This outreach activity was organized by the STEP program of Stony Brook University in December 2025. The goal was to increase the number of economically disadvantaged and other students prepared for college, and to improve their participation in STEM fields.

My supervisor, Paolo Celli, and I led a three-hour hands-on workshop on morphing structures. My roles included fabricating materials, creating instructions, and assisting students during the workshop. We presented the students with three structures to build; two of them are detailed below.

Bistable Kirigami Design

This planar structure is composed of panels connected by pins. It is bistable, meaning it has two stable modes. Significant force is required to snap the structure from one state to the other. The following video shows me pulling the sample: after a few light, failed attempts, a strong pull causes the structure to snap into its second state.

Out of Plane Design

This is another planar geometry made of panels connected by pins. Unlike the bistable design, this one exhibits frustration: pulling on it causes it to move in the out-of-plane direction, forming a dome shape.

The instructions I created for the students are available here: (i) bistable and (ii) out-of-plane.

The students provided great feedback and thoroughly enjoyed the session. An image of the students during pizza break is below.