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My research is in computational geometry, a branch
of computer science with deep mathematical roots and ties to
many application areas, including computer graphics, robotics,
and manufacturing. My most recent research is on folding and
unfolding, a topic brimming with easily comprehended unsolved
mathematical problems, and with connections to protein folding,
to manufacturing by sheet metal bending, and to a host of other
application areas.
NSF funded this work under
a Disintinguished Teaching Scholars award in 2001. The project
incorporates the latest research in this developing area
into educational levels from grade school through graduate school
and industrial research: origami constructions in grade school,
creating folding toys in middle school, a two-week summer high
school course, a new interdisciplinary college course, Folding
and Unfolding in Engineering--touching on topics from design
of the Space Shuttle robot arm to automotive airbag unfurling--an
academic monograph readable at several levels, and software addressing
industrial needs.
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