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Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) create improved design for water-resistant wetsuits.

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Words by Patrice Sweeney

Inspired by the industrious beaver, researchers at MIT have developed a wetsuit fashioned from the hide of nature’s furry and semi aquatic mammals. The ongoing premise is to produce material that retains body heat, while also keeping the wearer drier than conventional wetsuits.

Courtey of MIT

The bioinspired research has led to the cultivation of rubber pelts with fine tendrils behaving as fur.  The general mechanism involves these hair-like structures trapping air between them, a function carried out by the pelts of beavers, otters, and other similar creatures that live between land and water.

Courtesy of Public Domain Pictures

Of special curiosity at MIT are the activities of surfers:

“We are particularly interested in wetsuits for surfing, where the athlete moves frequently between air and water environments,” reveals professor of mechanical engineering and associate head of the department at MIT, Anette (Peko) Hosoi. “We can control the length, spacing, and arrangement of hairs, which allows us to design textures to match certain dive speeds and maximize the wetsuit's dry region.”

Courtesy of Pexels

While the textile’s rubbery filaments are geared towards surfing, further applications could include manufacturing uses. Industrial dip-coating could also be improved by utilising the MIT model to ensure that air isn’t trapped during a coating process.