Issue 78

Fracture and Structural Integrity 78 (2026); International Journal of the Italian Group of Fracture

Celebrating our milestones and our dear friend, Leslie Banks-Sills

D

ear friends, the ECF25 ( 25 th European Conference on Fracture ) in Athens was a great success … and during this event, thanks to the help of the Greek Group of Fracture and of its President, our friend, Stavros Kourkoulis, it was possible to celebrate the 20 years of Fracture and Structural Integrity and the 2025 IF and CiteScore metrics.

During the conference we also celebrated the ESIS pillars, the colleagues that allowed us to live in the vibrant ESIS community, in a frame of friendship and collaboration. Among them, maybe the most important is Leslie Banks-Sills, the European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS) President (2010-2018) and a very good friend of the Italian Group of Fracture . Just a few days ago, we received the terrible and unexpected news that she passed away. I have no words to express the sadness for this terrible event. She was a great teacher, a great researcher, a great (the greatest!) ESIS President and a very good friend. We wish to remember her as in Favignana, in 2015, during the IGF23, when she was awarded with the IGF Honorary membership. To celebrate Leslie, her contribution to the research on fracture mechanics, her leadership in ESIS and her friendship with the Italian Group of Fracture , we decided to dedicate to her memory the IGF29 that will be held in 2027 in Vicenza. The new title of the event is: IGF29 – 29 th International Conference on Fracture and Structural Integrity In memoriam Leslie Banks-Sills, ESIS President (2010-2018)

In addition, IGF decided to establish a new 'IGF Bank-Sills Medal' to award researchers who have distinguished themselves in Theoretical Fracture Mechanics research. The winner will be selected through a selection process based on CV evaluation.

Warmest regards,

Francesco Iacoviello Fracture and Structural Integrity Editor in Chief

XI