14-year-old from NYC looks to solve real-world problems with award-winning origami model
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A ninth grader from New York City won the most prestigious middle school STEM competition in the nation this week, and he did it by folding paper.
As awards go, this one was a big deal for 14-year-old Miles Wu.
He was smiling and humble as ever after winning the nation's premier middle school STEM competition. It's run by the non-profit, Society for Science, in Washington, D.C.
Wu is a ninth grader at Hunter College High School on the Upper East Side. He loves science, but he really loves origami. In fact, he has spent nearly half his life teaching himself the intricate patterns.
Wu demonstrated an origami pattern called "miura-ori."
"It's scale independent, so you can make it really large and it's also material independent," Wu said.
What Miles discovered after testing nearly 54 variations of 18 patterns, is they're not just strong, they're insanely strong.
Wu says it can support up to 10,000 times its own weight.
"I calculated. It's the same as if a New York City taxicab would hold over 4,000 elephants," Wu said.
The best model that Wu created, which actually compacts the smallest, can hold Eyewitness News reporter Stacey Sager!
"When I saw Miles' project, right away, I knew it was pretty special," said Wu's science teacher, Jonathan Murtaugh.
Wu did this with certain applications in mind, like for natural disasters, wildfires and hurricanes.
"Actually creating a prototype that could be used in real life to help people would be amazing," Wu said.
The judges at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge thought the same thing.
"It's pure creativity of melding something very different into a real-world problem," said Maya Ajmere, CEO of the Society for Science.
The award is not just for the project, but for the person.
"100%, can't wait to see where this goes," Murtaugh said.
An origami architect is folding what's paper thin, into a big future.
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
