With the growing joining requirements of emergent engineering materials and new applications, conventional welding continues to evolve at all scales spanning from the macro- down to the micro- and nanoscale. This mini review provides a comprehensive summary of the research hot spots in this field, which includes but is not limited to selected papers from the international nanojoining and microjoining conference (NMJ) held in Nara, Japan on 1–4 December 2018. These innovations include the

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... tion of nanotechnology, ultrafast laser, advanced manufacturing, and in situ real-time ultra-precision characterization into joining processes. This special issue may provide a relatively full picture of the state-of-the-art research progress, fundamental understanding, and promising application of modern joining technologies.