Folding and Unfolding: Making Contemporary Research in Computational Geometry Accessible to a Broad Spectrum of Students

这个项目建立在PI在计算几何学的研究基础上，计算几何学是计算机科学的一个分支，具有深厚的数学根源，与许多应用领域有联系，包括计算机图形学、机器人技术和制造业。PI最近关于折叠和展开的研究是一个充满了容易理解的未解决的数学问题的主题，并且与蛋白质折叠，金属板弯曲制造以及许多其他应用领域有关。该项目旨在将这一发展中领域的最新研究纳入从小学到研究生院的教育水平和工业研究：在小学折纸结构，在中学创造折叠玩具，为期两周的夏季高中课程，一个新的跨学科大学课程，《工程学中的折叠与展开》涉及从航天飞机机械臂设计到汽车气囊展开的主题，是一本多层次可读的学术专著，和软件解决工业需求。该项目的目标是向所有这些不同的支持者传达前沿研究的深度，探索它的乐趣及其实际用途，利用研究的罕见可访问性。

This project builds on the PI's research in computational geometry, a branch of computer science with deep mathematical roots and ties to many applications areas, including computer graphics, robotics, and manufacturing. The PI's recent research on folding and unfolding, is 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. This project aims to incorporate 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 robotic arms to automotive air bag unfurling, an academic monograph readable at several levels, and software addressing industrial needs. The goal of the project is to communicate the depth of frontier research, the joy of exploring it and its practical usefulness, to all these different constituencies, capitalizing on the rare accessibility of the research.