Whether it is a deliberate strategy or serendipity, the innovations that shape our lives are the result of skilled people put into the right environment to create something new. Innovation is not an exact science, but persistence and some good luck have yielded all the amazing tools and technology we rely upon.

What starts as a small invention can transform society. The Internet, no doubt. Vaccines, no debate. Music, rock on. Filtration, hold up! Filters ensure clean water, safe medicine, mechanical (engines) and digital (electronics) performance, and safe air among others. These benign looking devices are all business internally. Membranes and media combinations are designed to remove the contaminants that are either dangerous or undesirable in these applications. Whether it’s nearly at the scale of cleaning molecules or removing errant equipment shards, filters and purifiers do their work quietly yet have a big impact on the quality of so many materials. Filters are an indispensable fabric of our society.

Where did filtration technology originate and how did it grow into a somewhat ubiquitous tool in some applications (our home) and a critical tool (semiconductor fabs) in others?

Vinay Goal, Entegris technology consultant and membrane science pioneer, shares the history and development stages in his recent video. Take a look!

Learn more about contamination control here