From Surgery to Space: Folding, Flexure, and Fabrication in the Additive Age

with Jared Butler,
Assistant Professor of Engineering Design
School of Engineering Design and Innovation
The Pennsylvania State University

Friday, September 26th, 10:00-11:00am
229 Norris Hall

Compliant mechanisms (devices that achieve motion and force transmission through the elastic deformation of their components) are enabling new classes of engineered systems that are lighter, more precise, and inherently joint-free. In biomedical devices, they eliminate wear interfaces that shed particles or trap pathogens, streamline sterilization, and deliver reliable performance from surgical instruments to micro-scale implantables. Drawing inspiration from origami, our designs fold, deploy, and conform to tight spaces, leveraging geometric efficiency for compact, robust, and application-tailored motion. Advances in additive manufacturing, including voxel-level property control and emerging metal processes, are expanding what’s possible, enabling monolithic structures with embedded functionality, tunable stiffness, and intricate internal architectures that traditional methods cannot match. Dr. Butler's talk will explore recent work from the Penn State Mechanism Collective at the intersection of folding, flexure, and fabrication, highlighting how compliant mechanism theory, origami-based design, and additive processes converge to create deployable, sterilizable, and high-performance systems for applications spanning the operating room to the outer atmosphere.

Jared J. Butler is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Design at Penn State University, with affiliate appointments in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and the Additive Manufacturing and Design Program. He directs the Mechanism Collective and codirects the Engineering Design and Optimization Group, leading research at the intersection of compliant mechanism theory, origami-inspired design, and advanced manufacturing. His work spans biomedical devices, deployable aerospace systems, and additive manufacturing processes—including voxel-based and metal AM—that enable monolithic, joint-free motion systems with embedded functionality. Dr. Butler’s research has been recognized with the ASME Compliant Mechanism Award, the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Outstanding Teaching Award, and multiple industry and federal research awards. In the last five years, his student-centered lab has earned 23 university and international awards and secured 11 national and university-level fellowships across competitive programs. In addition to his research, he serves as Outreach and Student Engagement Coordinator for the Engineering Design Program, creating pathways for students to engage in hands-on, high-impact design.