Robert J. Lang

American origami artist, mathematician, physicist and inventor, renowned as one of the world's most reputable scholars in advanced mathematics of origami (b. 4 May 1961, Dayton, Ohio); currently resides in Altadena, California. Robert J. Lang is widely cited as the first origamist who used computers to optimize folding algorithms; he made significant advances in real-life applications of origami to various engineering problems, from airbags to orbital telescopes. Lang served as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE's Journal of Quantum Electronics from 2007 to 2010 and is the Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2012). He published eight critically-acclaimed books and numerous articles on origami, praised for his complex and elegant designs, especially of insects and animals. Lang grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and discovered origami at six, when a frustrated teacher showed Robert how to fold basic shapes to keep him quiet in the classroom. Robert J. Langs studied electrical engineering at the California Institute Of Technology and later at Stanford University, earning his Master's degree in 1983. He returned to Caltech for postgraduate studies, earning his Ph.D. in applied physics with Semiconductor Lasers: New Geometries and Spectral Properties (1986) thesis. Lang joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1988. As a prolific inventor, he holds over 45 patents in optics, integrated optoelectronics and semiconductor lasers. Since 2001, Lang has focused on origami full-time. He co-authored one of the proofs of completeness of the Huzita–Hatori axioms and contributed a solution to a "napkin-folding problem." Robert Lang worked with a team of scientists and aeronautic engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, developing a unique folding construction to fit an enormous and fragile membrane lens, the "Eyeglass," in a small rocket without any permanent damage or creases. Lang also designed the Google Doodle for the 101st birthday of Akira Yoshizawa (1911—2005), displayed by Google in March 2012.