Engineers Build an Underwater Iron Man Jetpack That Lets You Swim Faster Than Michael Phelps

Engineers and tinkerers Ryan Kung and David Shulman of Eclectical Engineering built an “Underwater Iron Man Jetpack” (6.25mph) that will allow them to swim faster than Olympian Michael Phelps (6mph). They attached four motors to a backpack style frame and used 3D printing to build the underwater housing over each motor.

We wanted to see if we could make an ‘Iron Man’-esque suit that could actually propel us through water. Everyone has dreams where they can fly with just their own body – for us, that dream has been vivid enough that it spurred us to try living it. Unfortunately, flying through the air is pretty expensive and still rather cumbersome, but thanks to the buoyancy of water we can get a similar experience with only a few extra parts. And this was a ton of fun! You can watch your friends ride the struggle boat trying to swim, then at the push of a button you zip right past them! (read more)