14-year-old wins $25,000 STEM prize for origami structure that holds 10,000× its weight

14-year-old built an origami pattern strong enough to hold 10,000× its weight; wins $25,000 prize

While most 14-year-olds are busy with schoolwork and hobbies, New York City student Miles Wu has been experimenting with something far more ambitious: using origami engineering to build stronger, lighter, and more compact disaster-relief structures.

Wu recently earned the top $25,000 award at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge for a project inspired by the Miura-ori - an intricate folding technique known for its ability to compress and expand with extreme efficiency.

A hobby that turned into a breakthrough idea

Wu has been practicing origami for more than six years, often creating detailed animal and insect models. Over time, he grew curious about how folding patterns could be used beyond art, especially in engineering and disaster-response technology.

His interest deepened after learning about recent natural disasters, including the Southern California wildfires earlier this year and Hurricane Helene’s devastation across the US Southeast in 2024. This led him to a question: Could a traditional folding pattern help improve emergency shelters that need to be strong, portable, and extremely compact?

Testing the potential of Miura-ori

To explore the idea, Wu designed a months-long experiment to evaluate the strength-to-weight ratio of the Miura fold. He examined how different variables, including paper type, fold angle, width, and height, influenced the pattern’s ability to withstand heavy loads.

His study included:

• 3 different paper types
• 3 fold widths
• 3 fold angles
• 2 fold heights

To maintain accuracy, Wu used a cutting machine for precise folds, placed each sample in identical test fixtures, and steadily increased weight until collapse. The results surprised even him, soon, household books weren’t heavy enough, prompting him to bring in exercise weights.

A pattern stronger than expected

Wu had hypothesized that thicker materials and smaller, less angled folds would be the most durable. The final results were mixed:

Smaller and less acute folds did increase strength.

But the material mattered differently than expected, standard copy paper outperformed heavier options.

One tested structure supported a load more than 10,000 times its own weight, an engineering feat Wu compared to a New York taxi cab carrying thousands of elephants.

Rising to the top at a prestigious competition

The Junior Innovators Challenge is one of the most competitive middle-school STEM contests in the United States. Students must first be selected from local fairs, then move through rounds narrowing roughly 2,000 applicants to 300 semifinalists, and finally to 30 finalists who are invited to Washington, DC.

Wu plans to use his prize money for his future education, but he’s already thinking about practical applications for his research. His next goal is ambitious: to develop a working prototype of a Miura-ori–based emergency shelter that could be deployed during natural disasters.

He hopes to continue exploring origami-inspired engineering in both scientific research and real-world problem-solving.