The word origami likely conjures up thoughts of ancient Chinese or Japanese masters carefully folding paper for use in religious rituals or to create delicate art. Or maybe you think of a classroom full of small children making simple cranes or frogs.

But Glaucio Paulino, a civil and environmental engineering professor, can list many of the complex and modern usages of this age-old concept: “Space exploration, airplanes, deployable systems, robotics, architecture, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, now automobiles [for example, energy-absorbing crash boxes].”

“Origami is everywhere,” Paulino said.

That includes Princeton, with the addition of Paulino’s course, “Origami Engineering,” which is new this fall, though Paulino taught it at Georgia Tech, where he worked before joining Princeton’s faculty last year. The course has both undergraduate and graduate sections....Click here to read full story