His principal research interests lie in mine geotechnical engineering and other areas in mining engineering. He has over 30 years' experience within the mining industry and university sectors. Prior to his appointment to UNSW in 1998, he worked locally and internationally in the coal, gold and iron ore sectors in a range of operational, management, technical and research roles. He has been the principal research investigator leading projects in the rock-cutting research facility. The research has made significant advances in the application of acoustic emissions in monitoring and control of rock cutting machines and in the determination of controlling factors associated with abrasivity testing of rock. He has authored 80 peer-reviewed papers, 110 project reports and 3 patents.

After he graduated from Xi'an Jiaotong University in China and obtained a Bachelor degree of Science, He worked in computer engineering and had nine years experiences in the field of construction and management. He obtained the honour Bachelor of engineering in 2009 and received his Ph.D. degree for his Distinguished Award of PhD thesis at the University of Wollongong in 2013. He mainly engaged in rock mechanics, mining engineering and numerical simulation. He made many breakthroughs at dealing with the problems in the complex geological and engineering conditions, especially in large shear displacement by mining pressure and others factors effects on rock bolting and anchor support. He has published more than 20 academic papers in the research field.