Social Good Engineering Magazine: GineersNow Social Innovation GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 001 | Page 86

MATERIALS ENGINEERING
A Self-Assembling Material
Developed By MIT
O
ne interesting topic that the engineers at the
Self-Assembly Lab of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) hope to have answers to is
about materials transformation. More specifi-
cally, they want to determine if it is possible to
create objects that can assemble themselves and
whether they can be made to possess the ability
to transform. This is the aim of Skylar Tibbits,
the director of the lab. 3D printing has already opened
up some interesting new avenues of research. Howev-
er, Skylar wants to go one step further and explore 4D
printing. While 4D printing may sound a bit humorously
impossible, you simply cannot ignore the badass thing he
is trying to achieve.

For the Self-Assembly Lab, 4D printing is the
development of materials with special geometric codes
that allowed the materials to transform and change their
shape on their own. These materials can be printed with
the help of a 3D printer. In short, the lab wants to create
materials which have the ability to assemble themselves.

The solution to be able to create the prototype
was found in geometry. While printing the material
with a 3D printer, the machine is fed with a very precise
geometric code. This code is not only based on the
dimensions and angles of the object but also certain
measurements. These measurements in turn determine
how the object can change its shape in the presence of
external stimuli. The stimuli in this case can be water,
temperature changes or even movement.

In other words, the code can set the number of
times as well as the angles and direction at which the ma-
terial will curl and bend. When that material is subjected
to the appropriate change in its environment, the stimuli
causes it to change its shape. Now, that is cool!

The potential applications for this technology
are immense. They can be applied to something as simple
as pipe-works to something as complex as space shuttles.
More importantly, one can hope that this badass tech can
make our beloved Transformers franchise a reality.
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