The Industrial Designer behind the N95 Mask

Sara Little Turnbull used materials science to invent and design products for the modern world

By Johanna Mayer, Katie Hafner & The Lost Women of Science Initiative edited by Jeffery DelViscio

Keren Mevorach (design); © Center for Design Institute

Sara Little Turnbull was a force in the world of materials science and industrial design. It’s safe to say most people have used something that started life on her drawing board, but few know her name. She worked with engineered fabrics as a consultant for 3M.

As part of these efforts she designed a molded bra cup that inspired the form of the N95 mask. Later 3M disputed her role in coming up with the N95 mask. She also worked as a consultant for CorningWare on clear-glass cooktop development, early microwave cooking products, storage systems and many other products.

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Lost Women of Science is produced for the ear. Where possible, we recommend listening to the audio for the most accurate representation of what was said.

Katie Hafner: I'm Katie Hafner, and this is Lost Women of Science: From Our Inbox, a series of mini episodes featuring women in science that came to us from you, our listeners.

On today’s episode, we hear from designer, Paula Rees, about her mentor: Sara Little Turnbull. You might not know Sara’s name, but I’d bet that you’ve heard of one of her inventions. Plus… in the process of reporting this episode, we discovered that Sara’s story illuminates an issue that we encounter a lot when looking at science history…

Producer Johanna Mayer brings us her story.

Johanna Mayer: I want to tell you about this photograph I came across recently.

It looks like it was taken sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. Four business people are standing in a circle. Two of the men are smoking long cigarettes, a third is in a pinstripe suit. And they’re all looking down. 

They’re looking at a woman. With a killer beehive hairdo, a giant flower pinned to her sweater, and a big beaming grin.

Source: Read the original article on www.scientificamerican.com