Daniel Tsai has been appointed to the new position of director, product commercialization at Emerald Kalama Chemical, a business group of Emerald Performance Materials. He takes on this role to drive continued growth for the group's line of K-FLEX low-VOC, high solvating plasticizers and coalescents. Tsai, who has more than 25 years of experience in advanced materials, including leadership roles in operations, R&D, marketing, business development and commercialization, will provide leadership for the commercial development process as the business expands its range of products and applications.

Prior to joining Emerald, Tsai founded Novana, Inc., a polymeric materials firm, where he also served as CEO. He also held a variety of technical, marketing, and strategic planning roles at Imerys, Kimberly-Clark, Air Products & Chemicals and Nan-Ya Plastics Co. Tsai holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering and an Executive M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management, all from Northwestern University, as well as a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan.

Emerald Kalama Chemical also produces sodium and potassium benzoate, benzoic acid and intermediates, and specialty flavor and fragrance ingredients, which the company sells globally through its distribution partners. The business has manufacturing operations in Kalama, Wash. and in Rotterdam, Netherlands.