Contact
Subject
Tiffany is a computational designer from Taiwan with a background in architecture and robotic fabrication. Interested in the intersections between computation, materials, and robotics, her research focuses on the creation of digital workflows that allow mass-customization of material properties, behavior, and performance.
Tiffany holds a Master in Design Studies with a concentration in Technology from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Previously, she graduated from USC with a Bachelor of Architecture, Minor in Digital Studies and Honors in Multimedia Scholarship (USC School of Cinematic Arts).
Tiffany has worked as a researcher with the MaP+S Group at Harvard GSD developing novel robotic systems for bespoke carbon fiber structures. She has also practiced with StudioFV designing biking infrastructure and facilities for LA Metro. Her professional experience ranges from electronics production and embedded programming to interaction design.
Tiffany's research agenda at the ICD aims to advance the knowledge of 4D-printed self-shaping and responsive material systems as well as to develop the complimentary hardware and software tools that can fabricate them.
Doctoral Research: Bio-inspired 4D-printing: Material programming of multifunctional mesostructures for self-shaping
- Cheng, T., Wood, D., Wang, X., Yuan, P., Menges, A.: 2020, Programming Material Intelligence: An Additive Fabrication Strategy for Self-Shaping Biohybrid Components. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence: Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems Proceedings of the Living Machines 2020 Conference, vol. 12413, pp. 36--45. (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-64313-3_5)
- Cheng, T., Tahouni, Y., Wood, D., Stolz, B., Mülhaupt, R., Menges, A.: 2020, Multifunctional Mesostructures: Design and Material Programming for 4D-printing. Symposium on Computational Fabrication (SCF ’20). (doi: 10.1145/3424630.3425418)
- Kliem, S., Tahouni, Y., Cheng, T., Menges, A., Bonten, C.: 2020, Biobased smart materials for processing via fused layer modeling. AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 2289, no. 1. (doi: 10.1063/5.0028730)
- Tahouni, Y., Cheng, T., Wood, D., Sachse, R., Thierer, R., Bischoff, M., Menges, A.: 2020, Self-shaping Curved Folding: a 4D-printing method for fabrication of curved creased origami structures. Symposium on Computational Fabrication (SCF ’20). (doi: 10.1145/3424630.3425416)
- Poppinga, S., Zollfrank, C., Prucker, O., Ruehe, J., Menges, A., Cheng, T., Speck, T.: 2018, Toward a New Generation of Smart Biomimetic Actuators for Architecture. Advanced Materials, vol. 30, no. 19. (doi: 10.1002/adma.201703653)
Thesis:
- ITECH Masters Thesis Topic – Programmable Matter, 2020-21
- ITECH Masters Thesis Topic – Programmable Matter, 2019-20
- ITECH Masters Thesis Topic – Programmable Matter, 2018-19
- ITECH Masters Thesis Topic – Programmable Matter, 2017-18
Seminars:
- ITECH Masters Thesis Preparation and Research Structure Module, 2020-21
- ITECH Masters Thesis Preparation and Research Structure Module, 2019-20
- ITECH Masters Thesis Preparation and Research Structure Module, 2018-19
Workshops:
Research Projects:
- 4DmultiMATS: Personalised 3D- and 4D-Printing of programmable, self-adjusting and multifunctional Material Systems for Sports and Medical Applications
- Bio-based and Bio-inspired 3D-printed Shape-changing Material Systems
- Responsive Autonomous Surface Structures Inspired by Passive Multi-phase Plant Movements
- Smarter Smart Materials - Integrating Human Interaction with Environmentally Responsive Material Systems
- Adaptive Beauty: Transferring natural elegance to architected materials
Lectures:
- 2020 Multifunctional Mesostructures: Design and Material Programming for 4D-printing Symposium on Computational Fabrication, Boston, USA
- 2020 4D-printing of Self-adjusting and Multifunctional Material Systems Forschungstag, Stuttgart, DE
- 2020 Programming Material Intelligence: An Additive Fabrication Strategy for Self-shaping Biohybrid Components Living Machines, Freiburg, DE
- 2020 Expert Lecture: Tiffany Cheng ITECH Expert Lecture, Stuttgart, DE
- 2020 Self-Shaping Smart Structure: Computational Design and 4D-Printing for Surface Shifting Material Systems Inspired by the Butterwort Living Materials, Saarbrücken, DE
- 2019 Smart Structure: Computational Design for 4D-Printed Material Systems Inspired by the Butterwort EUROMAT, Stockholm, SE
- 2018 4D-printing of Self-adjusting and Multifunctional Material Systems Technologieland Hessen, Darmstadt, DE
- 2018 Digital FUTURES Symposium: Building Material Intelligence Tongji University, Shanghai, CN
- 2018 USC Generation NEXT: Driven by Nature University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Awards:
- Forschungstag 2020: 2nd Best Poster Prize
- Living Machines 2020: 1st Best Paper Award