Post

Brigham Young University (BYU) announced that Professor Spencer P. Magleby has received the Abraham O. Smoot Citizenship Award during its annual university conference general session, Monday, August 28, 2023. This prestigious award is presented annually to one university faculty member who has demonstrated sustained service and personal sacrifice to the BYU community.

Several CMR students and faculty attended the International Design Technical Conference in Boston, MA on August 29. Students presented work related to several technical papers, including deployable space arrays for LIDAR telescopes, surrogate folds for origami-based design include graphite fiber hinges, origami-based design of furniture for childcare and optimized structures for origami flasher patterns. Congratulations to presenters Bethany Parkinson, Philip Klocke, Ivy Running, Katie Varela, Hunter Pruett, and Jared Hunter.

Our lab was fortunate enough to host Dr. Zhong You, Professor in the Department of Engineering Science of Oxford University and a Tutorial Fellow at Magdalen College. Dr. You worked with our students and gave a colloquium presentation on some of the recent projects he has been working on.

This year five of our students got to present at the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research! We shared our research on deployable arrays for use in space telescope applications, cross frame thickness accommodation for origami...

Origami

This week, four of our students got to present at the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research! We shared our research on adapting origami principles to improve performance of disposable incontinence products, and on designing origami-based furniture. Congratulations to Diana Bolaños, Bridget Beatson, Corinne Jackson, and Bethany Parkinson.

On Jan 13, 2019, researchers from BYU published a paper on Developable Mechanisms in Science Robotics. This research was done by the Compliant Mechanisms Research Group.

In a thrilling YouTube video, Veritasium shows Dr. Lang's mathematical approach to origami and explores the engineering applications of origami. The video explains how origami--especially thick origami--can give structures beneficial motions unattainable by other means. Dr. Howell shows examples of origami in engineering created by the CMR, which include an expandable catheter, a collapsible bulletproof barrier, and deployable forceps.

In his YouTube video, Veritasium has an interactive interview with Dr. Howell. Veritasium invents the "8 P's of Compliant Mechanisms," which explain the benefits of compliant mechanisms over other types of mechanisms.

Dr. Magleby was interviewed by BYUradio as part of their show "Top of Mind" about the work done with origami for medical devices and space applications. Here is a link to the episode: http://www.byuradio.org/episode/bab9f1f6-559a-4582-a83c-42ad862d886b/top-of-mind-with-julie-rose-power-of-sports-origami?playhead=5131&autoplay=true

Dr. Howell, Dr. Magleby, and many students of the CMR lab are featured in the National Science Foundation's 63rd episode of NSF Science Now. The episode discusses developable mechanisms, or mechanisms that can be integrated into the surface of a curved structure. While Dr. Magleby mentions potential applications of developable mechanisms in the Iron Man suit, Dr. Howell mentions applications in the medical and space industry.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli demonstrates the use of innovative origami designs created by CMR engineers

The Mechanical Design Collective was honored to hear from Dr. Robert Lang for the group’s inaugural colloquium event held in the Karl G. Maeser Building lecture hall. The title of Dr. Lang’s talk was “From Paper to Steel: Origami in Other Media” and spoke to the group about his journey in designing origami with paper to creating larger-than-life-size origami designs and creations. The colloquium included a discussion about how the lessons learned can influence the group’s research.

The Compliant Mechanisms Research group has joined forces with two other research groups, BioMEMS and the Design Exploration Group, to form the Mechanical Design Collective. The new lab space is housed in the new Engineering Building. Each of the research groups are rooted in Mechanical Engineering and design, but focus on different aspects of the field. In planning for years, the Mechanical Design Collective provides an opportunity to collaborate with one another and to make a difference for good throughout the world.

From age 13, Alden Yellowhorse wanted to be an engineer. After transferring to BYU for his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, going on to get a Ph.D. was not his expectation. However, the decision to get his Ph.D. has opened doors for personal, professional and academic growth – including an ongoing research relationship with NASA. Learn more about his fascinating research and path at BYU news.

Guimin Chen is a visiting professor at the Compliant Mechanisms Research (CMR) Lab of Brigham Young University. Before this visit, he worked at CMR as a visiting scholar for a year starting from October 2007. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in Mechatronics and doctorate in Mechanical Manufacturing and Its Automation from Xidian University in 2000, 2003 and 2005, respectively, where he leads a Compliant Mechanisms and Robotics Research group.

The new book “Y Origami?: Explorations in Folding” has been published by the American Mathematical Society. Many thanks to our own David Morgan and many, many others who have contributed.

The BYU Compliant Mechanisms Research Lab enjoyed enormous success at this year’s Design Engineering Technical Conferences hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Students claimed first and second place in the Graduate Division of the 2017 ASME International Student Mechanisms Design Competition in Cleveland, Ohio, in August.