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The skill sets of husband-and-wife duo Jason and Diana Brugh are as perfectly blended for the task they aim to accomplish as the abilities of the integrated robots they’re building to kill germs and fight coronavirus in the workplace.
Diana Brugh is a microbiologist with experience in food science and working with bacteria- and virus-killing ultraviolet lights.
Jason is one of the state’s foremost robotics experts.
Their company, Indianapolis-based Brugh Industrial Engineering, makes industrial automation equipment. And though the firm has enough non-disclosure agreements to fill a couple of file cabinets, those familiar with it said Brugh works with some of the nation’s biggest operations in the food and beverage, automotive, government, military and medical sectors.
“They’re machine builders and integrators. And they’re the top ones in Indiana,” said Lisa Talley, an account manager for Indianapolis-based Kendall Electric who has known the couple more than 15 years. “They don’t see problems, only solutions.”
So it’s no surprise that—when the pandemic ripped across the country, shutting down businesses in its path—the couple’s minds began searching for solutions to a massive problem.
“We wanted to use our skills to make work environments as safe as possible during this time,” said Diana Brugh.
The two came up with an idea to build a robot that could disinfect commercial spaces—from factories and offices to retail stores, government facilities and schools—using no chemicals.
So far, they’ve invested $300,000 in the project.
The idea came to the Brughs as they were working on another project and looking at ultraviolet-C lighting technology.
“Diana said, ‘This is a great technology to sanitize surfaces,’” Jason Brugh recalled. “We started looking at it, and in two weeks had a working prototype” for a commercial cleaning robot.
In May, they launched AutoBio Reduction with the help of Brugh Industrial’s 20 employees. Eventually, Jason Brugh said, the new company will have a dedicated staff of 20.
Diana, 37, serves as president and Jason, 41, is director of engineering.
Creative genius
While the duo works together like a well-oiled machine, they’re hardly robotic themselves.
In addition to their creativity, the recent death of Diana’s 85-year-old grandmother from COVID-19 gives them a personal reason to pursue this project.
“This product has always had a personal component for me, but now, after my grandmother’s passing, it’s helping me to work through my grief,” Diana said.
“COVID is touching everyone’s lives a little bit differently and in a myriad of unexpected ways. This product aims to alleviate a bit of anxiety from people’s lives, and in today’s world, that means a lot to me.”
And the Brughs’ cleaning robots aren’t even what most people would call robotic.
The original model, the UVNinja Lux, is about 5-1/2 feet tall and tips the scales at 200 pounds. It can cover up to five miles on a single battery charge—or about eight hours. Medical-grade UVC lights that cover an area 360 degrees are mounted on top of the robot and shine out 5 feet. The lights kill a variety of micro-organisms—including viruses, bacteria and mold—on a range of surfaces, like countertops, keyboards, carpet and upholstery.
Exposure to those lights is not good for people or plants.
Diana Brugh said the UVNinja is not meant as a replacement for, but rather a complement to, traditional cleaning.
The Brughs are also working on a slightly smaller model, the Lumen, to get into even tighter spaces.
Because it’s designed to operate autonomously, the UVNinja can navigate without human intervention. It can solve problems, differentiate between people and inanimate objects without running into them, and re-route itself. It can even use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals to open automated doors and call for an elevator, then tell the elevator which floor it needs. After each cleaning run, the robot recharges itself and reports any problems to the humans in charge.
“The whole goal is that this will not be just another appliance you have to deal with; it will be part of the team,” Jason Brugh said.
Creating the UVNinja wasn’t “an easy project to pull off, especially in the time that they’ve done it,” said Brian Stuerzenberger, a sales team leader at Indianapolis-based Neff Engineering who has known the Brughs more than a decade.
“Technically speaking, this robot that they’ve designed and built is a very creative solution to the cultural and economic pandemic we find ourselves in,” Stuerzenberger said. “They’re addressing a very real situation, and that’s a multiplier on the cool factor.”
Using UV light to kill pathogens isn’t new. And robots have increasingly found their way into various business sectors. The integration of the two is what makes the Brughs’ project groundbreaking, Stuerzenberger said.
“We’ve taken two tried-and-true technologies and merged them to make them accessible for everyone’s offices and workspace,” Jason Brugh said. “This type of integration has not been done before.”
The Brughs have built three working UVNinjas. But these aren’t typical prototypes to be debugged. The duo credits the Brugh Industrial staff and the help of American UltraViolet, an Indianapolis-based company specializing in work with UV lighting, for getting the first UVNinjas up and running quickly.
“This robot is true to form for the Brughs in terms of their creative approach, and it’s also true to form for Jason and Diana and the way they work,” Stuerzenberger said. “They are the types of people that, if they decide to do something, they do it right. Their first robot came off the line ready to roll and ready to work. And it’s very professionally done. It’s not a rough-cut prototype that you might expect.”
The Brughs said they can make up to 100 of the robots per month at their 25,000-square-foot Indianapolis shop. The UVNinja sells for $69,500. The Brughs don’t think the high cost will hurt sales.
“It can be a little bit of a sticker shock to someone not familiar with the market. But [medical-grade] UV lights in a hospital can be hundreds of thousands of dollars and that’s with people pushing them,” said Jason Brugh. “And factory robots can be $100,000 without any integration. The UVNinja is fully integrated and automated.”
The UVNinja has a one-year warranty, but Jason Brugh said it’s built to last in a commercial setting “for a long, long time without a lot of maintenance.”
Interest building
While AutoBio Reduction hasn’t yet sold any units, Jason Brugh said it has received lots of interest—and has performed five demonstrations this week.
“We have several institutions, including educational institutions and senior care facilities, that are very interested. We have a very large office building interested in buying a fleet of these,” Jason Brugh said. “We have such high interest [that] we expect to deploy the three units we have nearly immediately. But it’s not just large companies that are interested. We’ve talked to small and medium-sized companies as well.”
The Brughs admit they have some challenges—amid the pandemic—with acquiring the parts they need, especially for the smaller unit. But they’re not too worried.
“We’re used to being agile. We found the best way to design around supply chain issues is to have agile engineering solutions,” Jason Brugh said.
They’re marketing the UVNinja through AutoBio Reduction’s website and social media.
Those who know the Brughs say the pair knows not only how to engineer unique solutions for tough problems, but also how to run a business.
Brugh Industrial was founded in 2011, and the couple said the company has doubled revenue every year.
The Brughs also own and operate Fall Creek Montessori Academy, a preschool at 7770 E. 88th St. They have four children ranging in age from 3 to 14 and opened the school because they couldn’t find a suitable preschool for their kids. Diana oversees the operation.
“The school typifies Jason and Diana,” said Andrea DiPasquale, director of Fall Creek Montessori Academy. “They come up with positive solutions instead of dwelling on the negative. So I wasn’t surprised at all they jumped in and created the UVNinja. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before.”
Stuerzenberger said the UVNinja is “absolutely cutting-edge.”
Jason Brugh jokes that he and his wife have always been early tech adopters. Well before dating sites were popular, he said, the couple met through America Online.
Diana was born in Mexico City before coming to Indianapolis at age 12. She graduated from Lawrence Central High School and studied microbiology at Purdue University, where she got a degree in food science and first worked with medical-grade UVC lighting.
Jason was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, and grew up in South Bend. He graduated from Purdue with a degree in engineering technology. He’s lived in Indianapolis since, working for engineering firms before starting his own company.
Diana recently returned from Mexico, after her grandmother’s death.
“The coronavirus has changed things permanently, and bringing peace of mind to our new normal is really important,” she said. “We think twice about what going back to work looks like. Our personal space has been redefined.
“We are so much more aware of germs now and the impact they can have on our lives,” she added. “That concern isn’t going away, and Jason and I didn’t feel we could just sit idly and not do something about it.”•
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Good for you. Best of luck!