Lecture by Foremost Origami Artist

Oct 10, 2011

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
DR. OKSANA BIHUN, assistant professor, Mathematics and Computer Science
(218) 299-4396
AMY KELLY, Media Relations director
(218) 299-3642

LECTURE BY FOREMOST ORIGAMI ARTIST

    In celebration of the 100th anniversary of mathematics at Concordia College, the Mathematics and Computer Science department will present the 21st T.C. Wollan Memorial Distinguished Lectureship featuring Dr. Robert J. Lang at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the Centrum, Knutson Campus Center. His lecture for a general audience is titled “From Flapping Birds to Space Telescopes: The Modern Science of Origami.” Lang will also speak at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, in Ivers 292 for a mathematics and science audience. Origami enthusiasts are invited to an origami session with Dr. Robert J. Lang at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, Ivers 166.
      The last decade of this past century has been witness to a revolution in the development and application of mathematical techniques to origami, the centuries-old Japanese art of paper-folding. Lang describes how geometric concepts led to the solution of a broad class of origami folding problems and how algorithms and theorems of origami design have shed light on long-standing mathematical questions and solved practical engineering problems. He will discuss examples of how origami has enabled safer air bags, Brobdingnagian space telescopes, and more. More information and pictures of his work can be seen at www.langorigami.com.
      Lang holds a doctorate in applied physics from Caltech and is recognized as one of the foremost origami artists in the world as well as a pioneer in computational origami and the development of formal design algorithms for folding.
      The T.C. Wollan Lecture Series was founded in the mid-1960s with unrestricted funds from the National Science Foundation and was named in honor of T.C. Wollan, respected as one of the founders of the mathematics program at Concordia.
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