Surface & Coatings Technology represents the start of a new era for the journal, not only with the change in title to Surface and Coatings Technology, but also with the significant change in the journal's scope, which is intended to place it in the forefront of the coatings and surface modification field. This presents volume contains 100 contributions. It is intended to become the principal forum for the interchange of information on the science, technology, and application of coatings and modified surfaces as they relate to modification of the mechanical, chemical, or optical properties of materials. The aim of the journal is to publish research papers and invited review articles on various subjects. A new feature will be the addition of a short section at the beginning of each issue in which each author states which technical problems are being addressed in his article. These will be catalogued at the end of each year in order that a scientist or engineer who has a particular problem related to coatings can determine whether there were any papers that addressed the problem. It is hoped that Surface and Coatings Technology will have a significant impact in one of the most exciting areas of materials research being investigated today.