{"id":5260,"date":"2026-05-13T15:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=5260"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T15:58:07","slug":"devin-bester","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/devin-bester\/","title":{"rendered":"Devin Bester"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Bester-Devin-e1791474934922.jpg\" alt=\"Bester, Devin\" class=\"wp-image-5575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Bester-Devin-e1791474934922.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Bester-Devin-e1791474934922-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Bester-Devin-e1791474934922-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-container-content-69bc4bdf wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>MIT Department: <\/strong><br>Mechanical Engineering<br><br><strong>Faculty Mentor<\/strong>: <br>Giovanni Traverso<br><br><strong>Research Supervisor: <\/strong><br>Stephen O&#8217;Neil<br><br><strong>Undergraduate Institution:<\/strong><br>University of Kentucky<strong><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Devin Bester is a University of Kentucky senior majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in mathematics. Wanting to forge his own path, he has decided to pursue a career that helps others by prioritizing biomechanical systems analysis and medical device development across various research endeavors. This has included developing microvascular suture tools at Johns Hopkins University, performing computational modeling of tissue anatomy at Columbia University, and facilitating protein amino acid sequence sonification and microgel fabrication using self-designed droplet generators at his home institution. His current research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology aims to enhance wetsuit performance by fabricating bio-inspired polymer composites. Outside the lab, Devin serves as an Engineering Ambassador and enjoys traveling, cooking, and acting. His main aspiration is to pursue a Ph.D. that furthers his academic career, allowing him to conduct research and foster the future of engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Characterizing Thermal Insulation in Mammalian Biology<br><\/strong>Devin Bester<sup>1<\/sup>, Stephen O\u2019Neill<sup>2<\/sup>, and Giovanni Traverso<sup>2<\/sup><br><sup>1<\/sup>Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky<br><sup>2<\/sup>Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><br>The current standard for wetsuits is to use polychloroprene (Neoprene) foam for high thermal insulation and flexibility, excellent for the low-temperature environments encountered by underwater divers. However, thermal insulation decreases because the increased hydrostatic pressure compresses the gas within the foam&#8217;s cells, decreasing a diver\u2019s time underwater. One possible solution is to use biomimetics to inspire future wetsuit materials. Mammals in cold climate<br>regions thermally regulate themselves in multiple ways; however, the structural makeup of individual hair fibers has yet to be analyzed. This project aims to analyze animal hair fibers to determine how their composition influences their insulative properties. Nine samples were provided by the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, obtained from mammals inhabiting several regions across North America and Asia. Samples were prepped with liquid nitrogen before viewing their native cross sections using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). SEM imaging revealed distinct cross-sectional architectures across cold-adapted mammalian hairs, including porous and dense fiber structures. These differences may inform the design of bioinspired insulating textiles for underwater and cold-environment applications<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5575,"template":"","profile_category":[25],"class_list":["post-5260","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2026-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5922,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5260\/revisions\/5922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=5260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}