Professor Lee Sang Ho of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Creative Engineering, Kookmin University, has been appointed as an Editor for Desalination (Elsevier), a leading international academic journal in the field of desalination and water treatment. He will commence editorial duties from November 2025. Sangho Lee (Kookmin University) is listed as an Editor on the journal's official editorial board page operated by Elsevier.

Desalination is an international academic journal with the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) 0011-9164, publishing on desalination materials, processes, and related technologies. According to Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports (JCR), its Impact Factor stands at 9.8. It is recognised as one of the Q1 journals in the Water Resources field, ranking 4th out of 132 journals (approximately the top 3%), reflecting its globally prestigious standing. Through this appointment, Professor Lee Sang Ho plans to lead the global desalination research network by participating in the selection of paper topics, spearheading the review process, and setting the direction for the field's development.

Professor Lee has pioneered research into digital-based next-generation desalination and the recovery of concentrated brine resources. In 2025, he was selected as the research team leader for the large-scale R&D project ‘Digital Transformation of Seawater Desalination Plants and Technology Development for Concentrated Brine Resource Recovery (total government funding approximately 35 billion won)’, commissioned by the Ministry of Climate and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute. He is currently driving the construction of a demonstration plant and the optimisation of integrated operations.

Furthermore, in March 2023, he received the Scientist of the Month Award from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea, recognising his contributions to next-generation water treatment and desalination technology.

His field demonstration achievements are also notable. Professor Lee's research team participated in the construction of the floating seawater desalination plant vessel (“Dreams”), demonstrating the practical feasibility of medium-to-large-scale desalination. Furthermore, he has contributed to enhancing the competitiveness of the national water industry, including receiving the Prime Minister's Commendation at the 26th Environment Day.

Professor Lee Sang Ho stated, ‘As Editor of Desalination, I will actively reflect future agendas such as digital desalination, resource recovery, and low-energy processes. I will strive to foster a fair and swift review ecosystem so that the outstanding achievements of domestic researchers can spread more widely on the global stage.’