In 1985, Bill Freeman's three-sided zipper was rejected and left in his garage; 40 years later, MIT revived it as a shape-shifting fastener

• In 1985, electrical engineer Bill Freeman imagined a zipper that could do more than join two pieces of material.
• His three-sided design used a slider to bring three strips together, potentially changing the shape and stiffness of objects.
• The idea was rejected by an innovation fund, but Freeman patented the mechanism and kept his prototype in his garage.