Peter Tsai

{{Short description|Taiwanese American material scientist and inventor}}

Peter Tsai ({{zh|labels=no|t=蔡秉燚}}; born February 6, 1952) is a Taiwanese-American inventor and material scientist who is best known for inventing and patenting improved meltblown filtration manufacturing techniques, used in respirators (like N95 respirators, which is a 1995 NIOSH standard made to address the shortcomings of USBM standards).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBXwjwEACAAJ | title=NIOSH Guide to the Selection and Use of Particulate Respirators Certified Under 42 CFR 84 | date=1996 }}{{efn|name=warnsocial|Note: In spite of the claims made by sources cited in this biography on Tsai's N95 involvement, please refer to the N95 respirator article for more information. The N95 is a 42 CFR Part 84 standard, effective July 10, 1995. Citations to support Tsai's work follow:{{citation|last1=Tsai|first1=Peter P.|last2=Wadsworth|first2=Larry C.|title=Air Filtration Improved by Electrostatically Charging Fibrous Materials|journal=Particulate Science and Technology|date=1994 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=323–332 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02726359408906659|doi=10.1080/02726359408906659|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|date=August 12, 2020|title=Meet the U.S. scientist who invented the N95 mask filter|url=http://ge.usembassy.gov/meet-the-u-s-scientist-who-invented-the-n95-mask-filter/|access-date=February 17, 2021|website=U.S. Embassy in Georgia|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Scottie|first=Andrew|title=He invented the N95 mask filter. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and he was called to help once again|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/health/n95-mask-inventor-coronavirus-sanjay-wellness-trnd/index.html|access-date=February 17, 2021|website=CNN|date=July 15, 2020 }}}} He is an expert in the field of nonwoven fabric.{{cite web |last1=Pei-chun |first1=Huang |title=Virus Outbreak: Taiwan-born researcher the man behind N95 mask |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2020/04/08/2003734196 |website=www.taipeitimes.com |date=April 8, 2020 |publisher=Taipei Times |accessdate=April 24, 2020}} Tsai was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Tennessee, but ended his retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic to research mask and respirator sterilization.{{efn|name=warnsocial}}{{Cite news|last=Page|first=Sydney|date=July 7, 2020|title=The retired inventor of N95 masks is back at work, mostly for free, to fight covid-19|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/07/07/peter-tsai-n95-mask-covid/|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Early life and education

Tsai grew up on his family's farm in the Qingshui District of Taichung, Taiwan and graduated from Taichung Municipal Cingshuei Senior High School.{{Cite web|title=Meet Peter Tsai, the Taiwanese inventor behind the N95 mask|url=https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=2695|access-date=February 21, 2021|website=CommonWealth Magazine}} He studied chemical fibre engineering at the Provincial Taipei Institute of Technology, now known as National Taipei University of Technology.{{Cite web|title=What's inside the N95 mask: Dr. Peter Tsai's life-saving hard work|url=https://www-en.ntut.edu.tw/p/406-1006-100778,r1195.php?Lang=en|access-date=February 21, 2021|website=National Taipei University of Technology|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Hsu |first1=Phoenix |last2=Mazzetta |first2=Matthew |title=Taiwanese inventor of N95 mask returns to work amid COVID-19 pandemic |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/sci-tech/202004230007 |website=focustaiwan.tw |date=April 23, 2020 |publisher=Focus Taiwan |accessdate=April 23, 2020}}

Career

After graduating college he went to work at the Taiwan Textile Research Institute before finding work in a dyeing and finishing plant. He then went abroad to the United States for postgraduate work at Kansas State University in 1981, completing over 500 credits in a variety of subjects including mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

After receiving his doctorate in materials science, Tsai went to teach and work at the University of Tennessee. In total, he holds 12 U.S. patents and over 20 commercial license agreements. Tsai retired from the University of Tennessee in 2019. He was a professor in the Department of Material Science and Engineering.{{cite web |title=The Man Behind the Mask |url=https://tickle.utk.edu/the-man-behind-the-mask/ |website=tickle.utk.edu |date=April 17, 2020 |publisher=The University of Tennessee |accessdate=April 24, 2020 |last1=Gallaher |first1=Andrew }}

In 2020, Tsai came out of retirement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been working with the scientific collective N95DECON on ways to decontaminate N95 masks.{{cite news |last1=Bowman |first1=Emma |title=N95 Mask Shortage Brings Inventor Out Of Retirement In Search Of Safe Reuse Method |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/17/836719917/n95-filter-inventor-comes-out-of-retirement-to-help-further |website=www.npr.org |publisher=NPR |accessdate=April 24, 2020}}

Meltblown Charge Techniques

In 1992 while at the University of Tennessee, Tsai led a team attempting to improve electrostatic filtration manufacturing. The material consists of both positive and negative charges, which are better able to attract particles — such as dust, bacteria and viruses — and trap them by polarization before they can pass through the mask. It was patented in the U.S. in 1995.{{citation|last1=Tsai|first1=Peter P.|last2=Wadsworth|first2=Larry C.|title=Air Filtration Improved by Electrostatically Charging Fibrous Materials|journal=Particulate Science and Technology|date=1994 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=323–332 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02726359408906659|doi=10.1080/02726359408906659|url-access=subscription}}

Tsai continued to do work into mask technology and in 2018 he developed a new technique which doubled the filtration capacity of medical masks.