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Erik D. Demaine
MIT
Friday, Mar. 11, 11:00am
LC 102, Brooklyn Campus, Polytechnic University
Abstract
What forms of origami can be designed automatically by algorithms? What
shapes can result by folding a piece of paper flat and making one
complete straight cut? What polyhedra can be cut along their surface
and unfolded into a flat piece of paper without overlap? When can a
linkage of rigid bars be untangled or folded into a desired
configuration? Folding and unfolding is a branch of discrete and
computational geometry that addresses these and many other intriguing
questions. I will give a taste of the many results that have been
proved in the past few years, as well as the several exciting open
problems that remain open. Many folding problems have applications in
areas including manufacturing, robotics, graphics, and protein folding.
Bio:
Erik Demaine earned a BSc from Dalhousie University and a PhD from the
University of Waterloo, before joining MIT as its youngest professor
ever in 2001. Prof. Demaine has published over 150 papers with 144
collaborators. His research interests range throughout algorithms, from
data structures for improving web searches to understanding how proteins
fold. In 2003 he received a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship as a
"computational geometer tackling and solving difficult problems related
to folding and bending--moving readily between the theoretical and the
playful, with a keen eye to revealing the former in the latter". He has
been featured many times in the popular media, including a recent
profile by the New York Times.
For more information please contact John Iacono (jiacono at poly.edu)