Teen Origami Prodigy Wins $25,000 for Fold That Could Hold Ten Thousand Times Its Weight
Miles Wu, a 14-year-old from New York City, earned $25,000 for a research project based on an origami fold called Miura-ori, known for collapsing and expanding with precision. The project won the top prize at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge in October. "I've been folding origami as a hobby for more than six years, mostly of animals or insects," Wu told Business Insider. "Recently I've been designing my own origami, too."
In This Article:
- Miura Ori and Why It Matters for Emergency Design
- A Meticulous Test: 54 Variations and 108 Trials
- The Strongest Miura-Ori Could Hold 10 000 Times Its Weight
- A Prize That Elevates STEM Education and the Future of Innovators
- STEM Education, Leadership and Wu’s Next Steps
- Closing Note From a Business Insider Original
Miura Ori and Why It Matters for Emergency Design
Miura-ori is an origami folding pattern that allows a sheet of paper to be folded into a smaller area with repeating parallelograms, enabling rapid deployment of structures. For his project, Wu spent months determining whether the strength to weight ratio of the Miura fold could be leveraged to improve deployable structures used in emergency situations. The goal was to see if this fold could lead to better, lighter shelter solutions when time and space matter most.
A Meticulous Test: 54 Variations and 108 Trials
To find the winning combination, Wu tested three different parallelogram widths, three different parallelogram angles, two different parallelogram heights, and three different types of paper. That means 54 hand folded variations and 108 trials in total. "After folding them with the help of a cutting machine for accuracy, I placed them between guardrails to keep my experimentation the same throughout my trials," Wu said. "Then, I placed a lot of heavy weights on top." He used every book in his home as a weight before his parents purchased exercise weights for his research. Wu believed "smaller, less acutely angled panels made of heavier material would yield a greater strength-to-weight ratio."
The Strongest Miura-Ori Could Hold 10 000 Times Its Weight
By the end of his trials, his hypothesis was partially correct. The strongest Miura-ori he tested showed it could hold over 10,000 times its own weight. "The final statistic I got about the strongest Miura-ori that I tested was that it could hold over 10,000 times its own weight," Wu said. "I calculated that to be the equivalent of a New York City taxi cab holding over 4,000 elephants."
A Prize That Elevates STEM Education and the Future of Innovators
Taking the top prize at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is a significant achievement. To apply, middle schoolers must compete at local science or engineering fairs, where judges nominate the top 10% of projects. Of the 2,000 or so applicants, judges select 300 before narrowing it down to just 30. Those 30 kids then travel to Washington, D.C., where they present their work and participate in challenges. Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of the Society for Science, said Wu excelled in those challenges.
STEM Education, Leadership and Wu’s Next Steps
"We're not only looking at their project. We're looking at do they deal with creative problem solving, how they deal with setbacks, how they bring everyone in a collaborative mode," Ajmera said. "Not only did Miles have an extraordinary project, but he shined as a leader in these challenges." Ajmera emphasized the importance of nurturing curiosity and preparing the next generation of innovators for global competitiveness. Wu and his parents plan to apply the $25,000 award toward higher education. He is already thinking ahead about turning his vision into reality. "One thing I really want to look into is prototyping one of these Muira-ori to create a real emergency shelter that could be used in real-life situations and actually help people," Wu said. "But overall, I would love to keep working on origami-related research. Not only Miura-ori folds, but origami as a whole, and in other fields, too."
Closing Note From a Business Insider Original
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
