Witness History The first commercially successful electronic cigarette
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Apr 3, 2026 Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist who invented the Ruyan electronic cigarette, recalls inventing a cigarette-like vapor after struggling with heavy smoking. He describes experiments with humidifiers, discovering propylene glycol and glycerin, building and miniaturizing a prototype, testing and patenting the device, and the rapid commercial launch and ensuing controversies.
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How Lik Built The First Vape Prototype
- Lik built a working electronic cigarette prototype by iterating from a humidifier to heated propylene glycol and glycerin mixed with nicotine.
- He started with a bulky circuit-board model, then spent a year miniaturising parts and hand-assembled a polished tube that mimicked a cigarette.
Patches Caused Nightmares That Sparked Invention
- Lik tried nicotine patches but experienced vivid nightmares when wearing them overnight and confirmed the effect by repeated testing.
- The patch side effects motivated him to seek a different nicotine delivery that preserved inhalation rituals.
Apply Imaginative Iteration To Tough Problems
- Use imaginative cross-domain thinking to solve entrenched problems, as Lik did by applying humidifier and sci-fi inspired ideas to nicotine delivery.
- Persist through iterative experimentation and design your own parts when components don't exist commercially.