Introduction

The 16^th International Symposium on Electromagnetic Launch (EML) Technology was held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, China, May 15–19, 2012. This biennial symposium is the primary forum for presentation and discussion of research on critical technologies for the acceleration of macroscopic objects using electromagnetic (EM) or electrothermochemical (ETC) launchers. The symposium, co-hosted by the Institute for Strategic and Innovative Technologies (ISIT) and the China Electrotechnical Society (CES) under the sponsorship of IEEE´s Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society, was attended by 151 researchers and engineers from 13 countries. Dr. Harry Fair from ISIT and Dr. Jun Li from the Beijing Institute of Special Electromechanical Technology were the symposium co-chairs.