Elvis Zhang is the youngest listed on 2018 Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurship Category

On recently released 2018 Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurship Category, Elvis Yihui Zhang(张逸晖) is the youngest in the Forbe’s social entrepreneurship category. Elvis Yihui  Zhang, a 19-year-old high school graduate who’s taking time off after high school to work on startup. He founded Oxy2.com, a nano-tech company with the goal to protect people from air pollution.

He moved from Shenzhen, China to Philadelphia for high school. In Junior year, He started conducting scientific research on methods of purifying air pollution at Stanford Nanofabrication Lab. One of his main focuses was to invent new materials that can effectively purify air particulate without energy consumption, a major concern in current air purification methods.

To achieve nano-scaled filtration for buildings and humans, he utilized pollutants-eating microorganism and harness energy storage material from Lithium-ion battery. There are two products, both are patent-pending. One is a novel type of architectural material that can filter out polluted particulates. The other is anti-pollution face masks.” For His research, he won awards such as Intel STS and accepted to schools like MIT and Brown.

“One of my earliest memories from China is the increasing air pollution issue. Some of my relatives have gotten sick because of the pollution. I also learned that Over 7 million deaths each year – one in eight of total global deaths – are a result of air pollution exposure, and I wanted to tackle this greatly overlooked issue with science. “

“My mission is to protect people from environmental pollution with zero energy waste. Unlike companies today that produce robust, energy-consuming systems, we focus on conducting advanced research and quickly translate results to cheap, effective and sustainable applications.”

Now Elvis’s startup has reached a few major milestones. They have signed licensing contracts with over a dozen major real estate developers in Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and China.

Elvis is also passionate about architecture and design. “I’ve worked at Arquitectonica International, one of the biggest architecture firm in the world. And my design has appeared in the U.S, China, and Italy. My work has won me national Youngarts award, Scholastic art and writing award, and nominated for Presidential Scholar in the Arts.” See his work at: http://elviszhang.com/

He is also the co-director of the Designership Press at Stanford, where they try to redefine science research publication and allow anyone to publish peer reviewed research.

“I’m excited for the road ahead, because the work we do is saving lives, and preserving a safe and sustainable environment for all.” Elvis said.