publications

Ducarme P., Weber B., van Hecke M., Overvelde J.T.B., Exotic mechanical properties enabled by countersnapping instabilities, PNAS, April 2025 [open-access link] , [featured in the weekly research highlights in Science]
Ducarme P., Weber B., van Hecke M., Overvelde J.T.B., A general formulation and implementation to simulate highly nonlinear elements, in preparation [github repository] , [documentation]
Stinissen K, Ducarme P., Weber B., Gorissen B., Overvelde J.T.B., Functionalities enabled by pneumatic countersnapping instabilities, in preparation
Kurt E., Ducarme P., Picella S., Overvelde J.T.B., Heat-induced instabilites in silicone-LCE composite structures for locomotion, in preparation
Ducarme P., Koppen S., Overvelde J.T.B., Computation of deformation paths for stimuli-driven nonlinear reconfigurable structures, in preparation

awards

Best poster award, 2024 Multifunctional Materials and Structures Gordon’s research conference (GRC), Ventura, California, United States

Featured and collaborated with Veritasium (18M+ subscribers) on video "This mechanism shrinks when pulled" (6M+ views). Discussed and showcased research on countersnapping instabilities on screen and prepared animations.
[video link]
Movie showing countersnapping instabilities in action (1m24s), 'These structures shrink when pulled: counter-snapping instabilities', seen on YouTube over 300k times, watch the movie on YT
Design of a 3d-printed hand-actuated soft gripper for the Nemo Science Museum, Exhibition 'Inventors from nature' (Dutch: 'Uitvinders uit de natuur'), 2023, Amsterdam, Netherlands [exhibition link]

Work on countersnapping instabilities featured on Dutch national news Radio. [Co-authored Martin van Hecke's interview on NPO 1 (in Dutch)]
'Vernuftig ontwerp zorgt voor eigenwijs gedrag', 2025, deingenieur.nl [read article]
'New structures shrink instead of stretching when pulled', 2025, newsatlas.com [read article]
'Countersnapping structures shrink when pulled', 2025, techxplore.com [read article]

Exotic properties enabled by counter-snapping instabilities, 2024 SES Annual Technical Meeting, Hangzhou, China [description of session 9.2]
Exotic functionalities enabled by counter-snapping instabilities, 2024 Multifunctional Materials and Structures Gordon’s research seminar (GRS), Ventura, California, United States [link]
Surprising deformations in structures made out flexibles building blocks, 2023 Creative Differences Workshop (London Design Biennal), London, United Kingdom [link]
Exotic properties enabled by a mechanical metamaterial that contracts under increasing tension, 2023 APS March Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States [abstract]
Design of a mechanical metamaterial with a negative displacement transition, 2022 Modern Mechanics Plus Workshop, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Exploring countersnapping instabilities and more in silicone and in silico, 2025 Functionality Through Nonlinearity, London, United Kingdom
Exotic properties enabled by counter-snapping instabilities, 2024 Soft Robotics PhD Conference, Leuven, Belgium
Exotic properties enabled by counter-snapping instabilities, 2024 SES Annual Technical Meeting, Hangzhou, China
Exotic functionalities enabled by counter-snapping instabilities, 2024 Multifunctional Materials and Structures Gordon’s research conference (GRC), Ventura, California, United States