Junli Hao was close to earning her MIT doctorate in chemical engineering this year when Covid-19 hit the United States — and forced universities including MIT to quickly de-densify. Hao suddenly found herself applying everything she’d learned to a major problem associated with the pandemic: the short supply of face masks and N95 respirators for medical personnel and other first responders. For the past two months Hao, working closely with her advisor, Professor Gregory Rutledge, has used specialized equipment in the Rutledge lab to test the filtration properties and breathability…
