Prof. Dr. Hongwei Zhou received his BA, MA, and PhD from Chongqing University, the Xi’an Mining Institute, and the China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) in 1985, 1991, and 1998. He has served as a Professor at the China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) since 2004, the Chang Jiang Scholars, Ministry of Education of China, since 2012, and also while visiting at the Technical University of Silesia (Poland), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), the Technical University of Clausthal (Germany), the Technical University of Freiberg (Germany), the University of Joseph Fourier (French), the Technical University of Denmark, Utrecht University (Netherlands), and Boku University (Austria). He also serves as a member of the Directing Committee of Mechanics Fundamental Courses of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, a member of the Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and a standing member of the Beijing Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. He has long-term experience with rock mechanics in energy development and mining engineering, including fluid and gas flow in porous and fractured media, the creep of geo-materials, and the mechanics of composites.