Peter Tsai (蔡秉燚), the Taiwan-born inventor of the key technology used in N95 respirators and masks, is studying ways to sterilize masks for reuse amid a global shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tsai, 68, said that he was motivated not by money, but by a desire to help others.
“Given the choice, I would prefer to help 100 million people rather than earn US$100 million,” Tsai said on Wednesday.
Photo courtesy of National Taipei University of Technology alumni Huang Chun-chung
Tsai, who has retired from his work as a researcher at the University of Tennessee, wrote an article for the University of Tennessee Research Foundation in which he explored ways to sterilize and reuse masks.
After graduating from the Provincial Taipei Institute of Technology, now known as National Taipei University of Technology, Tsai worked at the Taiwan Textile Research Institute in then-Taipei County, before transferring to a dyeing and finishing plant.
At the time, textile equipment and technology were imported from the US, Europe and Japan, Tsai said.
Spurred by his interest in the industry, he moved to the US to attend graduate school.
At Kansas State University he threw himself wholeheartedly into his studies, completing more than 500 credits — the equivalent of six doctoral degrees of course material, he said.
Tsai’s coursework and research touched upon a variety of disciplines, including hydrodynamics, electrical engineering and material science, and in his experiments he used computers to rapidly model theoretical results.
After graduation, he became a research fellow at the University of Tennessee and in 1992 led a research team that developed two key technologies that would be used in respirators.
Tsai’s research in melt blowing and electrostatic charging technologies greatly improved the filtration efficiency of nonwoven fabrics used in masks, allowing submicron particles to be captured and stopped from traveling through the masks, the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry Association said on Facebook on April 6.
After seeing the pandemic worsen and the global mask shortage, Tsai wrote a research paper on ways to extend the life of disposable masks.
The paper has garnered the attention of researchers at several US schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Yale University and Stanford University.
“They told me I could earn a lot from these findings, but I would rather help people than make money,” Tsai said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the