Origami engineering is the scientific study of the techniques of origami, a traditional Japanese craft, and the attempt to apply it to engineering. It was proposed by Taketoshi Nojima of Kyoto University and advanced by Professor Ichiro Hagiwara of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who launched a research group on origami engineering in the Japan Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Origami engineering is leading to the development of strong yet lightweight structures, such as easily crushable plastic bottles, car bodies, furniture, and other objects. In the future origami engineering will be applied to such fields as impact intensity, heat insulation, sound absorption and insulation, and geometrical pattern designs interweaving light and shadow. Its use is being investigated in inflatable space structures, building and railway car floor structures, heat shield building walls to counter the heat island phenomenon, soundproof walls to prevent noise pollution, and other applications.