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About

Anna Zigelman is a rising star in the field of soft robotics and mechanical metamaterials, specializing in the design of multistable structures that can grow, twist, and reprogram their shapes on demand. Her work bridges fundamental mechanics with bio-inspired actuation, offering new paradigms for minimally invasive surgery, search-and-rescue devices, and morphing structures. Zigelman’s most-cited paper (2023, 10 citations) introduces a groundbreaking concept for a single-input growing soft material based on constrained multistable elements, enabling three-dimensional path-following actuation. She has further advanced the field by demonstrating how directed instability can fabricate multistable twisting microstructures (2024, 4 citations) and by developing reprogrammable 3D shapes from one-dimensional metamaterials (2024, 4 citations), drawing inspiration from protein folding. Her interdisciplinary approach extends to fluid dynamics, where she has analyzed the stability and bifurcations of planar three-link swimmers with passive visco-elastic joints (2024, 2 citations). Zigelman’s work is notable for its potential to create adaptive, reconfigurable systems that mimic biological growth and movement, positioning her as a key contributor to the next generation of smart materials and soft robotic actuators.