Log in

Local teen starts company to kill germs on personal devices

Posted 3/8/21

Teen entrepreneur Nic Brown, a junior at Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale, developed a way to keep personal devices clean, without harmful chemicals.

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

Local teen starts company to kill germs on personal devices

Posted

Teen entrepreneur Nic Brown, a junior at Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale, developed a way to keep personal devices clean, without harmful chemicals.

His solution—powerful microbe killing UV-C light. Connect UV sells products ranging from sanitizing lamps and boxes for home use, to large charging lockers and carts for school and business use for people to charge, clean and connect safely and easily, according to a press release.

In addition to cell phones and tablets, the units will sanitize other items such as keys, masks and glasses.

UV-C light is naturally occurring shortwave light created by the sun that is filtered by the atmosphere before it can reach the earth, the release said, citing the FDA, which noted how the light destroys the DNA in microorganisms, including viruses and bacteria, rendering the agents unable to reproduce or infect.

“I first discovered UV-C light when I was researching cleaning methods for my car detailing company,” said Mr. Brown in a prepared statement. “When COVID hit, I realized that I was in a position to help solve the problem of harmful germs on day-to-day items. And Connect UV was born.”

The premise behind Connect UV is for people to connect, clean and charge, according to the release.

“While mobile devices are stored in Connect UV sterilizing charging carts, my hope is that people will connect with each other instead of staring at the phones, and their phones will get sanitized and charged at the same time,” said Mr. Brown who donated three industrial UV sanitizing carts and 12 desktop units to his school on his 17th birthday, Feb. 24.

When he entered Notre Dame Prep as a freshman, he was enrolled in the school’s Gonzaga Program for students with academic promise who need extra help acclimating to NDP’s rigorous college preparatory curriculum.

“I was really struggling at first, but the Gonzaga Program and my teachers helped me get caught up, and I’m so grateful for that,” said Mr. Brown.

He matriculated into honors and AP classes and has excelled in entrepreneur class and personal finance, noted the release, crediting the Gonzaga Program for his progress, including running two businesses with possibly more to come.

“I’ve always been inspired by great entrepreneurs,” he added. “I’m always thinking of the next thing.”

“What a great testimony to the faith of our school, that Nic would give back to Notre Dame Prep on his birthday,” said Lisa Johnston, NDP finance director, in a prepared statement.

“We also encourage our students to be innovative thinkers and leaders. We are very proud of Nic’s entrepreneurial spirit and our ability to share his hard work with others.”

Notre Dame Prep, 9701 E. Bell Road in Scottsdale, has taken many safety measures to remain open for in-person learning since Sept. 8, 2020.

“We are committed to keeping our staff and students safe during and after the COVID pandemic,” Ms. Johnston said. “Nic’s generous gift provides us with another means for reducing the spread of viruses.”

Notre Dame Prep is a Catholic diocesan college preparatory high school with a co-ed enrollment of 804 students. The school has received national recognition for the caliber of its academic, arts and athletic programs, the release added.