Research in origami spans far more than folding paper. Computational origami works out the math behind which crease patterns are foldable, and engineering applications adapt those patterns into solar arrays, medical devices, and robots.
What draws me into the field is its untapped potential. Most engineering applications still lean on a small set of classical crease patterns, and there's a lot left to figure out about how folded structures behave under real conditions.
This summer, I worked in Dr. Paolo Celli's Dynamic Structures Lab at Stony Brook University through the Simons Summer Research Program, designing origami-based robot skins for burrowing robots.
The lab had previously built kirigami burrowing robot skins, cut sheets that pop open into gripping textures, but the cuts let soil seep into the mechanism, so I wanted to see whether folding alone could produce the same anisotropic friction without letting soil into the robot.
I tested friction across different folded states, then built a segmented robot that moves like an earthworm, pushing through granular material by expanding and contracting in sequence. By the end of the summer I had a working prototype and data comparing the folded approach against the lab's earlier designs, and we're now simulating the geometry and running more rigorous tests to build on those preliminary results.
What fascinates me most about origami research is that it reveals how a simple act of folding can connect so many different disciplines. The same concepts that help create a paper animal can also help explain geometry, inspire cutting-edge engineering solutions, or improve the way students learn. What started as a childhood fascination has become a lens through which I understand design, learning, and problem-solving. As I continue exploring these connections, I am excited to see where the next phase of my origami journey leads!
