A portable, self-assembling mobile clinic inspired by origami art is one of nine University of Maryland projects that will be funded as part of UMD’s effort to address challenges surrounding the global COVID-19 Pandemic. Assistant Professor of Architecture Ming Hu has been awarded a COVID-19 SEED Grant from the University of Maryland Division of Research as part of the Coronavirus Research Seed Fund Awards.
Hu’s idea for the mobile clinic stemmed from an exercise she regularly employs in her Structures II class, where students are challenged to build origami designs that can bear weight. Her proposal will leverage the general principles behind origami, but replace the rigid folding lines with flexible, hollow panels that can store the kinetic energy needed to propel the tents expansion and collapse, similar to stretching a rubber band.
“It’s truly an ingenious solution at a time when so many hospitals are scrambling for space to treat their patients,” says Donald Linebaugh, Interim Dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. “I am thrilled that the university was able to recognize Ming’s innovation and commitment to solutions during this difficult time.”
Like traditional origami, Hu’s design will rely on the most prolific, common material available: paper. With the current offerings of temporary medical tents being cost-prohibitive for many developing countries and cash-strapped hot spots, a paper option is both easy to reproduce and affordable. It’s also a material Hu knows she can get her hands on in isolation.
“I can’t really do mass production or even 3D print with campus closed, but I can get paper,” she says. “Also, the mechanism of the self-assembly relies on folding and unfolding and how we turn that kinetic energy in different directions so that the structure itself can form. Paper is an ideal material.”
And while traditional options require many people and several days to assemble, Hu’s design is lightweight enough to be carried by one person and can self-assemble in less than a day.
The project is slated to anchor a limited summer studio course led by Hu, where students will have the opportunity to help fine-tune the prototype design. Hu has also begun talks with Donald Milton, M.D., a professor of environmental health with UMD’s School of Public Health and another grant recipient, about collaborating on their ideas to better safeguard the University of Maryland community. Milton’s project is a device designed to screen critical UMD staff for COVID-19 and identify if an individual is shedding the virus.
While much of Hu’s research and work centers on net-zero building systems and building performance, this project closely aligns with her innovative and creative work in building structures. More personally, the drive to develop the self-assembling clinic stems from a desire to do something at a time when most people feel helpless. Originally from Shanghai, China, Hu has felt the profound impacts of the virus since early January, when COVID-19 was ravaging her home country.
“This is something that’s been on my mind for a long time,” said Hu. “When the call for proposals came out I just felt that it was something that could be done.”