Bistable Embrace, 2022

Chan Wan Kyn (Lead), Andres F. Arrieta (Principle Researcher)

108cm x 108cm x 20cm

EVA Craft Foam

Bistable Embrace aims to engage students by bringing fundamental engineering research out of the lab environment and into the public space. Inspired by the research being conducted in the Programmable Structures Lab led by Prof. Andres F. Arrieta, Bistable Embrace seeks to unveil the playful side of research through the exaggeration of scale. While most might be familiar with the “Pop-its” fidget toys, these large dome-pattern sheets seek to encourage communal play and highlight the interaction between mechanics and reshaping through the diversity of exhibited shapes as domes are inverted in different orders. With countless resulting shapes that the sheet can adopt, engagement with this installation almost imbues this inanimate sheet with a lifelike characteristic that seeks more attention as you engage with it.

Bistable Embrace stems from research exploring the interplay between local constraints and global freedom, technically captured by the term “Geometrical Frustration.” The sheet's order-dependent deformation expresses the local and global force competition as domes are inverted, ultimately relieving this tension in three-dimensional reshaping. This same process is applied to realize novel soft robotics, mechanical computing materials, and morphing structures. Through this interactive installation, we hope to introduce one of many novel applications for multistable structures and break the paradigm that the goal of engineering research is purely for practical and functional applications.

Wan Kyn Chan (b. 1994, Singapore) graduated with a Bachelor and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2019 and 2021 respectively from Purdue University, and was the pioneer class of School Of The Arts, Singapore (SOTA). He has actively pursued engagements at the interface of art and engineering. He continually seeks to meld Art and Engineering into a harmonious hybrid that will inspire people to see connections between the subjects that lie on opposite ends of the academic spectrum, and to create inspirational and aesthetically pleasing works of art. Wan Kyn’s passion can also seen in the conception and proposal of A Warm Light for All, another piece being exhibited during Boiler Gold Rush 2022.

Andres F. Arrieta, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. He received his Mechanical Engineering degree in 2006 from Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia; Ph.D. in 2010 from the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.

Prof. Arrieta leads the Programmable Structures Lab which focuses on investigating instabilities and nonlinearity in structural mechanics. Current efforts concentrate on the modeling and designing of programmable structures, soft robotics, nonlinear metamaterials, and morphing structures.

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