On the morning of May 28, President Liu Bo met with Derek Elsworth, Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Member of the National Academy of Engineering (USA), and Professor at Penn State University. Vice President Cui Ximin attended the meeting, and Dean of School of Energy and Mining, Directors of Research Institute of Science and Technology, Human Resources Department, and International Cooperation and Exchange Office were also in attendance.

Liu Bo warmly welcomed Academician Derek Elsworth and extended heartfelt congratulations on his election as a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Liu Bo remarked that Derek Elsworth's election, supported by China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, is both a personal honor for him and a significant honor for the university. Based on the long-term inter-university partnership between CUMTB and Penn State University, Academician Elsworth has maintained active academic exchanges with CUMTB. Looking ahead, Liu Bo expressed hope that Academician Elsworth will actively participate in the university’s talent cultivation and discipline development in areas such as unconventional rock mechanics and new energy development and utilization, contributing jointly to the early realization of the “dual carbon” goals.

Academician Derek Elsworth expressed his sincere gratitude for the university's strong support. Reflecting on the years of collaboration and exchanges with the university, he noted that climate change and energy transition are important areas for joint research between both parties. His research findings are closely related to efficient energy development, effective thermal reservoir transformation in hot dry rock, and geological disaster prevention. He stated that he looks forward to further deepening the exchange and cooperation in the future.

Derek Elsworth, a member of the National Academy of Engineering (elected in 2015) and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (elected in November 2023), is currently a professor at Pennsylvania State University and an editorial board member of the Journal of Mining Science. He has been a visiting professor at China University of Mining and Technology -Beijing since 2014. Elsworth graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Ph.D. in 1984. His accolades include the Rocha Medal from the International Society for Rock Mechanics in 1987, Fellowship of the American Rock Mechanics Association in 2009, the Case History Award from the American Rock Mechanics Association in 2010, and the ARMA Research Award from the American Rock Mechanics Association in 2011. He has published over 460 academic papers in the field of engineering rock mechanics, including 8 papers in Nature, Science, and their sub-journals, with a total citation count of 24,000.