Georgia Institute of Technology School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

By merging the ancient art of origami with 21st century technology, researchers have created a one-step approach to fabricating complex origami structures whose light weight, expandability, and strength could have applications in everything from biomedical devices to equipment used in space exploration. Until now, making such structures has involved multiple steps, more than one material, and assembly from smaller parts.

When you want to learn about origami, what better way than to go meet the people and experience the culture responsible for its creation?

Researchers in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering have developed a new computer-aided approach that streamlines the design process for origami-based structures, making it easier for engineers and scientists to conceptualize new ideas graphically while simultaneously generating the underlying mathematical data needed to build the structure in the real world.

A paper detailing a type of origami tube that is strong and reconfigurable will be recognized in May as one of the best studies published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2015. The editors of the journal have selected the research for the Cozzarelli Prize, an annual award for scientific excellence and originality.