Houston teen’s origami packaging idea reaches national science final

Bulky, single-use food and drink containers continue to take up large amounts of space in rubbish bins and landfills long after they are thrown away. Fourteen-year-old Houston student Aiden Jo saw this as an engineering challenge and came up with an origami-inspired collapsible container. His invention has earned him a place among the ten national finalists in the 2026 3M Young Scientist Challenge.The eighth-grade student at The Village School in the Houston Independent School District created "Squeeze-gami," a foldable container design that can flatten completely to reduce waste volume and improve sustainable packaging.3M and Discovery Education announced the ten finalists on 6 July 2026, selecting middle school students aged 11 to 14 from across the United States.