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About

Joohyeon Kang is a rising star in soft robotics, whose work masterfully bridges the worlds of origami, toy-inspired design, and advanced actuation to create reconfigurable, shape-morphing systems. Her research centers on developing novel soft actuators and modular structures that achieve complex, large-deforming motions. A key contribution is her development of origami-inspired pneumatic blocks, which enable fast, customizable, and three-dimensional shape transformations within a single fabricated hardware platform. Kang has also pioneered the design of an accordion-fold-inspired soft electrohydraulic actuator, significantly improving angular deformation range for agile robotic movement. Demonstrating a creative approach to structural inspiration, she has repurposed the mechanics of spring toys to create soft robots with enhanced adaptability. Her work on integrating piezoelectric sensors into soft origami modules allows for multi-directional bending detection, adding a critical sensing dimension to these flexible systems. With her most-cited papers from 2022 and 2024 already garnering attention, Kang is establishing herself as an innovator in creating intelligent, morphable, and sensor-rich soft robotic systems.