One of my collaborations is with Larry Howell and co-workers at BYU (under one of the NSF EFRI programs). This report shows what some of their students are doing:
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=29091679&nid=148&title=students-use-ancient-art-of- origami-to-innovate Larry's a professor of Mechanical Engineering (he wrote this book, http://www.amazon.com/Compliant-Mechanisms-Larry-L-Howell/dp/047138478X/ref= sr_1_1, which is the primary reference on the topic of compliant mechanisms; "compliant mechanisms" are "things that intentionally bend," and so you can see the potential for connection to origami). Other professors on the team include Spencer Magleby, also in MechEng, David Morgan in design, and Denise Halvorsen, in mathematics. The interdisciplinary nature of the group is quite nice; the design students come up with very different ideas from the engineering students, and there's an overall strong emphasis on coming up with commercial applications (which will be useful to have around when some congresscritter asks the NSF, "you're spending millions of dollars on ORIGAMI?!!"). Enjoy! Robert
