Sandia National Laboratories physicist Willis Whitfield forever transformed science and technology when he invented the “clean room.” When Whitfield announced the invention in 1962, researchers and industrialists didn’t believe it. Within a few short years, however, $50 billion worth of laminar-flow cleanrooms were built worldwide and Whitfield had been dubbed “Mr. Clean” by Time magazine. The constant sweep of highly filtered air has made the modern microelectronics industry possible.