China, which was held June 1 through June 4.
ACHEMAsia is a premier international conference that addresses several of the key research challenges that currently confront the international community. Its European counterpart, ACHEMA, has consistently achieved attendance in the 200,000 range, making it one of the largest exhibition/conferences in the biotechnology domain. Both ACHEMA and ACHEMAsia are presented by DECHEMA. Features of this year's ACHEMAsia Congress included perspectives on the development of novel strategies for water treatment and alternative energy, and the day-long ALA session highlighting discoveries made by several leading young scientists. We were proud to have them as representatives of our organization. Their cutting-edge research covered areas that included stem cell engineering, diagnostics, and novel materials for medicine and environmental engineering, among others.
Thanks to generous support received during our stay in Beijing from Peking University (PKU) and its Dean of the College of Engineering, Professor Shiyi Chen, we have further strengthened the foundation of our efforts toward the globalization of JALA and SLAS. We significantly increased the presence of JALA with regard to boosting readership and international authorship at one of the top universities in the world. In addition to contributing to JALA content, the PKU community also has contributed by providing assistance in reviewing manuscripts. JALA would not be where it is today without the invaluable service to the automation community offered by our many friends and colleagues outside the United States.
A major component of JALA's growth and development is its continued expansion into new international communities. I am delighted by our recent success and hope you will share my enthusiasm.
Sincerely,
