Professor Glaucio H. Paulino, research group member Evgueni Filipov of the University of Illinois, and Professor Tomohiro Tachi of the University of Tokyo developed a unique method of coupling tubes derived from the Miura-ori pattern. Their zipper coupled tubes have a single flexible motion for deployment, but are substantially stiffer for all other deformations such as bending and twisting. The work was published in the PNAS Early Edition on September 8, 2015.