"Xia-Ting Feng graduated in 1986 from the Northeast University of Technology and obtained his PhD in 1992 at the Northeastern University, China. He was then appointed and acted as Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor at the same university. In 1998, he was admitted by the Hundred Talents Programme to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Subsequently, he permanently joined CAS - Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics at Wuhan, China. In 2003, he obtained the support of the China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists; in 2010, he became a Chair Professor of the Cheung Kong Scholars Programme, Ministry of Education, China; and, in 2009, he was elected as President of the International Society for Rock Mechanics for the period 2011-2015. He is currently Director of the State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in Wuhan. Additionally, in 2012, Professor Feng became the Co-President of the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering. He has made original contributions to the subject of ""intelligent rock mechanics"" and his methods have been applied to large rock engineering projects in China and other countries."
There is no doubt that this compendium not only will be of great assistance to all those working in the subject area, whether in research or practice, but it also marks just how far the subject has developed in the 50+ years since 1962 and especially in the 20+ years since the last such survey. John A. Hudson, Emeritus Professor, Imperial College London, UK. President of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) 2007-2011