Story perspectives

Student Wins $100K Regeneron Award for Origami Predictor

7/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

Hikaru Kuribayashi, an 18-year-old student, won the $100,000 prize and the George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
He built a Julia program that predicts complex origami folds using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm after six months, fixing bugs himself and avoiding AI-generated code.
Kuribayashi says the folding patterns could enable compact satellite solar panels and rapid-deployment emergency shelters for earthquake-prone Japan.

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Story summary

Hikaru Kuribayashi, an 18-year-old student, won the $100,000 prize and the George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
He built a Julia program that predicts complex origami folds using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm after six months, fixing bugs himself and avoiding AI-generated code.
Kuribayashi says the folding patterns could enable compact satellite solar panels and rapid-deployment emergency shelters for earthquake-prone Japan.