Event Details

CS Colloquium: Yingying (Samara) Ren (ISTA) - Computational Homogenization for Inverse Design of Surface-based Inflatables

Mon, Mar 24, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Location: OHE 132
Speaker: Yingying (Samara) Ren, ISTA

Talk Title: Computational Homogenization for Inverse Design of Surface-based Inflatables

Abstract: Surface-based inflatables consist of two nearly inextensible sheets joined along carefully chosen fusing curves, restricting expansion and inducing in-plane contraction and metric frustration. When inflated, these structures settle into a 3D equilibrium that balances elastic and pressure potential energy. In this talk, I will present our computational framework for analyzing and designing such inflatables to approximate a wide range of freeform surfaces while maintaining structural stability. Using numerical homogenization, we characterize periodic inflatable patches with arbitrary fusing patterns and seamlessly combine them through custom nonlinear surface parametrization methods. I will also discuss exciting future research directions in this space.
 
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium

Biography: Yingying Ren (Samara) is an Assitant Professor at ISTA and leads the Geometric Computing and Digital Fabrication group. Her group focuses on research in physics-based simulation, digital fabrication, and computational inverse design. By developing geometric abstractions and efficient numerical methods, her group aims to create new structures and materials with applications in medical devices, architecture, soft robotics, and more.

Host: Oded Stein