Mr. Alan Needleman, an Academician of American Academy of Engineering, Academician of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Department of Materials Science and Engineering of Texas A & M University, paid a visit to ECUST. During his visit, Professor Alan Needleman gave an academic report entitled Modeling Plastic Deformation at the Mesoscale, introducing the methods of modeling plastic deformation at the mesoscale, including discrete dislocations dynamics and shear-transition zone theory. On top of the academic report, Professor Alan also attended a doctoral seminar on Deformation and Fracture of Materials and conducted extensive academic exchanges with graduate students.