W. Michael Lai is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Orthpaedic Bioengineering at Columbia University. He received his Ph.D in Engineering Mechanics in 1962 from the University of Michigan. Between 1962 and 1986, he was a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He joined the Columbia faculty in 1987 with a joint appointment between the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He served as Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department from 1996 to 2002 and became Professor Emeritus in 2004. His research field has been in Orthopaedic Bioengineering with a special interest in soft tissue mechanics.
Many of his publications have been in the constitutive modeling of articular cartilage for which he received the ASME Melville Medal in 1982 and the ASME Lissner Medal in 2001. The triphasic model considers the tissue as consisting of three phases: a solid phase, a fluid phase and an ionic phase with two ionic species. The model has been used to study the mechanical and the electromechanical behavior of the tissue including the signal transduction problems in chondrocytes . He is a Fellow of ASME and a founding Fellow of the American Institute for Biomedical and Biological Engineering (1995). At Columbia, he has received a Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award from the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association (2000).
Publications
Books
1. Introduction to Continuum Mechanics, third edition, W. M. Lai, D. Rubin and E. Krempl, Heinnemann/Elsevier, 1994. Fourth edition, to be published in 2009.
2. Fundamentals of Surface Mechanics, with applications F. F. Ling, W. M. Lai and D. Lucca, Springer, 2002
Journal Articles (1990-2004)
1 Kwan MK, Lai WM, Mow VC: A finite deformation theory for cartilage and other soft hydrated connective tissues: I. Equilibrium results. J Biomechanics 23:145-155, 1990.
2 Mow VC, Lai WM, Hou JS: A triphasic theory for the swelling properties of hydrated charged soft biological tissues. Appl Mech Rev 43(part 2):134-141, 1990.
3 Lai WM, Hou JS, Mow VC: Triphasic theory for the swelling properties of hydrated charfe soft biological tissues. In: Biomechanics of Diarthrodial Joints, I, ed by VC Mow, A Ratcliffe, SL-Y Woo, New York, New York, Springer-Verlag, pp 283-312, 1990.
4 Hou JS, Lai WM, Holmes MH, Mow VC: Squeeze film lubrication for articular cartilage with synovial fluid. In: Biomechanics of Diarthrodial Joints, II, ed by VC Mow, A Ratcliffe, SL-Y Woo, New York, New York, Springer-Verlag, pp 347-368, 1990.
5 Zhu WB, Lai WM, Mow VC: The density and strength of proteoglycan-proteoglycan interaction sites in concentrated solutions. J Biomechanics 24:1007-1018, 1991.
6 Lai WM, Hou JS, Mow VC: A triphasic theory for the swelling and deformational behaviors of articular cartilage. J Biomech Engng, ASME, 113:245-258, 1991.
7 Hou JS, Mow VC, Lai WM, Holmes MH: An analysis of the squeeze film lubrication mechanism for articular cartilage. J Biomechanics 25:247-259, 1992.
8 Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: Analysis of fluid and ion transport through a porous charged-hydrated biological tissue during a permeation experiment, Proc Symp Comp Mech Porous Material, ed by NJ Salamon and RM Sullivan, AMD-Vol 136, ASME, pp 29-42, 1992.
9 Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: Transport of fluid and ions through a porous-permeable charged-hydrated tissue, and streaming potential data on normal bovine articular cartilage, J Biomechanics 26:709-723, 1993.
10 Lai WM, Mow VC, Zhu WB: Constitutive modelling of articular cartilage and biomacromolecular solutions. J Biomech Engng, ASME, 115:474-480, 1993.
11 Ateshian GA, Lai WM, Zhu WB, Mow VC: An asymptotic solution for two contacting biphasic cartilage layers. J Biomechanics, 27:1347-1360, 1994.
12 Lai WM, Gu W, Mow VC: Flows of electrolytes through charged hydrated biologic tissue. Appl Mech Rev 47(part 2):277-281, 1994.
13 Setton LA, Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: Predictions of the swelling induced pre-stress in articular cartilage. Mechanics of Porous Media, ed by APS Selvadurai, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 299-322, 1995.
14 Bachrach NM, Valhmu WB, Stazzone E, Ratcliffe A, Lai WM, Mow VC: Changes in proteoglycan synthesis rates of chondrocytes in articular cartilage are associated with the time dependent changes in their mechanical environment. J Biomechanics, 28:1561-1569, 1995.
15 Bachrach NM, Valhmu WB, Stazzone E, Ratcliffe A, Lai WM, Mow VC: Changes in proteoglycan synthesis rates of chondrocytes in articular cartilage are associated with the time dependent changes in their mechanical environment. J Biomechanics, 28:1561-1569, 1995.
16 Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: A triphasic analysis of negative osmotic flow through charged-hydrated soft tissues. J Biomechanics, 30:71-78, 1997.
17 Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: A mixture theory for charged hydrated soft tissues containing multi-electrolytes: passive transport and swelling behaviors. J Biomech Engng, 120:169-180, 1998.
18 Cohen B, Lai WM, Mow VC: A transversely isotropic biphasic model for unconfined compression of growth plate and chondroepiphysis, J Biomech Engng 120:491-496, 1998.
19 Lai WM, Gu WY, Mow VC: On the equivalence of chemical load and mechanical load on articular cartilage. J Biomechanics, 12:1181-1185, 1998.
20 Mow VC, Ateshian GA, Lai WM, Gu WY: Effects of fixed charges on the stress-relaxation behavior of hydrated soft tissues in a confined compression problem. Int J Solids and Structures, 35:4945-4962, 1998.
21 Ateshian GA, Wang H, Lai WM: the role of interstitial fluid pressurization and surface porosities on the boundary friction of articular cartilage. Journal of Tribology, ASME, 120:241-251, 1998.
22 Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: Transport of multi-electrolytes in charged hydrated biological soft tissues. J Trans Porous Med, 34:143-157, 1999.
23 Sun DN, Gu WY, Guo XE, Lai WM, Mow VC: A mixed finite element formulation of triphasic mechano-electrochemical theory for charged, hydrated biological soft tissues. In J Num Meth Engng, 45:1375-1402, 1999.
24 Lai WM, Mow VC, Sun DD, Ateshian GA: On the electrical potentials inside a charged soft hydrated biological tissues: Streaming potential vs. diffusion potential. J Biomech Engng, 122:336-346,2000.
25 Mow VC, Guo XE, Sun DD, Lai WM: Changes in the mechano-electrochemical environment in the extracellular matrix surrounding chondrocytes. ASME-AMD-BED Mechanics in Biology, eds. J Casey, G Bao, AMD242/BED46: 215-228,2000.
26 Lai WM, Sun DD, Ateshian GA, Guo XE, Mow VC: Effects of inhomogeneous fixed charged density on the electrical signals for chondrocytes in cartilage. ASME-AMD-BED Symp on Mechanics in Biology, eds. J Casey, G Bao, AMD242/BED46:201-213, 2000.
27 Ateshian GA, Soltz, MA, Mauck RL, Hung CT, Lai WM: The role of osmotic pressure in the frictional response of articular cartilage. Transport in Porous Media, 50:5-33
28 Mow VC,Sun DN, Guo XE, Likhitpanichkul M, Lai WM: Fixed Negative Charges Modulate Mechanical Behaviors and Electrical Signals in Articular Cartilage under Unconfined Compression – a Triphasic Paradigm, in Porous Media: Theory, Experiments and Numerical Applications, eds. W. Ehlers and J. Bluhm, 227 – 247, 2002, Springer-Verlag.
29 Lai WM, Sun DD, Ateshian GA, Guo XE, Mow VC: Electrical Signal for Chondrocytes in Articular Cartilage. Biorheology, 39(1-2):39-45, 2002.
30 Mow VC,Sun DN, Guo XE, Likhitpanichkul M, Lai WM: Fixed Negative Charges Modulate Mechanical Behaviors and Electrical Signals in Articular Cartilage under Unconfined Compression – a Triphasic Paradigm, in Porous Media: Theory, Experiments and Numerical Applications, eds. W. Ehlers and J. Bluhm, 227 – 247, 2002, Springer-Verlag.
31 Sun DN, Guo XE, Lai WM, Mow VC: The Influence of the Fixed Negative Charges on Mechanical and Electrical Behaviors in Articular Cartilage under Unconfined Compression, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 126:1-11,2004.
32 Gu WY, Sun DN, Lai WM, Mow VC: Analysis of dynamic permeation with implications to cartilaginous tissue engineering. J Biomech Engng, Trans ASME, 126:485-491, 2004
33 Lu X, Sun DNS, Guo XE, Chen FH, Lai WM, Mow VC: Indentation determined mechano-electrochemical properties and fixed charge density of articular cartilage, Ann Biomed Eng, 32:370-379, 2004( Part I)