the inventor of the N95 mask comes out of retirement

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https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/17/836719917/n95-filter-inventor-comes-out-of-retirement-to-help-further



Hospitals across the U.S. are facing a shortage of N95 masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, putting health care workers at increased risk of infection.

The health crisis has brought Peter Tsai, the material scientist and engineer who developed the mask's virus-blocking technology, out of retirement to study safe ways to disinfect the single-use masks for reuse — nearly 30 years after his invention.

"I just want to help people, and just do my job," Tsai said in an interview with Morning Edition.

With N95s in short supply, some medical personnel are resorting to sterilization methods typically used to expunge the virus, like alcohol and bleach, which can degrade the integrity of the masks.

Tsai — who retired from the University of Tennessee last year after more than 30 years of teaching — says that researchers racing to find safe methods to sterilize the masks have been flooding his inbox, asking questions about his patented technology.

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