Welcome! This is the online portfolio of Dr Ting-Uei (Jeff) Lee.

Jeff is a postdoc reserach fellow at the RMIT University, Australia. He comes from an engineering academic background, with a strong research interest in modelling complex 3D geometries using computational design techniques to achieve efficient structural systems.

BIO

Jeff completed his Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2015 and his Doctor of Philosophy in collaboration between UQ and Tianjin University in 2019. The title of his PhD thesis is "Elastic energy behaviours of curved-crease origami".

In July 2020, Jeff commenced as a research fellow in the Centre for Innovative Structures and Materials (CISM) under the supervision of Distinguished Professor Mike Xie.

Jeff’s active research areas include structural optimisation, origami-inspired engineering, large elastic bending, mechanical metamaterials, computational geometries, deployable structures, and lightweight/modular constructions.

Jeff has been awarded the prestigious Hangai Prize by the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) in 2021. He is the first Australian to win this great honour since the Hangai Prize established in 2001.

AWARDS

2021, 19th IASS Hangai Prize, Surrey, UK. [Link 1] [Link 2]
2018, Gabriella & Paul Rosenbaum Foundation Award, 7OSME, Oxford, UK.
2018, Golden Jubilee Student Award, The Patricia Moffett Bursary, UQ Alumni & Friends. [Link]
2016, Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation, Student Challenge Award, The Deployable Shelter, The University of Queensland.

TEAM

Jeff is currently supervising 2 PhD students:

Mr Zhi (Albert) Li

Mr Yuanpeng Liu

MEDIA (Selected)

Forbes: The Prototype: Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Tests Its Big Rocket [Link]
Wired: How origami inspired these flat-pack tube building materials [Link]
RMIT News: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials [RMIT Website] [LinkedIn] [Facebook] [Threads] [Twitter]
EurekAlert!: New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials [Link]
Interesting Engineering: 2-pound foldable tubes hold 165 pounds at ease with origami power [Link]
HappyShield: Curved Crease Origami Face Shield For Infection Control [Link]
Dezeen: Simple origami face shield can be folded from single sheet of plastic [Link]
ArchDaily: 5 Protective Face Shields Designed by Architects in Fight against COVID-19 [Link]
MashableAustralia: This origami face shield folds for more protection against exposure to COVID-19 [Link]
Parametric House: CURVED-CREASE ORIGAMI [Link]
UQ Research News - Coronavirus (COVID-19) expertise and updates: Shielding health workers [Link]

EDUCATION

Mar 2016 – May 2019, D.Eng. Joint Civil and Mechanical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia/ Tianjin University, China.
Feb 2011 – Jul 2015, B.Eng. Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia.

EXPERIENCE

Jul 2020 - Present, Research Fellow, RMIT University, Australia.
Jan 2020 - Nov 2022, Self-employed Computational Designer, Jeff Lee Digital Projects (ABN: 82 514 572 803), Australia.
Feb 2020 – Jun 2020, Casual Academic, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Jan 2020 – Jun 2020, Computational Designer, Modulum Homes, Australia.
May 2019 – Dec 2019, Postdoc Research Fellow, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Jan 2016 – Mar 2016, Research Assistant, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Aug 2015 – Jan 2016, Estimator, Colemans Group, Australia.
Oct 2009 – Sep 2017, Business Management and Operations, Bethania Foodstore, Australia.
Nov 2014 – Feb 2015, Site Engineer (Internship), Dong-Teng Construction Group, Taiwan.

TEACHING & INVITED SPEAKER ADDRESSES

Guest Lecture, 2024, Design, optimization, and construction of innovative curved structures, Intelligent Design and Manufacturing of Structures, Peking University, China.
Guest Lecture, 2024, Introduction to Modular Design abd Construction (OENG1255), RMIT University, Australia.
Guest Lecture, 2022, Introduction to parametric design, Creative Engineering CAD (OENG1204), RMIT University, Australia.
Plenary Lecture, 2021, From ruled surfaces to elastica-ruled surfaces: New possibilities for creating architectural forms, 2020/21 IASS Annual Symposium, Surrey, UK.
Guest Lecture, 2019, Curved-crease Origami: A Hybrid of Sheet Folding and Bending, Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM) seminar, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Guest Lecture, 2019, Parametric Geometry and Structural Analysis, Computational Design and Structural Geometry (CIVL7360), The University of Queensland, Australia.
Invited Address, 2018, Curved-crease Origami, Brisbane Computational Design Group, Brisbane, Australia.
Guest Lecture, 2018, Bending-Active Structures, Computational Design and Structural Geometry (CIVL7360), The University of Queensland, Australia.
Guest Lecture, 2017, Parametric Design to FEM Structural Analysis, Advanced Structural Analysis (CIVL4332), The University of Queensland, Australia.
Guest Lecture, 2016, Rhino-Grasshopper-Karamba: Parametric Design and Structural Analysis, Advanced Architectural Technology (BLDG7021), The University of Queensland, Australia.
Guest Lecture, 2016, Introduction to Parametric Design, Engineering Design (ENGG1100), The University of Queensland, Australia.
Tutor, 2016, Advanced Architectural Technology (BLDG7021), The University of Queensland, Australia.
Software Training Workshop, 2016, Introduction to parametric design: Rhino-Grasshopper, Kangaroo, KukaPrc, and Karamba, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Software Training Workshop, 2016, Modelling of Origami Geometries, Tianjin University, China.

COLLABORATORS

IASS2023

IASS 2023 conference was held in Melbourne, Australia, where Jeff played multiple essential roles, including:

Member of the Local Organising Committee
Reviewer for abstracts and full papers
Editor of the conference proceedings book (ISBN: 978-0-646-87830-0)
Session chair for two sessions: "Deployable and Inflatable Structures" (Session 49) and "Active Bending and Graphical Methods" (Session 52)
Presenter of his work titled "Curved, elastically-deformed origami and kirigami: an overview of recent progress"
On-site volunteer