Editorial: Engineering management — New perspectives

THE EDITORSHIP of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT transfers from Prof. Albert H. Rubenstein to me with this issue. I consider it an honor to serve the engineering management community in this capacity. It is a challenge as well as an opportunity to assume the editorial responsibility at this time. It is a challenge because I am following Al Rubenstein, the legendary editor of this TRANSACTIONS for quarter of a century, who brought a high level of visibility, respect, and prestige to it. At the same time, I see major opportunities ahead of us at a time when engineering management is experiencing an explosive growth pattern toward establishing itself as a recognized field of study. When the first issue of this TRANSACTIONS appeared thirty two years ago, only a handful of educational institutions had engineering management programs; almost 100 universities are offering B.S., M. S., or Ph.D. degrees in engineering management now. While a very small number of research projects were being conducted on limited aspects of engineering management in the early days of this TRANSACTIONS, several hundred researchers are studying a wide range of engineering management-related concepts and methodologies, and expanding the scope and boundaries of this field now.