Dr. Tao is Corporate Director of Technology Partnerships for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., an $8 billion company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that produces and supplies high-quality industrial gases and specialty chemicals for customers in the manufacturing, process, and service industries. He is responsible for worldwide external technology development, Intellectual Asset Management, Licensing and technology transfer with outside organizations, and government contracts.

During more than 30 years with Air Products, Dr. Tao has been involved in engineering management, R&D management, commercial development, venture management, and planning and business development. Dr. Tao has a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, and an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware. Dr. Tao is a director of the Commercial Development Association, member of the Advisory Board of yet2.com, member of the Licensing Executive Society, Past Chair of the University Research Committee, Science and Technology Commitee, the External Technology directors Network and the Network Leadership Council, and current Chair of the New Business Development Network of the Industrial Research Institute (IRI), Past Voting Representative and member of the Governing Board of the Council of Chemical Research, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He was the chairman of Chemical Industry Environmental Technology Projects, a board member of the Penn State Research Foundation, and the chairman of the Management Committee of the Air Products/Imperial College Strategic Alliance, the Air Products Alliance with Georgia Tech, and the Air Products/Penn State Research Alliance. He served as a member of the Visiting Committee of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, and served on the advisory council for the chemical engineering department of the University of Pennsylvania, and is active in Lehigh Valley United Way and the Business-Education Partnership.