NCR Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Newsletter #26 – May 2022
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Did You Know
Understanding the term AAPI — Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders…
Who makes up the AAPI community?
AAPI: Asian American and Pacific Islander. This term generally includes all people of Asian, Asian American or Pacific Islander descent.
Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent.
East Asian: A person of Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean and Mongolian descent.
South Asian: A person of Indian, Bangladesh, Sri Lankan, Nepal and Pakistani backgrounds.
Southeast Asian: A person of Filipino, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Lao, Indonesian, Thai or Singaporean descent.
Central Asian: A person with origins in the original peoples of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Pacific Islander: A person with origins in the original peoples of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.
West Asian: A person with origins in the original peoples of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
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Spotlight
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have been responsible for many remarkable technological innovations and scientific discoveries. Still, if asked to name an AAPI scientist or inventor, many of us would probably struggle, and members of this community continue to experience widespread discrimination and racial microaggressions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Peter Tsai PhD, Taiwanese & American materials scientist.
When material scientist Peter Tsai PhD invented the N95 respirator in the 1990s, it was originally intended for industrial use. The N95 respirator proved to be 10 times more efficient than other masks, putting its filtering capacity at 95 percent without making it harder to breathe while wearing one. Dr. Tsai patented the creation in 1995, and a year later the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered that the N95 could also block viruses and bacteria. This revelation encouraged its use in healthcare settings, and it has proven to be indispensable during the COVID-19 pandemic, where it continues to save lives. In 2020, since N95 respirators were in short supply, Dr. Tsai came out of retirement to study the best way to sanitize and re-use them.
Steven Shih Chen, Taiwanese & American entrepreneur.
In February 2005, three former employees of Paypal including Steven Shih Chen bought the YouTube.com domain which eventually became the multi-billion-dollar video-sharing platform we all know and use today. The creators saw that there was huge potential in making a website where any user could easily upload, publish and watch videos.
Ching Wan Tang PhD, Hong Kong & American physical chemist.
Although liquid crystal display (LCD) has long been used in televisions and computer monitors, a thinner, lighter and overall superior display technology is steadily dethroning it. Physical chemist Ching Wan Tang PhD and chemist Steven Van Slyke were working at the Eastman Kodak Company together when they invented the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) in 1987. It produces a more vibrant display than LCD because it generates all colors, provides higher contrast and does not require a backlight. Major companies like Apple, Samsung, Sony and LG now use this technology to make smartphones, TVs, tablets and smartwatches even smaller, thinner and lighter, with the global demand for smartphones driving the demand for OLEDs. By 2022, they are expected to be produced at a rate 25 times greater than the previous decade. Dr. Tang is named on 84 patents and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2018.
Lt Col Bonnie Braun
NCR Diversity Officer
