Graduate student Brent Bielefeldt represented the MAESTRO Lab at the 29th International Conference on Adaptive Structures and Technologies (ICAST) hosted by Konkuk University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, South Korea. In addition to networking with members of the community and learning about recent advancements in the field of adaptive structures, Brent won Best Student Oral Presentation for his paper entitled “Expanding the Design Space Via Graph-Based Interpretation of L-System Encodings for Topology Optimization of Multifunctional Structures”. This work focuses on generating multifunctional structure using a parameterized L-System, which encodes topological information similarly to how genetic information is encoded in DNA. Specifically, the use of a graph-based interpreter for these encodings referred to as SPIDRS allows for the efficient addition of shape optimization to the topology optimization framework and the increasing of structural dimensionality of specified areas of the topology.
ICAST is an international conference that aims at promoting research, development, and applications of adaptive structures and technologies through the exchange of scientific results and insights from leading international scholars and specialists. The conference provides a forum for discussion of recent advances in the highly multidisciplinary field of smart materials and structures. In addition, this conference encourages the transfer of the advanced scientific results to various engineering applications.