How origami inspired 18-year-old Hikaru Kuribayashi to win a $100,000 prize over 1,700 students at a science fair

Hikaru Kuribayashi, an 18-year-old student from Japan, won $100,000 at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and this was possible due to his love of origami and nature. He earned $100,000 George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award, the top honour at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), where he outperformed more than 1,700 high school students from countries around the world.

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Born in Hokkaido, Hikaru learned the traditional art of paper, also known as origami, folding from his grandmother. He also spent most of time in Japan's northernmost island, exploring forests and mountains, where he began noticing that nature used similar folding patterns in leaves, flower petals and insect wings. That childhood curiosity eventually led him to develop an advanced computer simulation capable of predicting complex origami-inspired folding structures.


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How growing up in Hokkaido shaped his biggest idea

Always surrounded by Hokkaido's nature, forests and mountains, Hikaru Kuribayashi developed a fascination with the hidden geometry found in the natural world. "Imagine a tiny ladybug. That ladybug actually uses origami patterns to fold and expand its wings," Kuribayashi told Business Insider.

He also observed similar patterns in leaves and flower petals, leading him to wonder whether these efficient natural designs could inspire better engineering solutions. That idea eventually became the foundation of his research project and also impressed judges from around the world.

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Kuribayashi's accomplishments beyond his prize-winning research

According to his LinkedIn profile, he has been co-founder of School Education Tools Box (SETB) since 2021, a nonprofit organization that develops educational web tools for students in Japan.

Academically, he is pursuing the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, studying Higher Level Physics, Mathematics and English alongside Chemistry, Literature and History.

His academic journey has also included the Asia-Europe Institute (ASEM) Summer Program at the University of Malaya in 2024, giving him international research experience before beginning his work at the University of Tokyo.

Outside academics, he has earned a TOEFL iBT score of 100, demonstrating strong English proficiency, and holds a Grade 1 certification from the Japan Snowboarding Association.

How he built simulation program using algorithms

In 2025, Kuribayashi spent about six months building a simulation program capable of predicting how complex origami-inspired structures fold.

He wrote the software using Julia, a programming language designed for scientific computing. The program relies on the Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm, which generates multiple possible scenarios to estimate the most likely outcome.

The research demanded advanced mathematical concepts, programming expertise and months of testing. "I used very difficult algorithms," Kuribayashi said.

To deepen his understanding, he joined the UTokyo GSC-Next program as a high school researcher and conducted research at the Todo Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, where he studied quantum computing and quantum algorithms using materials typically taught to university students.

Despite the academic support, much of the work involved solving coding problems on his own, fixing numerous bugs before the simulation finally performed as expected.

Why he chose not to let AI write his code

Instead of relying on AI-generated code, he preferred understanding every algorithm and debugging every issue personally, giving him greater confidence in both the software and the science behind it.

"By analyzing natural origami, which is very efficient, we can take and find a new pattern," he said.

He believes those patterns could eventually improve technologies such as foldable solar panels, compact space equipment and portable emergency shelters that can be deployed quickly after natural disasters.

A dream years in the making

Winning the world's largest international high school science competition wasn't an overnight achievement. Kuribayashi had dreamed of competing at ISEF ever since learning about the event in middle school.

"I still can't believe I took top prize because I have been dreaming about participating in ISEF since I heard of it in eighth grade," he said.