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July 13, Wednesday, 1 p.m. — Origami artist Robert J. Lang of Alamo, Calif., will give this year’s MathFest talk on “From Flapping Birds to Space Telescopes: The Modern Science of Origami.” This free public event is aimed at high school students but also suitable for younger children. It will take place in the ARC Ballroom and is sponsored by the COSMOS (California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science) program.

Lang will discuss how mathematical techniques have been applied to the ancient Japanese art of paper folding, enabling the folding of shapes of stunning complexity and realism. As often happens in mathematics, theory developed for its own sake has led to some surprising practical applications, from airbags to giant space telescopes.

Lang is recognized as one of the foremost origami artists in the world as well as a pioneer in computational origami and the development of formal design algorithms for folding. He holds a doctorate in applied physics from Caltech and has worked at the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Spectra Diode Laboratories, and JDS Uniphase on lasers and optoelectronics as well as authoring, co-authoring or editing 12 books and a CD-ROM on origami.