Professor Yiu-Wing Mai has made a massive contribution to research in the fracture and mechanical behaviour of materials, including metals, glasses, ceramics, polymers, cements and composites; his work spans both fundamental and applied research with industry involvement. In 1985 he was awarded the RILEM Award and the Robert L'Hermite Medal for materials research by the International Union of Testing and Research Laboratories for Materials and Structures. The book he wrote with Professor A.G. Atkins in 1985 about the elastic and plastic fracture behaviour of all types of engineering materials has been highly acclaimed by all reviewers and has been highly cited.