Originally Published MDDI
August 2004
Industry Perspectives
Industry Pioneer
George Miser
 |
George Miser, a pioneer in the nonwoven tape industry, started his career as a chemist for Transparent Package Inc. after receiving a degree in chemistry in 1955. Getting the job was a more momentous feat than it seemed at the time.
It was at Transparent Package Inc. or TEE PAK, as it was known, that he met his future wife, Patricia. But before they could ride off into the sunset, Miser was called to duty by Uncle Sam. In 1956, he was drafted by the Army Medical Corp. to serve overseas as a medic at a clinic in Germany.
“We did night duty,” he recalls. “We treated stab wounds, auto accidents, we delivered babies. We worked at night and on weekends. After that I knew I wanted to get into healthcare.”
When his two-year stint in the army was finished, he returned to TEE PAK, where he became a supervisor in quality control. During this period, he was also active in the American Chemical Society and the Quality Control Society of America.
In the late 1960s, Miser relocated to St. Paul, MN, to work for 3M Medical Specialties, attracted by the career opportunities available at the company. At 3M, he marketed Micropore Surgical Tape, Transpore Surgical Tape, and Tegaderm Surgical Dressing. It was a fortuitous career move. For the next quarter century, he focused on medical specialties and revolutionized the tape industry in the process.
The use of nonwoven tape had a profound effect on patients. Their skin didn’t redden, unlike with zinc oxide tape.
“If it wasn’t for 3M, I never would’ve ended up in marketing,” Miser said. “I would’ve ended up selling sausage casings.”
Miser saw the advantage of nonwoven tapes for use with ostomy and transdermal drug delivery products. In 1986, he was appointed international sales manager to bring this technology, and others like it, to the rest of the world.
He retired from 3M in 1994. He lives in White Bear Lake, MN.
Copyright ©2004 Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry
