Projected Budget
Personnel:
$14,892
Travel:
$5,000
Equipment:
$2,000
Supplies and materials:
$1,000
Postage and Printing:
$100
Total:
$22,992
The personnel funding would support two undergraduate research assistants each working 10 hours per week at the Virginia minimum wage of $12.77 per hour over the course of two years. Travel costs account for one conference (e.g., the American Concrete Institute Concrete Convention) attended by the PI and the two research assistants, including conference registration, travel, lodging, and food. The research team will present their results at the conference. Equipment, supplies, and materials will include an apparatus for testing the origami slabs that is compatible with the existing force-deflection machine owned by the Department of Engineering. Additionally, these funds would be used to purchase gypsum cement and materials to fabricate molds. With partial funding of the project, we could achieve a smaller-scale version of the experiments with fewer models and tests. Additionally, the personnel costs could be limited by reducing the number of research assistants to one or using class credits instead of paying students to conduct research. If travel is limited to in-state conferences, the travel expenses could also be reduced. Essentially, the project could be done for much less money, but with less impact.
Project Team
The project team will be led by Dr. Steven Woodruff, an engineering faculty member whose research focuses on origami-inspired structures and sustainable material design. His scholarly work has demonstrated how curved-crease origami redistributes stiffness in thin sheets (Woodruff and Filipov, 2020), establishing a foundation for developing lightweight, strong, and geometry-efficient structures. This background affirms his ability to guide the project from concept to successful experimental validation.
Two undergraduate research assistants will join the team. They will be newcomers to research, and this is an intentional design choice. The project provides a structured,
Madison Trust 2026 Project Proposal
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