Klair: Dry. Fresh. Ride.
Year 1 (2025-26)
by Tapan Puranik
Klair is a modular, rechargeable gear dryer for riders and outdoor enthusiasts that quickly dries boots, helmets, and gloves to reduce odor and keep gear ready for the next use.
About This Idea
Klair is a modular, dock-based gear dryer with detachable, rechargeable blower modules designed to dry boots, helmets, and gloves from the inside out. It solves the common problem of moisture getting trapped in padded gear, especially after rain, sweat, or mud, which leads to slow drying, lingering odor, and bacteria buildup when gear is left in bags or hung to dry. By directing airflow deep into tight spaces and offering an optional gear-safe disinfectant mist, Klair helps riders and outdoor users keep their gear fresher, more comfortable, and ready faster.
Where Did This Idea Spark at WMU?
This idea started in WMU’s IEE 3010 (Product Service Design) class, where product design, industrial engineering, and entrepreneurial students are brought together to build something that’s unique, solves a real problem, is technically sound and economically feasible. Our team was a ragtag mix of backgrounds and strengths: product design focused on user pain points, form factor, and usability; industrial engineering brought process thinking, cost modeling, and manufacturability; and the entrepreneurial side pushed market research, pricing, and how it could realistically launch. By combining interviews with riders/outdoor users and rapid prototyping, we turned a common frustration - wet, smelly gear that won’t dry into a modular solution with a clear path to scale.
Impact in Kalamazoo
If Klair succeeds, the winners are the Kalamazoo businesses that already support the riding and outdoor community. Local powersports shops (Zeigler Motorsports, Leaders RPM) and dealers around town can sell Klair as a practical add-on for customers buying helmets, boots, and gloves, especially during Michigan’s wet seasons - creating new revenue without needing major new services. We can keep early build and launch work in the area by sourcing parts and services from nearby suppliers for plastics, electronics assembly, packaging, and local print/branding. Local logistics and small businesses that handle storage, shipping, and last-mile delivery benefit as orders grow. In short, Klair becomes a Kalamazoo-built product that turns local demand into local purchase orders and repeat business.
How Investment Helps
This investment would help us take root in Kalamazoo by giving us the resources to build, test and launch the product here in our community. As a group of college students, we’d use the funding to develop and prototype the fan locally. We plan on working with campus marketplaces, engineering labs, and regional manufacturers to keep early production tied to Kalamazoo.
We would introduce the fan on WMU campus and at community events such as football games, summer festivals, and outdoor markets where portable drying offers a clear and immediate benefit. Feedback from students, families, and local powersports enthusiasts, as well as business owners, would help guide improvements to the design while building early brand recognition throughout Kalamazoo. At the same time, we would work with local retailers to carry the product, allowing area businesses to sell a fan that was designed and developed locally.
What I'll Do With the Money
Product Development & Prototyping - 30%
Further design and building of the fan with optimal safety, battery, motor and durability testing.
Initial Production & User Testing - 25%
Source supplies for materials and establish user testing for data driven iterations involving packaging, form, and battery operation.
Battery Compliance Certifications - 15%
Obtain the required certifications for Klair to go to market.
Brand & Marketing - 15%
Further develop brand identity and brand language, logo, website, and packaging.
Business & Legal - 10%
Cover costs related to LLC, patents, and representation.
About the Founder
We’re five WMU students who met in a class called Product Service Design: two in product design, one in engineering, one in business, and one in aviation flight science: Maurielle Hayes, Evyn Schuler, Nathan Smith, Ben Baker, and Tapan Puranik. We combined product design, technical development, and market insights to solve a real problem: portable, reliable gear-drying for riders and outdoor users. What began as a class project became a refined product concept.