(bright music)

- Hello, and thank you for tuning in

to "Connections and Directions."

Our University of Michigan's Civil

and Environmental Engineering podcast.

My name is Michelle Santillan,

and I am the CEE marketing
communications specialist

and host of this series.

During our podcasts,

we are featuring members
of our CEE community

and how their work reflects
our mission of engineers

in service to society.

We will be highlighting
our strategic directions

and our commitment to diversity,
equity, and inclusion.

CEE's five strategic directions

are human habitat experience,
shaping resource flows,

adaptation, automation

and smart infrastructure finance.

Our guest for this podcast

is Professor Evgueni Filipov.

He received his bachelors degree

from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,

and his masters and PhD degrees

from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Professor Filipov's
main research interests,

are in the field of deployable

and reconfigurable structural systems.

Folding and adaptable structures

based on the principles of origami

can have practical applications,

ranging in scale and discipline

from biomedical robotics
to deployable architecture.

Professor Filipov, thank
you for joining us today.

- Hi, Michelle, thanks for
having me on the podcast,

this is really exciting.

- Please share with our
listeners some details

about your research area and goals,

and how they align with
CEE's strategic directions

and our mission of engineers
and service to society.

- All right, well, to
talk about my research,

it's probably easiest to start with

talking about some of the applications.

Again, I'm working on this
somewhat different field

of folding structures based
on the principles of origami.

And it's a good idea to think of maybe

some of the the applications

that we can have in engineering.

The field really started
off with space structures,

and when you want to
launch something in space

you want to have it
really nice and compact

and small to put in your rocket.

And then once you get into
space you want to deploy it.

And a good example is the solar arrays,

you really want to have something
compact, put it in space

and then maximize your surface area

so you can get a lot more
light on your solar arrays.

But the same principles
work here on Earth as well.

So imagine you may have
a deployable bridge

and after an earthquake
or some other disaster

you lose a bridge,

and now you don't have
access to that area.

Well, if you have a deployable bridge

you can deploy it very quickly,

you can have it on site

and you can restore access on that road

and get people goods,

get them to necessary resources,
get them to a hospital.

So these same principles of deployability

apply to our structures down here as well.

Another example would be shelters,

right after a disaster maybe
you lose a lot of shelters

and you want to have people restored

and have a safe place to live quickly.

And so you could have
these deployable systems

that are premanufactured

and ready to deploy on use.

Another idea could be in areas where

you have a very constricted environment.

So if you're building in
the Downtown Manhattan

and you want to build something quickly,

it's difficult.

You have a lot of logistics

that are difficult to manage,

you have to close a lot of roads,

it's a very expensive place to build.

And so if you could have parts

of your building pre-manufactured

in some location farther away,

you could have the walls,
the windows, the doors,

maybe even your furniture

that are folded down onto a pallet.

You have many of these pallets on a truck,

drive them down to New York City

and a crane will lift each one up

and pull it up open

and have everything
deploy in your structure.

So you're rapidly constructing

in this type of restricted environment.

All the same for a
difficult place to reach,

whether you're trying to
build out in the desert

or on the moon or on Mars.

These same principles

of deployable structures
are really valuable.

So now to get into some of the details

of what my work really is,

I work on the really the deep fundamentals

of these types of folding structures.

So, I work on the structural mechanics,

which means looking at how they behave

when you apply a load onto them,

how they deform and how
they really function.

So I build analytical models

that allow us to understand
these structures,

that allow us to simulate
how they're folding,

how they're moving,

what happens if we apply a load onto them.

And some of our work has really focused

on how do you make these
folding origami structures,

these really thin structures

to actually be stiff enough to take loads.

So when you have something like origami,

it's naturally, it's a flexible sheet.

So it wants deform in a
lot of different ways,

and it's really flexible.

And from one part, you want that,

you want this structure
to be easy to deploy

and to open up.

But at the same time, once it opens up

you want that structure to be
stiff, to really carry loads.

And what we found is
there's really neat ways

that you can arrange the
way these sheets are folded.

You can put them in a strategic fashion

and build structures that now,

start to have a very high stiffness.

So we've been able to
create beams, columns,

different types of dome shapes,

different types of corrugations

that have these really nice properties

of being deployable.

But at the same time being very stiff

when you want them to be stiff.

And so many of the examples

that we have in our lab, our simulations

and our experiments show that,

you know, even though they're
made outta really thin sheets

they can support many
times their own weight,

often thousands times
their own self weight

without really seeing
a visible deformation.

So that really allows us to
think, yes, this is origami.

These are thin, flexible sheets.

But if you arrange them in the right way

you can really have stiff
structures that you can use.

Another of these kind of
fundamental challenges

that we're trying to
overcome is actuation.

How do you actuate these structures?

How do you make it easy to actuate?

And specifically, if we're thinking

about applications here on earth,

one of the big challenges
we have is gravity.

These deployable bridges or
buildings will be quite heavy.

And so we need to overcome gravity,

how do you deploy with respect to gravity?

And so some of the ideas
we're working with now

are to have counterbalances

or counteracting gravity
in different ways.

So what we have are prestress springs

inside of our structures.

And so as our structure is deploying

these prestress springs let off force,

and they allow the structure to deploy

without us having to use
these really big actuators.

So we have a very efficient way

to deploy the structures.

And again, we work on other
types of fundamental issues,

to how do you manufacture these,

how do you fabricate them,

what materials do you use?

And our work is really
becomes quite broad.

You can apply these same
principles to space structures,

to civil engineering
structures, to robotics

and to all types of systems.

So just as an example
of some of the projects

we have in our lab right now,

we're looking at meter scale structures.

Again, for civil engineering applications

we have one project looking
at deployable boats.

So you can have a boat
that rapidly deploys

when you need it, and
it will change its shape

and its hydrodynamic characteristics.

We have a project looking
at micro robotics,

so this is our collaboration

with the mechanical engineering department

with Professor Oldham there.

And what we're doing there

is we're using the same principles

that you would to fabricate microchips.

Basically the chips we
have in our smartphones,

you put many layers of material

and then we use origami principles,

these same ideas to fold them up

and to construct microscale robotics.

So these are robots

that are about one to
five millimeters in size.

But again, the fundamental principles

and the fundamental challenges
there are very similar.

You want these to be
very lightweight robots,

you want them to be stiff

and to be able to achieve their functions

and you want them to be easy to actuate,

so you can move them around
and accomplish different tasks.

And so these robots

could then ultimately be used for sensing,

for inspecting if you have damage

in your buildings and structures

or a lot of other uses as well.

Now related to the strategic
themes in our department,

as you mentioned one
of those is adaptation.

And I really see my work
closely aligning along

with this theme of adaptation.

So basically the premise
of the theme is that,

right, we as a society need
to think of how our systems

and our infrastructure adapt
to the many new challenges

that are emerging today, right?

Increasing hazards, climate change.

And I really see that
the deployable structures

are in a way, adaptable structures.

So we talked about, you know,

recovery after a disaster and so on.

But even a more direct
example could be sea walls.

You know, a lot of
communities around the US

now are starting to look at sea walls

in defense of hurricanes and
other types of disasters.

And if you have deployable sea walls,

we can be a little bit more strategic

about how we think
about using them, right?

In the US when we have a hurricane

it's usually going to be in one location

that is going to strike.

So we can have prefabricated sea walls

that are packaged and ready to go.

And whenever we expect that

there's just going to
be this high flood risk,

we can go deploy them strategically
to control the flooding.

And then after the use, pack them back up

and then our beach becomes usable again.

So we can use it like
we always did before.

And many of these deployable structures

also have these adaptable characteristics.

So when we think of our buildings

and our facades for example,

most of our building
facades today are static.

We have our windows, we have our walls

but they don't really move,

they don't really have
this ability to move.

And so if we build in these principles

of folding and adaptability
into our facades,

they can maybe adjust their shape

depending on the time of day,

allow more light or heat to come in

depending on what our temperature is,

so we can be more
comfortable in our buildings.

Or we could even have walls

within our buildings
that move and rearrange

so we can reconfigure the
space that we're really using

and use it more efficiently
in a better way.

So, I really see that
my work kind of feel,

works quite well with this
general theme of adaptation

for a modern society.

- And, given as you were just saying

about the hurricanes, for example,

are you aware if any of these
type of deployable structures

have been implemented down in Florida,

for example, where bridges
may have been washed out

and there's a need for access
to islands or other areas?

- Yeah, so unfortunately today

there aren't so many
applications out there.

The principles are being used

and they have been used somewhat already.

So if you think about concert venues,

the stages that they use for concerts

they often use origami principles.

And we have some of this,

but right now, for example, in Florida,

they're probably are being delivered

some types of deployable shelters.

If you even think about a tent

that's in a way a deployable
type of structure.

So there are being, there are some uses,

but you know, one of the challenges

is they're not widespread.

The current principles and
methods are very expensive

and it's not easy for us to
build many of these structures,

these sea walls that we're envisioning.

There aren't really many
of those out available yet.

And so what our work
really tries to do is,

can we solve some of
these fundamental problems

to make them more cost
effective, more functional,

easier to fabricate,

easier to make more
durable at the same time,

easier to actuate,
again, is another issue.

So if you are in type of
a constricted environment

you want it to be easy to
actuate when you don't,

maybe don't have access to cranes

and other types of
infrastructure to actuate.

So we're really trying to solve
these fundamental problems.

And our hope is that yes,

in a few years we'll have a lot more

of these types of structures
available and ready to use.

- And how did you first become interested

in studying origami structures?

- Yeah, so this is actually
a very interesting question

and it's not a very traditional path

that kind of led me to this.

So my bachelor's degree

and most of my early work

was very traditional civil engineering,

I did my bachelor's in civil engineering,

I was interested in
buildings and structures.

And into my masters

I kinda of kept the same interest.

My masters was focused on
seismic risk of bridges,

so, earthquakes and how bridges
behave under earthquakes.

And I started modeling these bridges

and how they deform

and how they shake and so on,

how, basically what are the effects

that earthquakes have on them.

And then as I started
my PhD with my advisor,

we kinda got excited about the potential

of this area of origami.

And back then, this was 2013, 2014,

there really wasn't
any anything out there.

There weren't really many of these ideas

that we're even talking about today.

And most people would
really see origami as a toy.

But we, you know, we
really saw potential of it

and we got really excited
and wanted to learn it.

And at the time there
wasn't really many people

that were looking at
origami as a structure.

So, to really envision it,

can you really use it as a structure?

And actually it was quite
neat that the same tools

and equations and models that
we're using for buildings

and especially looking at bridges

and how they shake under earthquakes,

became really relevant

to actually studying
origami as structures.

And so we started
starting studying origami

more as structures,

I got to go work in Japan for six months

with really somebody who I'd
say is an origami expert.

They really understand
the principles of origami,

a great collaborator Tomohiro Tachi.

He really understands, you know,

kind of the basics of origami,

the fundamental principles there.

But we came in with our
structural engineering background

to really kind of
combine these two fields.

So we get this idea of
folding and deployability,

but then really bring in
realistic structural mechanics

principles to back it up

and really convert these into functional,

like I said, stiff and
lightweight structures.

So yeah, that's not
really a traditional path

of how you might find a research topic.

- And what are some of the classes

that you typically teach here at U of M?

Do you bring origami into
some of your coursework?

- Yeah, I do.

I actually have a class
that's really focused

on deployable and
reconfigurable structures.

So I have a graduate class
where our students learn

about the basics of folding

and we talk about all types
of deployable structures

from more conventional systems
all the way to origami.

So we talk about the
fundamental principles,

we learn these simulation
tools that I was talking about,

how to use them and the
fabrication methods, the actuation,

more practical aspects
related to design as well.

And it's a really exciting class,

there's a class project that we have,

so it's about half of the
classes based on projects.

And the students get to
design really what they want,

something related to
deployable structures.

And we've had many

of these applications that I talked about.

They've done designs and
small scale prototypes

of deployable sea walls,
shelters on the moon and Mars,

there's been bridges.

But the classes open to the
entire college of engineering,

and so we often get students coming in

for mechanical engineering, and aerospace,

biomedical engineering as well.

So, there's been applications
in robotics, metamaterials,

kind of novel material
systems that use origami.

And one that was really
exciting was medical implants,

so somebody was looking at,

can you make these medical implants that,

you know, you have to make a small cut,

you put it inside your body

and then it will deploy inside.

So, sort of just really neat projects

that the students get to do
that are quite well aligned

with what their interests really are.

- In some of the ways
that you're describing

I almost envision a slinky toy

as part of that deployability.

Does that come into play at all?

- You know, I haven't looked at slinkies,

but I bet you that we could find a pretty

neat research problem
that relate to those.

Yeah, many of them do
behave in a similar way,

they're just easy to pull
out and easy to deploy.

What we can provide then is,

then they get really stiff
at that deployed state.

So a little bit different, but yeah, cool.

Cool things.

- How do you incorporate diversity, equity

and inclusion into your
research and courses?

- Yeah, so related to my research,

origami is really an accessible subject.

And so it's accessible to
small children, to adults,

to really the broad community.

So we find it as a very good way

to communicate what we're
doing here in engineering

to the public.

So what we've done with my research group

is we have a few events where we'd go out

either to local libraries

or we've done this to a few high schools

around here as well.

Where we go and present our work

and we let basically the
students in the community

work with origami, play with origami,

and build their own models.

And at the same time we
demonstrate, you know,

you can fold these thin
sheets and you can ultimately

make structures that really
have these emerging new types

of really exciting applications.

So it's a really neat
way to show students,

that yes, you can have these art forms

and you can have something
that's really exciting,

that's kind of like a toy.

But this is really practical

and really relevant to engineering.

So we think this is a great
way to engage younger students

of all types into engineering,

get them excited about coming
and becoming engineers.

Another thing that I
do through my classes,

and I've kind of started
this a couple years

after I started here,

was I introduced this
this module in my classes

that I call "Engineer of the Week."

And I have done this
for some of my classes.

And the starting point
of this was, you know,

we have these books

and I was mentioning, I
teach a fundamentals class

on deformations of
material and structures.

And the principles we cover

in that class were, some of them were,

you know, discovered and
invented 300 years ago,

200 years ago, a hundred years ago.

They're really kind of basic

really fundamental principles,

and the book talks about them.

But unfortunately what ends up happening

is they also talk about the
people that invented them.

And unfortunately, all
of those were, you know,

white male, often people
of European descent.

And that's not a very good reflection

of who engineers are today.

And then I, that kind
of was a shock to me,

you know, I'm teaching this to my students

but this is not really
what engineering is today.

And so what I decided to do

is that every week in my class,

I feature an "Engineer of the Week."

And so some weeks I feature
these traditional figures,

and one of them that
I find really exciting

is Stephen Timoshenko.

He was actually a professor here,

he's developed some really cool things,

but again this was about
a hundred years ago

that he was a faculty member here.

And of course I feature his work

and I say, hey, we're learning
this, it's really relevant.

But other weeks I feature engineers today

that, you know, they're
making great inventions

and discoveries today.

And they're often women, people of color.

They're my colleagues that
we're working together with

to discover and invent
some of these things.

So, it's really a a way that I find that,

you know, I can show my class,

it doesn't really matter who you are.

You can be a great engineer

and you can make a
contribution to the society.

You know, we are inventing

these fundamental principles today,

it's not just what happened 300 years ago.

It's still happening today, yeah.

- Is there anything you would like to add?

- Yeah, you know, I guess

as a general message to the CEE audience

and I guess our CEE
students in particular,

maybe just look for exciting things to do.

Just make sure you're
doing something excited

and that you're passionate about,

and keep your mind really open.

You never know when
something non-traditional,

maybe origami

or something else that
doesn't seem to have

a cool engineering application today,

might really have a a good application

and a good purpose one day.

So keep your mind open.

- Thank you Professor
Filipov for joining us today.

- Thanks.

(bright music)

Thank you for listening to
our podcast conversation.

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