A research team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Montreal Polytechnique University has presented a new parachute concept inspired by the traditional Japanese art of paper cutting.

Kirigami is a technique that modifies the mechanical properties of a sheet of material by making precise folds and cuts to it. Children use it to make snowflakes out of paper, and engineers have used ...

This green mesh parachute is unlike any that Westerners are used to: It is thin, flexible and can be folded back into a disk for reuse. Montreal researchers are testing its uses with small objects.

Frédérick Gosselin, professor at Polytechnique Montréal’s demonstrates the elasticity of a parachute in Montreal on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. A project led by professors David Mélançon and Frédérick ...