Health Tech: Dr Tyler Orehek Of Airgle On How Their Technology Can Make An Important Impact On Our Overall Wellness

An excellent R&D department, a smart team, honesty, resiliency, and an unrelenting desire to do good.

recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tyler Orehek.

Dr. Tyler Orehek is the President of Airgle Corp, North America, a global leader in the air purification industry. Specializing in the most advanced medical-grade, air purification systems available, Airgle purifiers are specifically engineered to combat airborne pathogens as small as 0.003 microns, ultra-fine particulates and VOCs in all indoor settings. Beginning his professional career in 2003, Dr. Orehek owned and operated a multidisciplinary practice in midtown Manhattan and served as the primary-care physician and portal-of-entry healthcare practitioner, with a special emphasis on the treatment of pulmonary and neuromusculoskeletal conditions. Dr. Orehek has been an indoor air quality specialist since 2007. He is also a Council-Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC), board-awarded by the American Council for Accredited Certification (ACAC).

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?

Iwas born and raised in New York City, midtown Manhattan to be exact, to two loving parents and continued to live in New York for the next 40 years. A few years ago, and never thinking I would leave, I in fact did with my wife and our two children for the suburbs of Connecticut. Still relatively close to NYC but far enough away to grant us access to more space, nature, great schools, and a more tranquil place to live.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I was a practicing doctor in NYC where I owned and operated a multidisciplinary healthcare practice. Our patients sought our care to help address a wide array of health and wellness concerns. Interestingly enough, one question which came up often from our patients was whether we could recommend a medical-grade air purifier for their home or office. As a courtesy, I began to investigate air purification to a great extent. After a lot of due diligence, reading white paper studies, speaking with industry experts, I began to realize that the vast majority of air purifiers on the market were simply ineffective, and many were even potentially harmful due to some of the questionable technologies they employed. Around 2008, I discovered Airgle’s line of medical-grade air purification systems and decided to represent and offer their systems to our patients. Immediately, our patients began to report incredible levels of relief from their indoor air quality concerns. Everything from a deduction in their allergy symptoms to improvements in asthma symptoms as well as other concerns.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

That would be my dad. He too was a doctor and one of his dreams was for us to practice together. While I was in postgraduate school, he would share with me how proud he was. And just in case I maybe had other aspirations aside from being a doctor, he would say, in regard to my future career goals “you can do anything you’d like to do, as long as you become a doctor first.” Only years later would I realize how profound those words would be.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm” — Winston Churchill. Success is no easy feat. It requires a no-quit attitude and perseverance. Churchill’s words couldn’t ring more true.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Integrity, Honesty, and Patience.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive impact on our wellness. To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?

I’m the President of Corporate Sales for Airgle — North America. For over 20 years, Airgle has been at the forefront of designing and manufacturing air purification solutions, engineered to combat airborne pathogens (including COVID), ultra-fine particulates and VOCs. We are the only manufacturer, which utilizes a cleanroom-grade cHEPA filter, with a capture threshold down to 0.003 microns and a Titanium module, which houses a powerful ultraviolet stage. Airgle solves serious Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) concerns for companies and businesses across the globe.

How do you think your technology can address this?

Ultra-fine particles can be extremely challenging to capture. They are so small that traditional filtration methods are simply inadequate. Even many so-called air purifiers use rudimentary filter stages and thus they too are unable to address ultra-fine particles. Airgle systems have been certified by the most stringent testing agencies and have been awarded a number of notable distinctions.

Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?

My interest in medical-grade air purification came by way of my patient’s needs. Midtown Manhattan is often a highly polluted area of the city. My patients genuinely had reasons to be concerned about their indoor air quality. The more I looked into what they could do to combat their concerns, the more I realized that they needed expert guidance, navigating their air purification needs.

How do you think this might change the world?

Poor indoor air quality is a serious concern worldwide. Putting Covid aside for a moment, much of the world has very compromised outdoor and indoor air quality for a number of different reasons. Airgle has a global presence in nearly 30 countries and for over 20 years, we’ve been working to help address the air quality needs of everyone, worldwide.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

Absolutely not. In fact, the opposite is true. More than ever, professional air filtration is incredibly important.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”?

An excellent R&D department, a smart team, honesty, resiliency, and an unrelenting desire to do good.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

We have one earth and one life. One should always strive to make a difference in the world around them as well as within.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why?

Elon Musk. He’s an individual who truly believes that anything is possible. There is something incredibly refreshing and motivating about that.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I regularly post newsworthy articles on my LinkedIn page on Indoor Air Quality, Air Pollution, and Air Filtration.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.

about The Interviewer: David Leichner is a veteran of the Israeli high-tech industry with significant experience in the areas of cyber and security, enterprise software and communications. At Cybellum, a leading provider of Product Security Lifecycle Management, David is responsible for creating and executing the marketing strategy and managing the global marketing team that forms the foundation for Cybellum’s product and market penetration. Prior to Cybellum, David was CMO at SQream and VP Sales and Marketing at endpoint protection vendor, Cynet. David is the Chairman of the Friends of Israel and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Jerusalem Technology College. He holds a BA in Information Systems Management and an MBA in International Business from the City University of New York.