Start Here
See what’s in this issue
TRAVEL ALONG NEARLY ANY MAJOR SHORELINE and at some point you’re bound to come across them: Enormous ship-to-shore (STS) cranes that keep goods moving through the world’s ports.
Their importance is growing. Global container volumes are at new highs, reaching 16.3 million TEUs in October alone, according to Container Trades Statistics’s December report. That’s the sixth time in 2025 that montly volumes surpassed 16 million TEUs (not counting November and December figures, which aren’t yet released), compared to just twice in 2024.
Despite their significance, STS cranes haven’t changed all that much in terms of their basic designs since the mid-20th century, wrote longtime ME contributor Tom Gibson in this month’s cover story, “From Ships to Shores.” From Shanghai to Singapore to Los Angeles and beyond, shipping companies and seaports are exploring new ways to optimize these behemoths to achieve automation solutions and emissions reductions. There’s also the potential of restarting STS crane manufacturing here in the U.S. to consider.
This month’s second feature is a sequel of sorts. You may recall that our August 2025 cover story examined nuclear fusion, a technology that has long been considered a futuristic power source. But as that article explained, the engineers developing this tech believe that fusion’s time might just be here after all. In “Fission within Fusion,” Michael Abrams takes a closer look at other technologies advancing in the fusion field, beyond the mainstream approaches that use a tokamak or a stellarator.
“What the recent influx of investor money into the fusion space has done is provide funding for concepts that might otherwise have been neglected,” he wrote. Read on to learn what companies such as Blue Laser Fusion, Helion Energy, and Realta Fusion are bringing to the table.
Alignment of Wisconsin High-field Axisymmetric Mirror (WHAM) plasma diagnostics by Doug Endrizzi, experimental scientist with Realta Fusion. Photo: Jesse Viola, Realta Fusion
We have a solid lineup of research news in this issue as well, including a closer look at a bionic eye that’s one step closer to mimicking an organic one and light-powered micro-gears that may soon power minuscule micro-engines. Our writers also investigated a pen equipped with a special ink that could facilitate neurodegenerative disease diagnoses and the potential emissions reductions that could result from optimizing the power grid such that electric vehicles are not just drawing power but also generating and helping supply it.
Meanwhile, ASME’s Video Production Team recently visited the Beresford Building at Central Park West to learn about the challenges associated with installing an air-source heat pump system in a historic structure. And be sure to take this month’s quiz to see what you know about some of the often overlooked manufacturing processes that make many engineering achievements possible.
There’s much more to see in the pages that follow, so please read on.
Do you have some suggestions about what you would like to see in the pages of Mechanical Engineering as we continue into 2026? We would love to hear from you. Drop us a line at MEMAG@asme.org.
—Louise Poirier, managing editor
There’s more to ASME than the magazine. Be sure to check out these features.
Some of our most recent episodes include:
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AT FORD
Jonné Messer, global additive manufacturing lead at Ford Motor Company, shares how 3D printing got its start at the automaker and what challenges AM faces in the years ahead.
A COATINGS PRIMER
Paint and coatings are a $200 billion global industry. Paul Lavallee, global market manager of Kynar Coatings at Arkema, shares insights into coatings development and how they can help structures withstand the elements.
A NEW GENERATION OF REBAR
Sam McAlpine, co-founder and CTO at Allium Engineering, reveals how the company is manufacturing steel that resists corrosion with an innovative stainless steel cladding process.
ASME UNCONVENTIONAL ENGINEERING
Join ASME CEO Thomas Costabile and STEM educator Jay Flores as they talk with some of the most exciting names in engineering. Check out the podcast landing page to hear them all.
© 2026 The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. All rights reserved.