American History, Unfiltered: Dr Peter Tsai

American History, Unfiltered: A post series highlighting people from traditionally marginalized groups who accomplished great things for America.

Today we are talking about Dr. Peter Tsai, a Taiwanese American, who is famous for having invented the lifesaving N95 masks in 1996. 

He moved to Knoxville in 1987 to work at the University of Tennessee as a material science professor and inventor. 

A master of non-woven fabrics, he received a patent in the 1990s for his new microfiber fabric that would prove to be more effective against airborne diseases like Tuberculosis. 

During the pandemic he came out of retirement (working mostly for free) to help fight Covid by finding ways to sanitize the masks without distorting it’s form and ability to block out particles. He said he was glad to be helping out clients with his patient during the pandemic.