For the month of May, 2026, the 13th annual Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Wall of Fame features 29 Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) inventors, such as Korean American Alice Chun who invented the SolarPuff, a solar-powered LED lantern; Filipino American Pedro Flores who invented the slip-string yo-yo; Japanese American “Mr. Tornado” Tetsuya Fujita who invented the F-Scale to classify tornadoes; Indian American Akhil Madhani who invented the Black Falcon, a robotic arm used by doctors for operations; Hawaiian American Charles Nainoa Thompson who invented the modern star compass; Vietnamese American Tuan Vo-Dinh who invented the Chemical Dosimeter Badge to detect toxic chemicals; and Chinese American Flossie Wong-Staal who invented the process to clone the HIV virus. These 29 APIA men and women behind the inventions, whether a product, process, or a scientific method, have helped and advanced society in many ways.
Due to budget cuts, there will be no live event this year, but everyone can visit the Children’s Center and the Chinese Center at the SF Main Public Library to see the APIA Inventors Wall of Fame, together with a scavenger hunt for children ages 12 and under. The Wall of Fame and related activities and education resources are available online (apiabiography.sfsu.edu). Square and Circle Club have been a proud cosponsor and fiscal agent of this event since 2017-18. Other cosponsors include the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University, the San Francisco Main Public Library, and TACT (The Association of Chinese Teachers).
