Tiffany Cheng

Tiffany Cheng is an incoming Assistant Professor at Cornell University's Department of Design Tech. She previously led the Material Programming Research Group at the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Cluster of Excellence IntCDC at the University of Stuttgart from 2017 to 2024. Her work bridges computational design, biomimicry, and robotics to create transformative material systems.

Research Interests focus on bio-inspired and bio-based material programming through 4D printing, self-shaping mechanisms, and environmentally responsive materials. She develops digital workflows for mass-customizing material properties and deploying structures across scales—from self-regulating facades to self-adjusting wearables.

Her recent publications and projects explore hygromorphic adaptive shading, cross-sectional 4D printing, and hybrid additive fabrication of biocomposite structures. These align with her broader themes of material intelligence and passive multi-phase actuation.

• 2024 Falling Walls Lab Baden-Württemberg: Audience Award
• 2023 Materialpreis: ❤ Award
• 2022 3D Pioneers Challenge: Finalist
• 2020 Living Machines: 1st Best Paper Award

She has taught courses on Architectural Biomimetics and Master's Thesis Preparation at the University of Stuttgart, and conducted workshops globally including Digital FUTURES and ACADIA. Her MULTIMESO Lab at Cornell will continue advancing integrative technologies for self-shaping systems.