The founder of Smart Air says having clean air shouldn’t mean spending a fortune. When he was still a psychology graduate student, he decided to look into the air purifier business. His doubts about the sky-high price of air purifiers led him to create an effective and cheap DIY air purifier for only $30 in a country where an average air purifier costs as much as $1,000. If you want to learn more about Thomas, read this short interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the early days, a huge challenge was that some people really didn\u2019t believe me. They saw companies selling air purifiers for $1,000, and they saw a psychology grad student strapping filters on fans for $30<\/a>. Who were they going to believe? On the internet in China, some people attacked me as a \u201cwenkesheng.\u201d That means I wasn\u2019t studying science or engineering, so I clearly had no idea what I was talking about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My commitment to data is what allowed me to overcome those challenges. I didn\u2019t ask people to believe me. I asked them to look at the data. I knew I wasn\u2019t an expert, but I knew enough about the scientific method to test a basic question and use data to see whether it was true or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So I documented everything. I told people exactly how I was testing everything. I put the data online<\/a> for everyone to see. And the data spoke for itself. Air purifiers are just fans and filters. The companies touting their advanced, $1,000 technologies are marketing to you. It\u2019s not science. Follow the data, and you\u2019ll save your money and your health!<\/p>\n\n\nSmart Air focuses on the data-driven approach. How does data play a role in the development and improvement of your products?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n