Professor Z.T. Bieniawski, Ph.D., is Professor of Mineral Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University where he teaches graduate courses in mining and tunneling, as well as an undergraduate course in applied rock mechanics. He is the author of some 120 scientific publications, three textbooks, a collection of essays on communication and leadership, and of a historical novel. He directed and produced two scientific movies, three theatre plays, and designed the artwork for his five books. He has over 25 years of experience in mining, tunneling and design engineering, including large industrial projects. He travelled extensively to Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan and South America visiting construction sites and delivering invited lectures. He keeps up to date with engineering practice by his consulting activities in mining and tunneling, both in the USA and abroad. Professor Bieniawski is Past Chairman of the US National Committee on Tunneling Technology, a unit of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1985, he received the Rock Mechanics Award from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers for ‘Outstanding contributions to rock mechanics through scientific and practical applications of strata control in coal mining and in rock tunneling.’