The origami-inspired shelter in development at Notre Dame solves a formidable problem. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center is funding the research. Soldiers are often stationed in extreme environments, from desert to mountain conditions. The military spends millions of dollars every day on fuel for air conditioning or heat. When the cost of the fuel, transportation and security for fuel missions is combined, a gallon of fuel can cost hundreds of dollars. More importantly, hundreds of Americans have died during fuel missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The shelter designed by Thrall and her team would reduce energy consumption by 70 percent, could be deployed by a few soldiers in less than an hour, and could be transported by plane, ship or truck on a standard military pallet. The thermally insulated rigid-wall structure could save the military hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fuel costs when compared to canvas tents. It also holds great promise as an environmentally friendly shelter for disaster-relief efforts around the world.