This University of Austin-Made Jacket Pulls Drinking Water Directly From Thin Air

Spectacular news comes out of Austin, Texas. According to UT News, engineers at the campus have recently developed a way to drink water directly from the air. Now, I know you’re probably thinking to yourself that it might have something to do with steam or maybe certain minerals from the earth. But the reality is, they created a jacket that harvests drinking water.

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What Makes This Jacket So Remarkable?

The whole idea is not only remarkable, but it’s also super cool, if I do say so myself. Keep in mind that the jacket produces between 400 and 900 mL of drinkable water per day, which is about 14 to 30 ounces, depending on the humidity levels at any given time.

How Did This Team Of Engineer's Come Up With The Idea Of A Jacket?

Guihua Yu, chair professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Texas Materials Institute, and one of the leaders of the research published in Science Advances, stated that water harvesting from the air is usually imagined as a stationary device, such as a box, panel, or sorbent bed. However, Yu explained that he and his team wanted to rethink the form of the technology. If the fabric itself can collect water from the air, it opens a new direction for personal and portable water access.

As of right now, this device is part of the team’s  AirGel invention and has won the top prize in the graduate category of the 2025 National Collegiate Inventors Competition. Whatever is next for these young geniuses is truly going to be amazing and resourceful, not only for Texans but for people around the world.