Prof. Dr. Yanan Gao is a professor of mechanics and civil engineering, and the assistant director of nonlinear mechanics for rock engineering at the State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Construction and Healthy Operation and Maintenance of Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology. His research interests mainly focus on rock mechanics, underground engineering and mining engineering. His contributions have been recognized with professional awards from both the governments and professional associations such as the China Coal Industry Association. He has been honored with the Youth Science and Technology Prize of the China Coal Society. He has served as a session chair for international conferences and symposiums, as well as an editorial member of professional journals. Additionally, he teaches fracture mechanics at the undergraduate level, and computational solid mechanics and discontinuous mechanics at the postgraduate level.