CeraPiper

My role
Research intern, Cornell Tech x Technion, summer 2026; second author, ACM SCF 2026.
Year
2026
Type
CAD tool, research
Status
Published, SCF 2026
An assembled terracotta cooling chandelier: three ribbed hexagonal clay arms curve up from a central column on a ribbed stem

A chandelier-style cooling element, extruded on CeraPiper and assembled by hand. Filled with water, it cools the space around it as it evaporates.

  • Published research paper at ACM SCF 2026, with a live demo; I’m second author, presenting in Tokyo.
  • The tool holds the machine’s limits: 40–78 mm diameters, 30° rotation steps, a 150 mm span advisory.
  • A printed paper blueprint runs under the clay, marking where to cut and where to hand-cut connector holes.

I was a research intern on CeraPiper, a CAD tool for designing custom hollow ceramic pipes that assemble into structures which cool a space by evaporating water. I’m second author of its CAD paper, a research paper published at ACM SCF 2026, which we present in Tokyo with a live demo.

Results

outer diameter the die can produce
40–78mm
maximum unsupported span before the sag advisory
150mm
conveyor bed, minus 60 mm start and end pieces
800mm

(CeraPiper)

Versions

v1 to v2.0 predate my internship.

  1. v1

    17 July 2025

    Submission to ACM SCF 2025.

  2. v1.1

    8 August 2025

    Revamped extrusion data structure; unsupported-segment detection; 3D curve visualisation in beta; segment editing; a settings page; Arduino memory fixes.

  3. v2.0

    20 December 2025

    Fixes and features from user-study feedback; full editing from the Function Stack; becomes an in-app Onshape extension.

  4. v2.1

    8 July 2026

    Print order follows Onshape attachment order, so branches print as one contiguous chain.

    about one Onshape API request per import · down from one request per part

  5. v2.2

    July 2026

    Interactive paper blueprint; an Extrude action and per-bed tabs; branch pipes carve a matching hex hole in the host; ribbed branch profiles.

  6. SCF 2026

    6–8 December 2026

    The CAD layer paper is published at ACM SCF 2026 and presented in Tokyo with a live demo.

Our ACM SCF 2026 video: designing in the CAD layer, extruding onto the printed blueprint, and finishing by hand.
Onshape screenshot: a branching ceramic pipe assembly in blue, grey and gold, with the feature list on the left and the dialog for a ribbed curved pipe open

The design layer in Onshape

The design layer in Onshape: every pipe, curve and branch is a parametric feature, edited like any other CAD feature.

Onshape screenshot: a long coiled assembly of ribbed hexagonal pipes, coloured by segment

Composing an assembly

A whole assembly composed in Onshape; die sizes, bed length and sag limits are enforced as the geometry is shaped.

Screenshot of the CeraPipes app: a ribbed pipe in the 3D view, the list of components to extrude, and the paper blueprint with its print layers

The CeraPipes app

The CeraPipes app: the design split into extrusion runs, sent to the machine, with the paper blueprint ready to print.

An assembled terracotta cooling screen standing on a concrete floor: ribbed hexagonal clay pipes bend into an arch over a straight base pipe

A cooling screen

An assembled cooling screen, designed in the tool and extruded on CeraPiper.

A ribbed terracotta clay arch standing in front of a bamboo fence and plants

Assembled

Segments assembled into a ceramic structure for evaporative cooling.

Hands guide a ribbed clay pipe onto the printed paper blueprint, which is labelled with the mandrel size

Extruded onto the blueprint

The printed blueprint runs under the clay as it is extruded.

Two hands bend a ribbed clay pipe along the cut lines of a printed blueprint on a workbench

Finished by hand

Bending a pipe by hand along the blueprint’s cut lines.

A ribbed hexagonal clay pipe comes out of the shape-shifting die onto the conveyor of the extruder

On the machine

A ribbed segment leaving the shape-shifting die on the pug mill.

Renders of twelve cooling-screen designs in terracotta pipes on the walls and window of a grey room: coils, arches, grids and branching forms

Twelve designers, one brief

Cooling screens designed by the twelve participants of our user study, from the same brief and the same primitives.

How it works

Every profile is hexagonal because the die is. The tool constrains what the machine can make: hard limits, corrections it applies for you, and advisories.

Outer diameter 58 mmEvery profile is hexagonal because the die is. The tool constrains what the machine can make: hard limits, corrections it applies for you, and advisories. Outer diameter 58 millimetres, 0 degrees.58 mm150 mm
58 mm
Die index
0°
Span

Machine parameterDesign element
Die aperture travelOuter diameter
Extrusion durationLength in mm
Instruction orderDerived from how parts attach
Operator sag judgmentA 150 mm advisory
Three-layer diagram: an Onshape FeatureScript design layer above Python and Flask middleware that compiles a JSON function stack, above Arduino firmware that drives the dieThree software layers and one physical one: FeatureScript features in Onshape, Python and Flask middleware that compiles the feature tree into a JSON Function Stack, Arduino firmware at the machine, and the printed paper blueprint under the clay.Design layerOnshape, FeatureScriptRibbed pipes, branches, connectors, collarsHard, corrective and advisory constraintsOnshape REST APITranslation middlewarePython, FlaskReads the feature tree over the REST APILinearises each branch into one extrusionSerialises a JSON Function StackFunction Stack over USB serialFabrication backendArduino, C++Maps primitives to motor stepsRegulates the pug-mill feed rateDrives the shape-shifting diePrinted from the Function StackPaper blueprint20 cm sheet on a standard plotterRuns along the bed under the clay

Three software layers and one physical one: FeatureScript features in Onshape, Python and Flask middleware that compiles the feature tree into a JSON Function Stack, Arduino firmware at the machine, and the printed paper blueprint under the clay.

A 20 cm-wide printed blueprint strip with the part name, cut marks at the bed limit, the mandrel size and a hex marker where a hole is hand-cutThe paper blueprint: a 20 cm-wide sheet that runs along the bed under the freshly extruded clay, carrying the part name, where to cut, the mandrel in use and where to hand-cut a hole for a perpendicular connector.Main bedPiece 1800 mm bed, 60 mm end pieces20 cm4132
1
Cut line, where the clay is divided into fabricable segments
2
Fixed 60 mm start and end pieces at the limits of the 800 mm bed
3
The mandrel size in use, drawn as the bore centreline
4
Hex marker where a hole is hand-cut for a perpendicular connector

The paper blueprint: a 20 cm-wide sheet that runs along the bed under the freshly extruded clay, carrying the part name, where to cut, the mandrel in use and where to hand-cut a hole for a perpendicular connector.

Facts

My role
Research intern, Cornell Tech x Technion, summer 2026: CAD and slicing software for a custom ceramic printer. Second author of the CAD paper.
When
Summer 2026.
With
Matter of Tech Lab.
Status
The CAD layer is the subject of a research paper published at ACM SCF 2026 (Tokyo, 6–8 December 2026), with a live demo; I’m second author and present it in Tokyo. The earlier CAM version was published at ACM SCF 2025 (Berman, Seiz, Roumen; I am not an author).
Stack
Onshape FeatureScript; Python 3 and Flask; Arduino (C++); p5.js.

(Awards)

  • Research paper published at ACM SCF 2026, with a live demoSecond author · Tokyo, 6–8 December 2026