R.T. (Phil) Nuytten
Inventor, entrepreneur, explorer,
President and founder of Nuytco Research Ltd and
Can-Dive Services Ltd

An internationally recognised pioneer in the diving industry, Phil Nuytten has spent 40 years creating deepwater dive products that have opened the ocean’s depths to exploration and industry.

Through his companies, Nuytco and Can-Dive, he has developed the technology to allow longer-length diving expeditions with increased safety. Nuytten’s one-atmosphere systems – the hard-suits ‘Newtsuit’ and ‘Exosuit’, and his deep-diving “DeepWorker” submersibles – are renowned internationally. This deep diving equipment, along with Nuytten’s military submarine rescue system (designated ‘Remora’ by the Royal Australian Navy and ‘PRMS’ by the US Navy), is standard in nearly a dozen of the world’s navies. Contract work has taken him to oilfields, submarine construction sites and sunken wrecks around the world, including the Breadalbane, the northern-most known shipwreck, where his record dives through icy Arctic waters earned him a place on the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1984. Nuytten was one of the forces behind the ‘Sustainable Seas Expeditions’ in the 1990’s, a five-year initiative by the National Geographic Society and NOAA to study deep ocean environmental impact. During this project, DeepWorker micro-subs were used to explore and monitor National marine sanctuaries. The findings from this expedition have contributed significantly to scientists’ understanding of underwater ecology, habitats, and biodiversity.

More recently, Nuytten and his team finalized development of the ‘Prehensor’, a prosthetic-like device that mimics the human hand and will allow manipulative dexterity far in advance of the current pliers-style end effectors. The ‘Prehensor’ is being integrated into the development of an ultra light weight, swimming hard suit called the ‘Exosuit’, giving the operator the best of both worlds: the safety of a rigid one-atmosphere system along with the manual dexterity of a scuba diver’s gloved hand. NASA has shown considerable interest in this technology for use by astronauts in space.

Phil Nuytten has spent nearly forty years developing undersea systems that have the safety of the diving technician as their common theme.  His goal has been to provide scientific, technical, military, and sport divers full access to continental shelf depths without the hazards of decompression, so that humans can explore, learn about, and - ultimately - protect the world’s oceans.