Prof. Lining Yao discussed the central role of curiosity in her team’s highly interdisciplinary research at Carnegie Mellon University’s Morphing Matter Lab.

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Modern creative processes can involve the fusion of science, engineering and design, and can seek not to solve existing problems but to ask new questions and inspire the imagination. From Newton to Darwin, in studying apples to finches, the scientific expansion of human knowledge has been driven by curiosity, coupled with close observation and rigorous reflection. For designers interested in blending the physical world and digital information, a curiosity-driven approach is increasingly relevant.

Dr. Yao discussed the central role of curiosity in her team’s highly interdisciplinary research at Carnegie Mellon University’s Morphing Matter Lab. She will describe how her team “makes friends with” materials and machines in the lab: starting with curiosity, and developing inspiration from pine cones and humble bacteria into morphing fabrics, robots and furniture.