Yogi Goswami, currently a Professor at the Florida University, migrated from from Delhi to the United States in 1990s. Months later, he found out that his son Dilip was struggling with asthma. Thus began his quest to provide the world with a solution for polluted air.
Yogi Goswami, currently a Professor at the Florida University, migrated from from Delhi to the United States in 1990s. Months later, he found out that his son Dilip was struggling with asthma. Thus began his quest to provide the world with a solution for polluted air.
While existing air purifiers merely trap harmful pollutants, he invented a device that takes that idea one step further and by destroys them altogether. Called Molekule, Yogi's air purifier destroys allergens, mold, bacteria and viruses and also removes microscopic pollutants 1,000 times smaller than regular air purifiers.
Molekule has found place among the TIME magazine's "The 25 Best Inventions of 2017".
Speaking exclusively to WION, Mr Goswami talks about his journey and what drove him to invent an alternative to the existing air purifiers.
Here are the excerpts from Yogi Goswami's interview with WION:
Question: Did you expect that your product would be taken up by the Time as 25 best innovations of 2017?
Answer: You never know when somebody picks you up as a winner. Although I understand this technology is going to help lot of people. It is already helping lot of people in the USA. By the way it started by helping my son and I am very thankful to the Time magazine for picking up us as top 25 inventions.
Q: You said that it all started with your son. Can you elaborate on it?
A: I am a solar energy researcher and a scientist. I have done a lot of work in this field. This invention came out of personal need. My son is asthmatic. We could only control what he could eat to prevent allergies. Later we found that there were triggers in the air and we could do nothing about it. That is when I started looking into air purifiers. We tried a lot but none of them worked. After I gave up on what was available in the market and started to think about solar technology which I had developed. That started my research in this filed. It took a long time but I did develop the technology. In the beginning, it helped number of people in my family and then we decided to take it to the market.
Q: How is this purifier different from those available in the market?
A: All other purifiers simply filter the air. They would filter the dust particle. You can make them tighter and tighter but they would only filter to a certain size. There are number of things in air that can cause problems to us. Virus and bacteria are difficult to stop. Exhaust gases from automobiles and other emissions inside the building pass through the filters. This technology breaks them down to benign products. Fungus pores start to grow on filter. This technology breaks them down to fundamental benign product.
Q: Your innovation is great science. Please break it down for our readers as to how your product works?
A: We have a filter on which we have applied nan catalyst. And as light falls on the Nano catalyst that’s when the reaction starts. Any organic molecule goes over it gets converted to carbon dioxide and water.
Q: When we talk about your technology, it is expensive. It is Rs 51,000 per piece. Very difficult for even middle-class buyer in India?
A: I understand and feel that eventually we need to bring it to a level so that it can be used by those who need it and cannot afford and not just by those who can afford it. The cost is because of what has gone into making the product.
Q: Can cost come down eventually?
A: Eventually, it can come down by scaling. I am very hopeful that in future it will come down but today it is required to stay in business.
Q: Are air purifiers answer to the air pollution or just an emergency solution?
A: We cannot do much about outdoor air pollution. Given that we have outdoor pollution, at least the insides can be regulated so that we can breathe clean air.
Q: Can there be a bigger version of this technology? Like smog towers installed in Beijing to clean the pollution?
A: Outdoor air cannot be cleaned by installing towers and I don’t think it is viable because we will need to move to renewable and solar technology. What we found in USA was that the indoor air was more polluted than outdoor air. Some of the pollutants start to concentrate indoors and that is why this product becomes so useful in USA.
Q: Are you saying that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air?
A: In the USA, it is the case where outdoor air is much cleaner in comparison to India and China. The buildings are closed and that is why pollutants get stuck inside them. With internal cooling, pollutants begin to concentrate and that is why indoor air in USA is far more polluted than outdoor air.
Q: How can air pollution be tackled in countries like India?
A: It is true that Delhi’s air is polluted and bad for health. Some effects of this pollution will show up in long run. Outdoor air needs to cleaned and solutions have to be looked at. Solar energy might be more expensive but not more expensive than your health.
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