Editorial

Abstract

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the ASME International Gas Turbine Institute’s annual gas turbine conference, TURBO EXPO ’05, this April 2005 issue of the Journal is devoted to papers from the conference’s most recent meetings. About 65–75 percent of Journal papers come from TURBO EXPO. Since the first IGTI gas turbine conference in 1956, a remarkable total of 12,453 refereed papers have been published in conference proceedings and presented at this one annual meeting. Usually, between 25 and 35 percent of conference papers are judged by reviewers to be archival. Thus, for the last half century, I estimate that about 4000 or so have been published in the Journal, in our companion publication Journal of Turbomachinery, or in the predecessor of both, the Journal of Engineering for Power. The IGTI First Annual Gas Turbine Conference and Exhibit was held April 16–18, 1956 at the Hotel Statler in Washington, DC. This very first ASME all-gas turbine meeting had 25 exhibitors, six technical sessions, a total of 17 papers and an attendance of about 750. The conference fee was $5 (with papers) and $2 (without papers). By way of contrast, IGTI’s 49th gas turbine conference, TURBO EXPO ’04 in Vienna, June 14–17, 2004 had 155 exhibitors, 187 technical paper sessions, a total of 732 papers and an attendance of 2443. (It goes without saying that the Vienna conference fees were substantially higher than those of 1956.) The IGTI gas turbine conference has been ASME’s leading international technical meeting from its very beginning. The annual meeting is held in North America and in Europe on alternate years. Currently, more that half of the papers presented are from non-North American parts of the gas turbine community, most coming from Europe and Asia. The gas turbine is the “youngest” of energy converters. The first jet engine-powered flight took place in Germany and the first operation of a gas turbine to generate electrical power occurred in Switzerland, both in 1939. Within five years of this “birth,” the organization of IGTI—and of the gas turbine conference—commenced. Here are a few milestones, facts and dates that led to TURBO EXPO: This Journal started 125 years ago as a collection of papers on energy conversion technology in the 1880 first volume of the Transactions of the ASME. For the last 50 years, IGTI’s annual gas turbine conference has been a major contributor to the Journal. We salute the authors, reviewers, and organizers of TURBO EXPO, as they prepare to present papers and celebrate the 50th gas turbine conference in Reno, Nevada on June 6–9, 2005.