Raymond Wang Essay

Raymond Wang is a 17-year-old inventor with an idea that can benefit many Americans who air travel frequently. Raymond was competing for a $75,000 prize by speaking at a TEDx Youth event with a fascinating solution to the utmost worst thing about flying, germs. With only using his computer and knowledge of airplanes he is leading us into a healthier future. During this event, he covered what the problem was, how he can solve it, where he is at on this project, and how we can continue to keep airplane air clean. Germs are everywhere but when there are many people confined in a small metal tube, germs can be passed around easily. “When someone actually goes on a plane, they could be sick and they could actually be in this latency period in which they could actually have the disease but not exhibit any symptoms” (Wang). With Raymond’s invention, the air in planes should be pathogen-free but the air is not the only place germs get spread in the plane. “The …show more content…
“Wang said he decided to tackle the problem when he discovered that few people in the airline industry were actively working on ways to improve the quality of airplane air” (Brown). During flight, many pathogens come on board with the passengers such as: Influenza, Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), Tuberculosis, H1N1(Swine Flu), Meningococcal disease, and Ebola. “Wang referenced two cases of these viruses spreading on a plane, with the H1N1 flu virus spreading it to 17 other travelers and Sars spreading to 22 passengers” (McGuire). One passenger with H1N1 spread to 17 people in that flight and was spread to 22 people during that flight even though the air filtration system is supposed to eliminate these. The reason why these illnesses are being spread easily through a plane is because these pathogens are not given the chance to go through the filtration