Morphing 3D-printed structures from flat to curved, in space

Urbana, IL (SPX) Nov 13, 2025

Because it’s costly and cumbersome to transport large structures such as satellite dishes into space, aerospace Ph.D. student Ivan Wu and his advisor, Jeff Baur in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, developed a creative and efficient energy-saving method to morph 2D structures into curved 3D structures while in space.

Wu said what others have done