His lecture was titled “Gel Mechanics: a coupled theory of fluid permeation and large deformations of elastomeric materials.”
“There are numerous elastomeric materials which can absorb large quantities of suitable fluids without the essential skeletal network structure of the elastomer being disrupted by the action of the fluid,” Anand stated in the lecture abstract. “Such a polymer network, together with the fluid molecules, forms a swollen aggregate called an elastomeric gel. Elastomeric gels are ubiquitous; they are found in foods and medicines, and they find use in several important and diverse applications including valves for microfluidic devices, and tissue engineering.”
Anand received his B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur in 1970, and earned his PhD degree in 1975 from Brown University. The same year he joined the Fundamental Research Laboratory of the U.S. Steel Corp., and served successively as Research Scientist and Senior Research Scientist till 1981. He joined the MIT faculty in 1982. For two years, during 1989-1991, he served as the Program Director for the Mechanics of Materials Program, as well as the Manufacturing Processes Program in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation. At MIT he has served as the Head of the Area for Mechanics (2008-2013).
The annual Soo lecture was established in 1992 by Professor Shao Lee Soo and his wife, Hermia. Professor and Mrs. Soo wanted to perpetuate the memory of his mother, Yunchuan Aisinjioro-Soo (1899-1991). Born Princess Shansji of Aisinjioro, the last Royal House of China, she took the pen name Yunchuan and became an accomplished poet and artist. Throughout the turmoil of revolution and war, she steadfastly believed that the way for the family to serve the people is through the education of its children.
All three of Shao Lee and Hermia Soo’s children attended the lecture.