Miles Wu, 14, of New York City,
has folded origami for years. After recent natural disasters like the Los Angeles wildfires last winter, the ninth-grader began thinking about how his hobby might help those in need. He started testing Miura-ori, a zigzag fold where paper easily expands and collapses into a compact shape. Eventually, he discovered a variation of the fold that could help provide shelter in emergencies.
Q: How did you do this project?
A: I made 108 variants of Miura-ori with different heights, widths, angles, and paper weights. I tested to see how much each could hold before it broke. The strongest could hold 10,000 times its weight, the equivalent of a taxi carrying over 4,000 elephants.
Q: How could this variant be used?
A: Miura-ori is strong while also being lightweight and compactable. I hope this could be turned into shelters that collapse really small and are then easily transported to emergency sites.
Q: You won a $25,000 prize from the Society for Science for this project. How did that feel?
A: I’m really honored because I didn’t do my project in a lab or with a mentorship. So it was really cool to have my at-home project recognized on a national scale.
Q: Any advice for teens in science?
A: When you’re thinking of science projects, look at what you’re passionate about. I didn’t think origami was related to science. So follow your hobbies and see where they take you.
This interview was edited and condensed for length and clarity.